Document
UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
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FORM 10-K
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ý | ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 |
For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2017
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¨ | TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 |
For the transition period from to
Commission File number 1-7221
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MOTOROLA SOLUTIONS, INC.
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)
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DELAWARE | | 36-1115800 |
(State of Incorporation) | | (I.R.S. Employer Identification No.) |
500 West Monroe Street, Chicago, Illinois 60661
(Address of principal executive offices)
(847) 576-5000
(Registrant’s telephone number)
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:
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Title of Each Class | | Name of Each Exchange on Which Registered |
Common Stock, $.01 Par Value per Share | | New York Stock Exchange |
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act:
None
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Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. Yes ý No ¨
Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Yes ¨ No ý
Indicate by check mark 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 ý No ¨
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically and posted on its corporate Web site, if any, every Interactive Data File required to be submitted and posted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit and post such files). Yes ý No ¨
Indicate by check mark if disclosure of delinquent filers pursuant to Item 405 of Regulation S-K is not contained herein, and will not be contained, to the best of registrant’s knowledge, in definitive proxy or information statements incorporated by reference in Part III of this Form 10-K or any amendment to this Form 10-K. ¨
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):
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Large accelerated filer x | | Accelerated filer ¨ | | Non-accelerated filer ¨ | | Smaller reporting company ¨ | | Emerging growth company ¨ |
| | (Do not check if a smaller reporting company) | | |
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 ý
The aggregate market value of voting and non-voting common equity held by non-affiliates of the registrant as of July 1, 2017 (the last business day of the Registrant’s most recently completed second quarter) was approximately $12.6 billion.
The number of shares of the registrant’s Common Stock, $.01 par value per share, outstanding as of February 2, 2018 was 161,307,525.
DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE
Portions of the registrant’s definitive Proxy Statement to be delivered to stockholders in connection with its Annual Meeting of Stockholders to be held on May 14, 2018, are incorporated by reference into Part III.
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General | |
Business Organization | |
Strategy and Focus Areas | |
Customers and Contracts | |
Competition | |
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Inventory and Raw Materials | |
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Material Dispositions | |
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PART I
Throughout this 10-K report we “incorporate by reference” certain information in parts of other documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”). The SEC allows us to disclose important information by referring to it in that manner. Please refer to such information.
We are making forward-looking statements in this report. In “Item 1A: Risk Factors” we discuss some of the risk factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those stated in the forward-looking statements.
“Motorola Solutions” (which may be referred to as the “Company,” “we,” “us,” or “our”) means Motorola Solutions, Inc. or Motorola Solutions, Inc. and its subsidiaries, or one of our segments, as the context requires. MOTOROLA, MOTO, MOTOROLA SOLUTIONS and the Stylized M Logo, as well as iDEN are trademarks or registered trademarks of Motorola Trademark Holdings, LLC and are used under license.
Item 1: Business
General
We are a leading global provider of mission-critical communication infrastructure, devices, accessories, software and services. Our products and services help government, public safety, and commercial customers improve their operations through increased effectiveness, efficiency, and safety of their mobile workforces. We serve our customers with a global footprint of sales in more than 100 countries based on our industry leading innovation and a deep portfolio of products and services.
We are incorporated under the laws of the State of Delaware as the successor to an Illinois corporation, Motorola, Inc., organized in 1928. We changed our name from Motorola, Inc. to Motorola Solutions, Inc. on January 4, 2011. Our principal executive offices are located at 500 W. Monroe Street, Chicago, Illinois 60661.
Business Organization
We conduct our business globally and manage it through two segments: Products and Services.
Products Segment
The Products segment offers an extensive portfolio of infrastructure, devices, accessories, and software. The primary customers of the Products segment are government, public safety and first-responder agencies, municipalities, and commercial and industrial customers who operate private communications networks and manage a mobile workforce. In 2017, the segment’s net sales were $3.8 billion, representing 59% of our consolidated net sales. The Products segment has the following two principal product lines:
Devices: Devices includes: (i) two-way portable radios and vehicle-mounted radios, (ii) accessories such as speaker microphones, batteries, earpieces, headsets, carry cases and cables, and (iii) software features and upgrades. Devices represented 74% of the net sales of the Products segment in 2017.
Systems: Systems includes: (i) the radio network core and central processing software, (ii) base stations, (iii) consoles, (iv) repeaters, and (v) software applications and features. Systems represented 26% of the net sales of the Products segment in 2017.
Our Devices and Systems are based on the following industry technology standards:
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Industry standard definition | The Association of Public Safety Communications Officials Project 25 standard ("APCO-25") | The European Telecommunications Standards Institute (“ETSI”) Terrestrial Trunked Radio standard ("TETRA") | ETSI, Digital mobile radio ("DMR") and professional commercial radio ("PCR") standards |
Industry standard name | APCO P25 | TETRA | DMR |
Motorola Solutions product name | ASTRO | Dimetra IP | PCR MOTOTRBO (Digital) |
Primary end users | Government, Public Safety | Government, Public Safety | Commercial |
Primary geographic region of use | North America, Latin America, Asia, Middle East, Africa | Europe, Asia, Latin America, Middle East, Africa | All regions |
Services Segment
The Services segment provides a full set of service offerings for government, public safety, and commercial communication networks. In 2017, the segment’s net sales were $2.6 billion, representing 41% of our consolidated net sales. The Services segment has the following principal product lines:
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Integration services | Integration services includes the implementation, optimization, and integration of systems, devices, software, and applications. Integration services represented 30% of the net sales of the Services segment in 2017. |
Managed & Support services | Managed & Support services includes a continuum of service offerings beginning with repair, technical support, and hardware maintenance. More advanced offerings include network monitoring, software maintenance, and cyber security services. Managed service offerings range from partial or full operation of customer owned networks to operation of Motorola Solutions owned networks. Services and Software as a Service (SaaS) are provided across all radio network technologies, Command Center Software Offerings, and Smart Public Safety Solutions. Managed & Support services represented 69% of the net sales of the Services segment in 2017. |
iDEN services | Integrated Digital Enhanced Network (“iDEN”) is a Motorola Solutions proprietary push-to-talk technology. iDEN services consist primarily of hardware and software maintenance services for our legacy iDEN customers and represented 1% of the net sales of the Services segment in 2017. |
Strategy and Focus Areas
In 2018, Motorola Solutions will celebrate 90 years of providing public safety and commercial customers with secure and reliable mission critical communications. Our customers have unique voice, data, and operational requirements. We offer comprehensive solutions that include infrastructure, devices, software applications, and services designed and delivered to enable our customers to safely and effectively accomplish their mission.
Our strategy for long-term growth and the evolution of our business includes organic and inorganic investments in the following three areas:
(i)Continued innovation in standards-based voice and data solutions spanning APCO 25, TETRA, DMR, and LTE technologies. Our dedication, focus, and innovation for public safety and commercial solutions built the foundation of our Land Mobile Radio ("LMR") platform business, which is reflected in our installed base of over 12,500 systems deployed in 100+ countries around the world. These systems have a multi-year and often multi-decade life span which drives demand for additional device sales, software upgrades, infrastructure refresh and expansion, as well as additional services to maintain, monitor, and manage these complex networks and solutions. We believe our government and commercial customers will continue to require next-generation systems, enhanced software features and analytics, as well as incremental services to drive operational efficiencies.
(ii)Managed and support services offerings that leverage our large global installed base and allow our customers to improve performance across their systems, devices, and applications for greater safety and productivity. Our comprehensive suite of services - from repair, technical support, security, and system monitoring to operation of customer owned networks or Motorola Solutions owned networks, ensures continuity and reduces risks for continued critical communications operations. Today, agency procurement models are primarily capex investments in customer owned and operated solutions with long-term contracts. As agencies seek budget predictability, increased flexibility, and outcome based solutions, there continues to be a shift to alternative consumption models. We feel our suite of services positions us well for this change and allows us to provide incremental, value-added services for our customers.
(iii)Software solutions to support the entire public safety workflow - from the command center to mobile applications in the field to post-incident analytics. Today, the public safety workflow is addressed by a variety of point solutions. Motorola Solutions is attempting to expand its software offerings to provide solutions across the various segments of the public safety workflow. As the public safety market continues to embrace software offerings to enhance their workflows, we are able to sell cloud-first SaaS offerings in addition to on-premise solutions with ancillary implementation and managed services.
Our Customers and Contracts
We address the communication needs of government agencies, state and local public safety and first-responder agencies, and commercial and industrial customers who utilize private communications networks and manage a mobile workforce. Our customer base is fragmented and widespread when considering the many levels of governmental and first-responder decision-makers that procure and use our products and services. Serving this global customer base spanning federal, state, county, province, territory, municipal, and departmental independent bodies, along with our commercial and industrial customers, requires a significant go-to-market investment.
Our sales model includes both direct sales by our in-house sales force, which tends to focus on our largest accounts, and sales through our channel partner program. Our trained channel partners include independent dealers, distributors, and software vendors around the world. The dealers and distributors each have their own sales organizations that complement and extend the reach of our sales force. The independent software vendors offer customized applications that meet specific needs in the verticals we serve.
Our largest customers are the U.S. federal government (through multiple contracts with its various branches and agencies, including the armed services) and the Home Office of the United Kingdom, representing approximately 9% and 8% of our consolidated net sales in 2017, respectively. The loss of these customers could have a material adverse effect on our revenue
and earnings over several quarters as many of our contracts with these governments are long-term in nature. All contracts with the U.S. federal government, and certain other government agencies within the U.S., are subject to cancellation at the customer’s convenience. For a discussion of risks related to government contracting requirements, please refer to “Item 1A. Risk Factors.”
Net sales in the Americas continued to comprise a significant portion of our business, accounting for 68%, 68% and 71% of our consolidated net sales in 2017, 2016, and 2015, respectively.
Payment terms with our customers vary worldwide. Generally, contractual payment terms range from 30 to 45 days from the invoice date within North America and typically do not exceed 90 days from the invoice date in regions outside of North America. A portion of our contracts include implementation milestones, such as delivery, installation, and system acceptance, which generally take 30 to 180 days to complete. Invoicing the customer is dependent on completion of the milestones. We generally do not grant extended payment terms. As required for competitive reasons, we may provide long-term financing in connection with equipment purchases. Financing may cover all or a portion of the purchase price.
Generally, our contracts do not include a right of return, other than for standard warranty provisions. Due to customer purchasing patterns and the cyclical nature of the markets we serve, our sales tend to be somewhat higher in the second half of the year, with the fourth quarter being the highest.
Competition
The markets in which we operate are highly competitive. Key competitive factors include: performance, features, quality, availability, warranty, price, vendor financing, availability of service, company reputation and financial strength, partner community, and relationships with customers. Our strong reputation with customers and partners, trusted brand, technology leadership, breadth of portfolio, product performance, and specialized support services position us well for success.
We experience widespread competition from a growing number of existing and new competitors, including large system integrators and manufacturers of private and public wireless network equipment and devices. Traditional Land Mobile Radio competitors include: Harris, Hytera, Airbus, and Kenwood.
As demand for fully integrated voice, data, and broadband systems continue to grow, we may face additional competition from public telecommunications carriers and telecommunications equipment providers. As we continue to evolve our Integration services and Managed & Support services strategy, we may work with other companies on a consortium or joint venture basis as customers' delivery needs become more complex to fulfill.
Our continued focus on growing our Command Center suite has added additional competitors such as: West Corporation, Intergraph, Tri-Tech, and Zetron.
Several other competitive factors may have an impact on our future business including: evolving spectrum mandates by government regulators, increasing investment by broadband and IP solution providers, and new low-tier competitors.
Other Information
Backlog
Our backlog for the Products and Services segments includes all product and service orders that have been received and are believed to be firm. As of December 31, 2017 and December 31, 2016, our backlog was as follows:
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(In millions) | 2017 | | 2016 |
Products | $ | 1,895 |
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Services | 7,717 |
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| $ | 9,612 |
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The increase in backlog of $1.2 billion is driven by acquisitions and growth in both the Products and Services segments absent of acquisitions. Approximately 54% of the Products segment backlog and 25% of the Services segment backlog is expected to be recognized as revenue during 2018. The forward-looking estimate of the firmness of such orders is subject to future events that may cause the amount recognized to change.
Research and Development
We continue to prioritize investments in R&D to expand and improve our portfolio of products through both new product introductions and continuous enhancements to our core products. Our R&D programs are focused on the development of: (i) new public safety devices, infrastructure, software and solutions, (ii) Command Center applications that include voice, data, and video, and (iii) public safety broadband solutions based on the LTE technology.
R&D expenditures were $568 million in 2017, $553 million in 2016, and $620 million in 2015. As of December 31, 2017, we had approximately 5,000 employees engaged in R&D activities. In addition, we engage in R&D activities with joint development and manufacturing partners and outsource certain activities to engineering firms to further supplement our internal spend.
Intellectual Property Matters
Patent protection is an important aspect of our operations. We have a portfolio of U.S. and foreign utility and design patents relating to our products, systems, and technologies, including research developments in radio frequency technology and circuits, wireless network technologies, over-the-air protocols, mission critical communications, software and services, and next-generation public safety. We have filed new patent applications with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and foreign patent offices.
We license some of our patents to third-parties, but licensing revenue is not a significant source of revenue. We are also licensed to use certain patents owned by others. Royalty and licensing fees vary from year-to-year and are subject to the terms of the agreements and sales volumes of the products subject to the license. Motorola Solutions has a royalty-free license under all of the patents and patent applications assigned to Motorola Mobility at the time of the separation of the two businesses in 2011.
We actively participate in the development of standards for interoperable, mission-critical digital two-way radio systems. Our patents are used in standards in which our products and services are based. We offer standards-based licenses to those patents on fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory terms.
We believe that our patent portfolio will continue to provide us with a competitive advantage in our core product areas as well as provide leverage in the development of future technologies. While we are not dependent upon a single patent or even a few patents, we do have patents that protect features and functionality of our products and services. While these patents are important, our success also depends upon our extensive know-how, innovative culture, technical leadership, and distribution channels. We do not rely solely on patents or other intellectual property rights to protect or establish our market position; however, we will enforce our intellectual property rights in certain technologies when it is necessary to protect our innovation, or in some cases attempts to negotiate mutually agreeable licenses are not successful.
We seek to obtain patents and trademarks to protect our proprietary positions whenever possible and wherever practical. As of December 31, 2017, we owned approximately 4,402 granted patents in the U.S. and in foreign countries. As of December 31, 2017, we had approximately 1,210 U.S. and foreign patent applications pending. Foreign patents and patent applications are mostly counterparts of our U.S. patents. During 2017, we were granted approximately 404 patents in the U.S. and in foreign countries.
We no longer own certain logos and other trademarks, trade names and service marks, including MOTOROLA, MOTO, MOTOROLA SOLUTIONS and the Stylized M logo and all derivatives thereof (“Motorola Marks”) and we license the Motorola Marks from Motorola Mobility, which is currently owned by Lenovo.
Inventory and Raw Materials
Our practice is to carry reasonable amounts of inventory to meet customers’ delivery requirements. We provide custom products which require the stocking of inventories and a large variety of piece parts and replacement parts in order to meet delivery and warranty requirements. To the extent suppliers’ product life cycles are shorter than ours; stocking of lifetime buy inventories is required to meet long-term warranty and contractual requirements. In addition, replacement parts are stocked for delivery on customer demand within a short delivery cycle.
Availability of required materials and components is generally dependable; however, fluctuations in supply and market demand could cause selective shortages and affect our results of operations. We currently procure certain materials and components from single-source vendors. A material disruption from a single-source vendor may have a material adverse impact on our results of operations. If certain single-source suppliers were to become capacity constrained or insolvent, it could result in a reduction or interruption in supplies, or an increase in the price of supplies, and adversely impact our financial results.
Natural gas, electricity and, to a lesser extent, oil are the primary sources of energy for our manufacturing operations. Each of these resources is currently in adequate supply for our operations. The cost to operate our facilities and freight costs are dependent on world oil prices and external third-party logistics rates for inbound and outbound air lanes. Labor is generally available in reasonable proximity to our manufacturing facilities and the manufacturing facilities of our largest outsourced manufacturing suppliers. Difficulties in obtaining any of the aforementioned resources, or a significant cost increase, could affect our financial results.
Environmental Quality and Regulatory Matters
Some of our operations use substances regulated under various federal, state, local, and international laws governing the environment and worker health and safety, including those governing the discharge of pollutants into the ground, air, and water, the management and disposal of hazardous substances and wastes, and the cleanup of contaminated sites, as well as relating to the protection of the environment. Certain products of ours are subject to various federal, state, local, and international laws governing chemical substances in electronic products. During 2017, compliance with these U.S. federal, state and local, and international laws did not have a material effect on our capital expenditures, earnings, or competitive position.
Radio spectrum is required to provide wireless voice, data, and video communications service. The allocation of spectrum is regulated in the U.S. and other countries and limited spectrum space is allocated to wireless services and specifically to public safety users. In the U.S., the Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”) and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (“NTIA”) regulate spectrum use by non-federal entities and federal entities, respectively. Similarly, countries around the world have one or more regulatory bodies that define and implement the rules for use of radio spectrum, pursuant to their respective national laws and international coordination under the International Telecommunications Union
(“ITU”). We manufacture and market products in spectrum bands already made available by regulatory bodies. These include voice and data infrastructure, mobile radios, and portable or hand-held devices. Consequently, our results could be positively or negatively affected by the rules and regulations adopted from time to time by the FCC, NTIA, ITU, or regulatory agencies in other countries. Our products operate both on licensed and unlicensed spectrum. The availability of additional radio spectrum may provide new business opportunities. Conversely, the loss of available radio spectrum may result in the loss of business opportunities. Regulatory changes in current spectrum bands may also provide opportunities or may require modifications to some of our products so they can continue to be manufactured and marketed.
As television transmission and reception technology transitions from analog to more efficient digital modes, various countries around the world are examining, and in some cases already pursuing, the redevelopment of portions of the television spectrum. In the U.S., spectrum historically used for broadcast television, known as the 700MHz band, has been redeveloped and deployed for new uses (the so-called “digital dividend” spectrum), including broadband and narrowband wireless communications. In 2016, this trend continued in the US and additional TV spectrum in the 600MHz band was auctioned for broadband communications (part of the “Broadcast Incentive Auction”). This auction closed in April 2017, but auction winners will not get access to the spectrum for several years.
Internationally, the ITU World Radio Conference ("WRC") is held every three to four years to discuss and promote global agreement on the use and cooperation of spectrum usage. The most recent WRC-15 was held in November 2015. During this conference, leaders from United Nations member countries considered a number of initiatives, including whether to allocate additional spectrum for commercial broadband use as well as whether to allocate spectrum dedicated for public safety broadband. The WRC has agreed to support countries making individual decisions to allocate spectrum for public safety broadband in the 700MHz and 800MHz spectrum bands. Studies are underway to assess whether and how much spectrum is needed and to develop recommendations on where in the spectrum range the spectrum should be allocated (taking into account regional and global harmonization to the extent practicable). Motorola Solutions continues to work with its customers and governments around the world to advocate for future allocations of dedicated broadband spectrum for public safety which will provide new business opportunities for us in the future.
Several major markets including: Canada, the United States, the UAE, Mexico, Singapore, and South Korea have already set aside broadband spectrum for use by public safety and the wider first-responder communities. We believe this trend will continue over time and the planned implementation of broadband public safety networks provides new opportunities for our broadband portfolio and services growth strategy. In addition, certain countries, in response to increasing security concerns, already have spectrum landscapes that permit country administrations to allocate public safety spectrum quickly without a protracted process or agreement. Some other markets including Australia and the UK are launching broadband public safety networks drawing on basic LTE infrastructure built by the carriers. These trends also provide opportunities for our broadband and services portfolio.
Employees
At December 31, 2017, and December 31, 2016 we had approximately 15,000 and 14,000 employees, respectively.
Material Dispositions
On October 27, 2014, we completed the sale of certain assets and liabilities of the Enterprise business to Zebra Technologies Corporation ("Zebra"). The financial results of the disposed business have been classified as discontinued operations for all periods presented. The results of discontinued operations are discussed in further detail in the “Discontinued Operations” footnote included in Item 8.
Financial Information About Geographic Areas
The response to this section of Item 1 incorporates by reference Note 11, “Commitments and Contingencies” and Note 12, “Information by Segment and Geographic Region” of Part II, "Item 8: Financial Statements and Supplementary Data" of this document, the “Results of Operations—2017 Compared to 2016” and “Results of Operations—2016 Compared to 2015” sections of Part II, “Item 7: Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” and “Item 1A: Risk Factors” of this document.
Financial Information About Segments
The response to this section of Item 1 incorporates by reference Note 12, “Information by Segment and Geographic Region,” of Part II, "Item 8: Financial Statements and Supplementary Data" of this document.
Available Information
We make available free of charge through our website, www.motorolasolutions.com/investors, our annual reports on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K, proxy statements, other reports filed under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (“Exchange Act”), and all amendments to those reports simultaneously or as soon as reasonably practicable after such material is electronically filed with, or furnished to, the SEC. Our reports are also available free of charge on the SEC’s website, www.sec.gov. Also available free of charge on our website are the following corporate governance documents:
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• | Motorola Solutions, Inc. Restated Certificate of Incorporation with Amendments |
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• | Conformed Restated Certificate of Incorporation of Motorola Solutions, Inc. (amended Jan. 4, 2011) |
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• | Certificate of Amendment to the Restated Certificate of Incorporation of Motorola, Inc. (effective Jan. 4, 2011) |
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• | Certificate of Ownership and Merger of Motorola Name Change Corporation into Motorola, Inc. (effective Jan. 4, 2011) |
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• | Motorola Solutions, Inc. Amended and Restated Bylaws |
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• | Board Governance Guidelines |
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• | Director Independence Guidelines |
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• | Principles of Conduct for Members of the Motorola Solutions, Inc. Board of Directors |
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• | Motorola Solutions Code of Business Conduct, which is applicable to all Motorola Solutions employees, including the principal executive officers, the principal financial officer and the controller (principal accounting officer) |
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• | Compensation and Leadership Committee Charter |
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• | Governance and Nominating Committee Charter |
All of our reports and corporate governance documents may also be obtained without charge by contacting Investor Relations, Motorola Solutions, Inc., Corporate Offices, 500 W. Monroe Street, Chicago, IL 60661, E-mail: investors@motorolasolutions.com. This annual report on Form 10-K and Definitive Proxy Statement are available on the Internet at www.motorolasolutions.com/investors and may also be requested in hardcopy by completing the on-line request form available on our website at www.motorolasolutions.com/investors. Our Internet website and the information contained therein or incorporated therein are not intended to be incorporated into this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
Item 1A: Risk Factors
We face a number of risks related to current global economic and political conditions, including low economic growth rates in certain markets, the impact of currency fluctuations, commodity price volatility, and unstable political conditions that have and could continue to unfavorably impact our business.
Global economic and political conditions continue to be challenging for many of our government and commercial markets, as economic growth in many countries, particularly in parts of Latin America and in other emerging markets, has remained low or declined, currency fluctuations have impacted profitability, credit markets have remained tight for certain counterparties of ours and many of our customers remain dependent on government grants to fund purchases of our products and services. In addition, conflicts in the Middle East and elsewhere have created many economic and political uncertainties that continue to impact worldwide markets. The length of time these adverse economic and political conditions may persist is unknown. These global economic and political conditions have impacted and could continue to impact our business, financial condition, results of operations, and cash flows in a number of ways, including:
•Requests by Customers for Vendor Financing by Motorola Solutions: Certain customers of ours, particularly, but not limited to, those who purchase large infrastructure systems, request that their suppliers provide financing in connection with equipment purchases and/or the provision of solutions and services, particularly as the size and length of these types of contracts increases and as we increase our business in developing countries. Requests for vendor financing continue to increase in volume and scope, including in response to reduced tax revenue at the state and local government level and ongoing tightening of credit for certain commercial customers. Motorola Solutions has continued to provide vendor financing to both our government and commercial customers. We have been faced with and expect to continue to be faced with choosing between further increasing our level of vendor financing or potentially losing sales, as some of our competitors, particularly those in Asia, have been more willing to provide vendor financing to customers around the world, particularly customers in Africa and Latin America. To the extent we are unable to sell these receivables on terms acceptable to us we may retain exposure to the credit quality of our customers who we finance.
•Customers' Inability to Obtain Financing to Make Purchases from Motorola Solutions and/or Maintain Their Business: Some of our customers require substantial financing, including public financing or government grants, in order to fund their operations and make purchases from us. The inability of these customers to obtain sufficient credit or other funds, including as a result of lower tax revenues, currency fluctuations or unavailability of government grants, to finance purchases of our products and services and/or to meet their payment obligations to us could have, and in some cases has had, a negative impact on our financial results. This risk increases as the size and length of our contracts increase. In addition, if global economic conditions result in insolvencies for our customers, it will negatively impact our financial results.
•Challenges in Budgeting and Forecasting: It is difficult to estimate changes in various parts of the U.S. and world economy, including the markets in which we participate. Components of our budgeting and forecasting are dependent upon estimates of demand for our products and estimates of foreign exchange rates. The prevailing economic uncertainties render estimates of future income and expenditures challenging.
•Potential Deferment or Cancellation of Purchases and Orders by Customers: Uncertainty about current and future global economic conditions may cause, and in some cases has caused, businesses and governments to defer or cancel purchases in response to tighter credit, decreased cash availability and de-prioritization of communications equipment within the budgeting process. If future demand for our products declines due to economic conditions, it will negatively impact our financial results.
•Inability to Operate and Grow in Certain Markets: We operate in a number of markets with a risk of intensifying political instability, including Europe, Russia, Brazil, the Middle East and Africa. If political instability continues in these markets and in other parts of the world in which we operate it could have a significant impact on our ability to grow and, in some cases, operate in those locations, which will negatively impact our financial results.
A security breach or other significant disruption of our IT systems, those of our outsource partners, suppliers or those we manufacture, install, and in some cases operate and maintain for our customers, caused by cyber attack or other means, could have a negative impact on our operations, sales, and operating results.
All information technology systems are potentially vulnerable to damage, unauthorized access or interruption from a variety of sources, including but not limited to, cyber attack, cyber intrusion, computer viruses, security breach, energy blackouts, natural disasters, terrorism, sabotage, war, insider trading, and telecommunication failures. As a provider of mission-critical communications systems for customers in critical infrastructure sectors of the U.S. and globally, including systems that we operate and maintain for certain customers of ours, we face additional risk as a target of sophisticated attacks aimed at compromising both our Company’s and our customers’ sensitive information and intellectual property, through means referred to as advanced persistent threats. This risk is heightened because these systems may contain sensitive governmental information or personally identifiable or other protected information. While we employ a number of countermeasures and security controls, including training and audits and utilization of commercial information security threat sharing networks to protect against such attacks, we, along with the industry, have experienced a gradual and steady increase in the sophistication of these threats, most noticeably through well-crafted social engineering and phishing attempts. We cannot guarantee that all threat attempts will be successfully thwarted even with these countermeasures and we are therefore investing more in detection and response capabilities to minimize potential impacts. Further, we are dependent, in certain instances, upon our outsourced business partners, suppliers, and customers to adequately protect our IT systems and those IT systems that we manage for our customers. In addition, some of our customers are exploring broadband solutions that use public carrier networks on which our solutions would operate. We do not have direct oversight or influence over how public carrier networks manage the security, quality, or resiliency of their networks, and because they are an attractive high value target due to their role in critical infrastructure, they expose customers to an elevated risk over our private networks.
Our Company outsources certain business operations, including, but not limited to IT, HR information systems, manufacturing, repair, distribution and engineering services. These arrangements are governed by various contracts and agreements which reference and mandate Company and international standards of information protection, as appropriate. In addition, we maintain certain networked equipment at customer locations and are reliant on those customers to protect and maintain that equipment. The “attack surface” for us to protect against our adversaries is thus often extended to these partners and customers, as well as our suppliers, and we have some dependency upon their cyber security capabilities as well as their willingness to exchange threat and response information with us
A cyber attack or other significant disruption involving our IT systems or those of our outsource partners, suppliers or our customers could result in the unauthorized release of proprietary, confidential or sensitive information of ours or our customers. Such unauthorized access to, or release of, this information could: (i) allow others to unfairly compete with us, (ii) compromise safety or security, given the mission-critical nature of our customers’ systems, (iii) subject us to claims for breach of contract, tort, and other civil claims, and (iv) damage our reputation. We could face regulatory penalties, enforcement actions, remediation obligations and/or private litigation by parties whose data is improperly disclosed or misused. In addition, there has been a sharp increase in laws in Europe, the U.S. and elsewhere, imposing requirements for the handling of personal data, including data of employees, consumers and business contacts, as well as imposing requirements for remediation action, including specific timing and method of notification. There is a risk that our Company, directly or as the result of some third-party service provider we use, could be found to have failed to comply with the laws or regulations of some country regarding the collection, consent, handling, transfer, retention or disposal of such personal data, and therefore subject us to fines or other sanctions. The European Courts invalidation of Safe Harbor as a mechanism to legitimize cross border data flows increases the risk that our Company, directly or through some third-party service provider that we use, may inappropriately transfer EU personal data. Any or all of the foregoing could have a negative impact on our business, financial condition, results of operations, and cash flow.
A significant amount of our international business is transacted in local currency and a significant percentage of our cash and cash equivalents are held outside of the United States, which exposes us to risk relating to currency fluctuations, changes in foreign exchange regulations and repatriation delays and costs, which could negatively impact our sales, profitability and financial flexibility.
We have sizable sales and operations in Canada and our Europe, Middle East and Africa, Asia, and Latin America regions.
A significant amount of this business is transacted in local currency. As a result, our financial performance is impacted by currency fluctuations. We are also experiencing increased pressure to agree to established currency conversion rates and cost of living adjustments as a result of foreign currency fluctuations or the requirement to transact business in local currencies.
A significant percentage of our cash and cash equivalents is currently held outside the U.S. and we continue to generate profits outside of the U.S., while many of our liabilities, such as our public debt, the majority of our pension liabilities and certain other cash payments, such as dividends and share repurchases, are payable in the U.S. While we have regularly repatriated funds with minimal adverse impact, repatriation of some of the funds has been and could continue to be subject to delay for local country approvals and could have potential adverse tax consequences. In addition, foreign exchange regulations may limit our ability to convert or repatriate foreign currency. As a result of having a lower amount of cash and cash equivalents in the U.S., our financial flexibility may be reduced.
We face uncertainty in the global geopolitical landscape that may impede the implementation of our strategy outside the United States.
In June 2016, the United Kingdom (the “U.K”) held a referendum in which voters approved an exit from the European Union (“E.U.”), commonly referred to as Brexit. It is expected that the U.K. government will initiate a process to withdraw from the E.U. and begin negotiating the terms of its separation. The announcement of Brexit has resulted in volatility in the global stock market and currency exchange rate fluctuations that resulted in strengthening of the U.S. dollar relative to other foreign currencies in which we conduct business. The announcement of Brexit and likely withdrawal of the U.K. from the E.U. may also create global economic uncertainty, which may cause our customers to closely monitor their costs and reduce their spending budgets. In addition, there may be uncertainty as to the position the United States will take with respect to certain treaty and trade relationships with other countries. This uncertainty may impact (i) the ability or willingness of non-U.S. companies to transact business in the United States, including with our Company, (ii) regulation and trade agreements affecting U.S. companies, (iii) global stock markets and (iv) general global economic conditions. All of these factors are outside of our control, but may cause us to adjust our strategy in order to compete effectively in global markets and could adversely affect our business, financial condition, operating results and cash flows.
A portion of our business is dependent upon U.S. government contracts and grants, which are highly regulated and subject to oversight audits by U.S. government representatives and subject to cancellations. Such audits could result in adverse findings and negatively impact our business.
Our U.S. government business is subject to specific procurement regulations with numerous compliance requirements. These requirements, although customary in government contracting in the U.S., increase our performance and compliance costs. These costs may increase in the future, thereby reducing our margins, which could have an adverse effect on our financial condition. Failure to comply with these regulations or other compliance requirements could lead to suspension or debarment from U.S. government contracting or subcontracting for a period of time. Among the causes for debarment are violations of various laws or policies, including those related to procurement integrity, export control, U.S. government security regulations, employment practices, protection of criminal justice data, protection of the environment, accuracy of records, proper recording of costs, foreign corruption and the False Claims Act.
Generally, in the U.S. government contracts and grants are subject to oversight audits by government representatives. Such audits could result in adjustments to our contracts. Any costs found to be improperly allocated to a specific contract may not be allowed, and such costs already reimbursed may have to be refunded. Future audits and adjustments, if required, may materially reduce our revenues or profits upon completion and final negotiation of audits. Negative audit findings could also result in investigations, termination of a contract or grant, forfeiture of profits or reimbursements, suspension of payments, fines and suspension or prohibition from doing business with the U.S. government. All contracts with the U.S. government are subject to cancellation at the convenience of the U.S. government.
In addition, contacts with government officials and participation in political activities are areas that are tightly controlled by federal, state, local and international laws. Failure to comply with these laws could cost us opportunities to seek certain government sales opportunities or even result in fines, prosecution, or debarment.
Government regulation of radio frequencies may limit the growth of public safety broadband systems or reduce barriers to entry for new competitors.
Radio frequencies are required to provide wireless services. The allocation of frequencies is regulated in the U.S. and other countries and limited spectrum is allocated to wireless services and specifically to public safety users. The growth of public safety broadband communications systems may be affected: (i) by regulations relating to the access to allocated spectrum for public safety users, (ii) if adequate frequencies are not allocated, or (iii) if new technologies are not developed to better utilize the frequencies currently allocated for such use. Industry growth may also be affected by new licensing fees required to use frequencies.
The U.S. leads the world in allocating spectrum to enable wireless communications including LTE. Other countries have also allocated spectrum to allow deployment of these and other technologies. This changing landscape may introduce new competition and new opportunities for us.
MSI’s opportunities to sell LTE equipment and related software and services in the U.S will be substantially impacted by: (1) AT&T's success in satisfying contract requirements and milestones, including, among others, subscriber adoption rate, mandatory payments to FirstNet, and coverage and (2) fiscal, public, and regulatory policies and/or special interest politics that risk delaying deployment.
We derive a portion of our revenue from government customers who award business through competitive bidding which can involve significant upfront costs and risks. This effort may not result in awards of business or we may fail to accurately estimate the costs to fulfill contracts awarded to us, which could have adverse consequences on our future profitability.
Many government customers, including most U.S. government customers, award business through a competitive bidding process, which results in greater competition and increased pricing pressure. The competitive bidding process involves significant cost and managerial time to prepare bids for contracts that may not be awarded to us. Even if we are awarded contracts, we may fail to accurately estimate the resources and costs required to fulfill a contract, or to resolve problems with our subcontractors or suppliers, which could negatively impact the profitability of any contract award to us, particularly in the case of
fixed price contracts. In addition, following the award of a contract, we have experienced and may continue to experience significant expense or delay, contract modification or contract rescission as a result of customer delay or our competitors protesting or challenging contracts awarded to us in competitive bidding.
We enter into fixed-price contracts that could subject us to losses in the event we fail to properly estimate our costs or hedge our risks associated with currency fluctuations.
We enter into a number of firm fixed-price contracts. If our initial cost estimates are incorrect, we can lose money on these contracts. Because certain of these contracts involve new technologies and applications, require us to engage subcontractors and/or can last multiple years, unforeseen events, such as technological difficulties, fluctuations in the price of raw materials, problems with our subcontractors or suppliers and other cost overruns, can result in the contract pricing becoming less favorable or even unprofitable to us and have an adverse impact on our financial results. In addition, a significant increase in inflation rates or currency fluctuations could have an adverse impact on the profitability of longer-term contracts.
The expansion of our solutions and services business creates new competitors and new and increased areas of risk that we have not been exposed to in the past and that we may not be able to properly assess or mitigate.
We plan to continue to expand our solutions and services business by offering additional and expanded managed services for existing and new types of customers, such as designing, building, operating, managing and in some cases owning a public- safety system or other commercial system. The offering of managed services involves the integration of multiple services, multiple vendors and multiple technologies, requiring that we partner with other solutions and services providers, often on multiyear projects.
Additionally, our managed services business will be expanded to include the hosting of software applications. This allows the customers to “consume” the software “as a service” and avoid the costs and complexities of acquiring and operating the software.
•We may recognize revenue over time as a services offering, rather than at a point in time as with a traditional equipment sale, which will extend revenue recognition over the length of the services contracts, which may be several years.
•The managed services business is one characterized by large subcontracting arrangements and we may not be able to obtain favorable contract terms including adequate indemnities, performance commitments or other protections from our subcontractors to adequately mitigate our exposure to our customers.
•We may face increasing competition from traditional system integrators and the defense industry as solutions and services contracts become larger and more complicated.
•Expansion will bring us into contact with new regulatory requirements and restrictions, such as data security or data residency/localization obligations, with which we will have to comply and may increase the costs of doing business, reduce margins and delay or limit the range of new solutions and services which we will be able to offer.
•We may be required to agree to specific performance metrics that meet the customer's requirements for network security, availability, reliability, maintenance and support and, in some cases, if these performance metrics are not met we may not be paid.
We may not continue to have access to the capital markets for financing on acceptable terms and conditions, particularly if our credit ratings are downgraded, which could limit our ability to repay our indebtedness and could cause liquidity issues.
From time to time we access the capital markets to obtain financing. Our access to the capital markets and the bank credit markets at acceptable terms and conditions are impacted by many factors, including: (i) our credit ratings, (ii) the liquidity of the overall capital markets, (iii) strength and credit availability in the banking markets, and (iv) the current state of the global economy. In addition, we frequently access the credit markets to obtain performance bonds, bid bonds, standby letters of credit and surety bonds, as well as to hedge foreign exchange risk and sell receivables. In addition, there can be no assurances we will be able to refinance our existing indebtedness (i) on commercially reasonable terms, (ii) on terms, including with respect to interest rates, as favorable as our current debt, or (iii) at all. There can be no assurances that we will continue to have access to the capital markets or bank credit markets on terms acceptable to us and if we are unable to repay or refinance our debt, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to generate enough cash flows from operations or that we will be able to obtain enough capital to service our debt, fund our planned capital expenditures or pay future dividends.
We are rated investment grade by all three national rating agencies. Any downward changes by the rating agencies to our credit rating may negatively impact the value and liquidity of both our debt and equity securities. Under certain circumstances, an increase in the interest rate payable by us under our revolving credit facility, if any amounts were borrowed under such facility, could negatively affect our operating cash flows. In addition, a downgrade in our credit ratings could limit our ability to: (i) access the capital markets or bank credit markets, (ii) provide performance bonds, bid bonds, standby letters of credit and surety bonds, (iii) hedge foreign exchange risk, (iv) fund our foreign affiliates, and (v) sell receivables. A downgrade in our credit rating could also result in less favorable trade terms with suppliers. In addition, any downgrades in our credit ratings may affect our ability to obtain additional financing in the future and may affect the terms of any such financing. Any future disruptions, uncertainty or volatility in the capital markets may result in higher funding costs for us and adversely affect our ability to access funds and other credit related products. In addition, we may avoid taking actions that would otherwise benefit us or our stockholders, such as engaging in certain acquisitions or engaging in stock repurchases, that would negatively impact our credit rating.
Our future operating results depend on our ability to purchase at acceptable prices a sufficient amount of materials, parts, and components, as well as services and software to meet the demands of our customers and any disruption to our suppliers or significant increase in the price of supplies could have a negative impact on our results of operations.
Our ability to meet customers' demands depends, in part, on our ability to timely obtain an adequate delivery of quality materials, parts, and components, as well as services and software from our suppliers. In addition, certain supplies, including for some of our critical components, are available only from a single source or limited sources and we may not be able to diversify sources in a timely manner. If demand for our products or services increases from our current expectations or if suppliers are unable to meet our demand for other reasons, including as a result of natural disasters or financial issues, we could experience an interruption in supplies or a significant increase in the price of supplies, including as a result of having to move to an alternative source, that could have a negative impact on our business as a result of increased cost or delay in or inability to deliver our products. This risk may increase as a result of consolidation of certain suppliers of ours. We have experienced shortages in the past that have negatively impacted our results of operations and may experience such shortages in the future. In addition, credit constraints at our suppliers could cause us to accelerate payment of accounts payable by us, impacting our cash flow.
We have seen and expect to continue to see increases in the price of certain supplies as we no longer qualify for certain volume discounts given our significant decrease in direct material spend over the last several years as a result of our spin-offs and divestitures. We have also experienced less support and focus from our suppliers as our spend has diminished, making it more difficult for us to resolve gaps in supply due to unforeseen changes in forecast and demand. In addition, our current contractual arrangements with certain suppliers may be cancelled or not extended by such suppliers and, therefore, not afford us with sufficient protection against a reduction or interruption in supplies. Moreover, in the event any of these suppliers breach their contracts with us, our legal remedies associated with such a breach may be insufficient to compensate us for any damages we may suffer.
Over the last several years we have outsourced portions of certain business operations like IT, HR information systems, manufacturing, repair, distribution and engineering services and expect to outsource additional business operations. This outsourcing limits our control over these business operations and exposes us to additional risk as a result of the actions of our outsource partners.
As we outsource more of our business operations we are not able to directly control these activities. Our outsource partners may not prioritize our business over that of their other customers and they may not meet our desired level of quality, performance, service, cost reductions or other metrics. Failure to meet key performance indicators may result in our being in default with our customers. In addition, we may rely on our outsource partners to secure materials from our suppliers with whom our outsource partners may not have existing relationships and we may be required to continue to manage these relationships even after we outsource certain business operations.
As we outsource business operations we become dependent on the IT systems of our outsource partners, including to transmit demand and purchase orders to suppliers, which can result in a delay in order placement. In addition, in an effort to reduce costs and limit their liabilities, our outsource partners may not have robust systems or make commitments in as timely a manner as we require.
In some cases the actions of our outsource partners may result in our being found to be in violation of laws or regulations like import or export regulations. As many of our outsource partners operate outside of the U.S., our outsourcing activity exposes us to information security vulnerabilities and increases our global risks. In addition, we are exposed to the financial viability of our outsource partners. Once a business activity is outsourced we may be contractually prohibited from or may not practically be able to bring such activity back within the Company or move it to another outsource partner. The actions of our outsource partners could result in reputational damage to us and could negatively impact our business, financial conditions, results of operations, and cash flows.
Our sales within a quarter are not linear, with a substantial percentage of products shipping in the final month of the quarter. This lack of linearity creates inefficiencies in our business performance and any interruption during this final month could have a substantial impact on our quarterly financial results.
On average, a substantial percentage of our quarterly sales ship in the final month of a quarter. Any interruption in our ability to ship products during this final month, such as unavailability of critical components, disruption to our manufacturing capabilities or disruptions in our distribution channel, will have a disproportionately large impact on our quarterly financial results, as we may be unable to recover in time to ship the products and recognize revenue in that quarter.
In addition, this lack of linearity results in inefficiencies in our financial performance, as we must invest in capacity and resources to support this business model, meaning we have underutilized operations during the first two months of the quarter. We also must maintain additional component inventory and engage in pre-builds of finished goods to mitigate the impact of this lack of linearity and meet potential last month demand. This could result in our carrying excess inventory, which is costly and may result in increased inventory obsolescence over time.
We no longer own certain logos and other trademarks, trade names and service marks, including MOTOROLA, MOTO, MOTOROLA SOLUTIONS and the Stylized M logo and all derivatives and formatives thereof (“Motorola Marks”) and we license the Motorola Marks from Motorola Trademark Holdings, LLC (“MTH”), which is currently owned by Motorola Mobility, a subsidiary of Lenovo. Our joint use of the Motorola Marks could result in product and market confusion and negatively impact our ability to expand our business under the Motorola brand. In addition, if we do not comply with the terms of the license agreement we could lose our rights to the Motorola Marks. Because of the change of control of Motorola Mobility, which is now owned by Lenovo, we may find that an incompatible third-party owns the Motorola Marks.
We have a worldwide, perpetual and royalty-free license from MTH to use the Motorola Marks as part of our corporate name and in connection with the manufacture, sale, and marketing of our current products and services. The license of the Motorola Marks is important to us because of the reputation of the Motorola brand for our products and services. There are risks associated with both Motorola Mobility and the Company using the Motorola Marks and with this loss of ownership. As both Motorola Mobility and the Company will be using the Motorola Marks, confusion could arise in the market, including customer confusion regarding the products offered by and the actions of the two companies. Motorola Mobility was acquired by Lenovo in 2014, which resulted in Lenovo having effective control over the Motorola Marks. This risk could increase as both Motorola Mobility's and our products continue to converge. This risk could increase under Lenovo's control if they expand their use of the Motorola Marks. Also, any negative publicity associated with either company in the future could adversely affect the public image of the other. In addition, because our license of the Motorola Marks will be limited to products and services within our specified fields of use, we will not be permitted to use the Motorola Marks in other fields of use without the approval of Motorola Mobility, which is now controlled by Lenovo. In the event that we desire to expand our business into any other fields of use, we may need to do so with a brand other than the Motorola brand. Developing a brand as well-known and with as much brand equity as Motorola could take considerable time and expense. The risk of needing to develop a second brand increases as Motorola Mobility's and our products continue to converge and if our business expands into other fields of use. In addition, we could lose our rights to use the Motorola Marks if we do not comply with the terms of the license agreement. Such a loss could negatively affect our business, results of operations and financial condition. Furthermore, MTH has the right to license the brand to third- parties and either Motorola Mobility or licensed third-parties may use the brand in ways that make the brand less attractive for customers of Motorola Solutions, creating increased risk that Motorola Solutions may need to develop an alternate or additional brand. In 2013 Motorola Mobility modified certain Motorola Marks used by the Company. Motorola Mobility may require the Company to adopt the use of the modified Motorola Marks, which would result in the Company incurring the costs of rebranding.
In addition, neither Motorola Mobility nor Lenovo are prohibited from selling the Motorola Marks. In the event of a liquidation of Motorola Mobility or the then owner of the Motorola Marks, it is possible that a bankruptcy court would permit the Motorola Marks to be assigned to a third-party. While our right to use the Motorola Marks under our license should continue in our specified field of use in such situations, it is possible that we could be party to a license arrangement with a third-party whose interests are incompatible with ours, thereby potentially making the license arrangement difficult to administer, and increasing the costs and risks associated with sharing the Motorola Marks. In addition, there is a risk that, in the event of a bankruptcy of Motorola Mobility or the then owner of the Motorola Marks, Motorola Mobility, the then owner or its bankruptcy trustee may attempt to reject the license, or a bankruptcy court may refuse to uphold the license or certain of its terms. Such a loss could negatively affect our business, results of operations and financial condition.
We utilize the services of subcontractors to perform under many of our contracts and the inability of our subcontractors to perform in a timely and compliant manner could negatively impact our ability to comply with our performance obligations as the prime contractor.
We engage subcontractors, including third-party integrators, on many of our contracts and as we expand our solutions and services business our use of subcontractors has and will continue to increase. Our subcontractors may further subcontract performance and may supply third-party products and software from a number of smaller companies. We may have disputes with our subcontractors, including disputes regarding the quality and timeliness of work performed by the subcontractor or its subcontractors and the functionality, warranty and indemnities of products, software and services supplied by our subcontractor. We are not always successful in passing down customer requirements to our subcontractors, and thus in some cases may be required to absorb contractual risks from our customers without corresponding back-to-back coverage from our subcontractor. Even when we are able to pass down customer requirements to our subcontractors, sometimes those subcontractors have less financial resources than we do, and a customer may look to us to cover a loss or damage. Our subcontractors may not be able to acquire or maintain the quality of the materials, components, subsystems and services they supply, or secure preferred warranty and indemnity coverage from their suppliers which might result in greater product returns, service problems, warranty claims and costs and regulatory compliance issues. Any of the foregoing could harm our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Failure of our suppliers, subcontractors, distributors, resellers and representatives to use acceptable legal or ethical business practices and adhere to our Supplier Code of Conduct or our Human Rights Policy could negatively impact our business.
It is our policy to require our suppliers, subcontractors, distributors, resellers, and third-party sales representatives (“TPSRs”) to operate in compliance with applicable laws, rules and regulations regarding working conditions, employment practices, environmental compliance, anti-corruption and trademark and copyright licensing. However, we do not control their labor and other business practices. If one of our suppliers, subcontractors, brokers, distributors, resellers, or TPSRs violates labor or other laws or implements labor or other business practices that are regarded as unethical, the shipment of finished
products to us could be interrupted, orders could be canceled, relationships could be terminated and our reputation could be damaged. If one of our suppliers or subcontractors fails to procure necessary license rights to trademarks, copyrights or patents, legal action could be taken against us that could impact the salability of our products and expose us to financial obligations to a third-party. Any of these events could have a negative impact on our sales and results of operations.
Our employees, customers, suppliers and outsource partners are located throughout the world and, as a result, we face risks that other companies that are not global may not face.
Most of our products that are manufactured by or for us outside the U.S. are manufactured in Malaysia. If manufacturing in our facility, or a facility manufacturing products for us, in Malaysia is disrupted, our overall capacity would be significantly reduced and our business, financial condition, results of operation, and cash flows could be negatively impacted.
Our customers and suppliers are located throughout the world. In 2017, approximately 42% percent of our revenue was generated outside the U.S. In addition, we have a number of research and development, administrative and sales facilities outside the U.S. and more than 54% of our employees are employed outside the U.S. Most of our suppliers' operations are outside the U.S. and most of our products are manufactured outside the U.S., both internally and by third-parties.
Because we have sizable sales and operations, including outsourcing and procurement arrangements, outside of the U.S., we have more complexity in our operations and are exposed to a unique set of global risks that could negatively impact our business, financial condition, results of operations, and cash flows, including but not limited to: (i) currency fluctuations, (ii) import/export regulations, tariffs, trade barriers and trade disputes, customs classifications and certifications, including but not limited to changes in classifications or errors or omissions related to such classifications and certifications, (iii) changes in U.S. and non-U.S. rules related to trade, environmental, health and safety, technical standards, consumer and intellectual property and consumer protection, (iv) longer payment cycles, (v) tax issues, such as tax law changes, variations in tax laws from country to country and as compared to the U.S., obligations under tax incentive agreements, difficulties in repatriating cash generated or held abroad in a tax-efficient manner and difficulties in securing local country approvals for cash repatriations, (vi) changes in foreign exchange regulations, (vii) challenges in collecting accounts receivable, (viii) cultural and language differences, (ix) employment regulations and local labor conditions, (x) privacy and data protection regulations and restrictions, (xi) difficulties protecting intellectual property in foreign countries, (xii) instability in economic or political conditions, including inflation, recession and actual or anticipated military or political conflicts and terrorism, (xiii) natural disasters, (xiv) public health issues or outbreaks,(xv) changes in laws or regulations that negatively impact benefits being received by us or that require costly modifications in products sold or operations performed in such countries, (xvi) litigation in foreign court systems and foreign enforcement or administrative proceedings, and (xvii) applicability of anti-corruption laws including the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (“FCPA”) and the U.K. Bribery Act.
We have a number of employees, contractors, representatives and agents in, and sell our products and services throughout, the Middle East and our operations, as well as demand for our products and services, could be negatively impacted by political conflicts and hostilities in this region. The potential for future unrest, terrorist attacks, increased global conflicts, hostility against U.S.-based multinational companies and the escalation of existing conflicts has created worldwide uncertainties that have negatively impacted, and may continue to negatively impact, demand for certain products of ours.
We also are subject to risks that our operations could be conducted by our employees, contractors, representatives or agents in ways that violate the FCPA, the U.K. Bribery Act, or other similar anti-corruption laws. While we have policies and procedures to comply with these laws, our employees, contractors, representatives and agents may take actions that violate our policies. Any such violations could have a negative impact on our business. Moreover, we face additional risks that our anti- corruption policies and procedures may be violated by TPSRs or other third-parties that help sell our products or provide other solutions and services, because such TPSRs and other third parties are not our employees, and, it is therefore more difficult to oversee [and control] their conduct.
Many of our components and some of our products, including software, are developed and/or manufactured by third- parties and in some cases designed by third-parties and if such third-parties lack sufficient quality control, change the design of components or if there are significant changes in the financial or business condition of such third-parties, it may have a negative impact on our business.
We rely on third-parties to develop and/or manufacture many of our components and some of our finished products, and to design certain components and finished products, as well as provide us with software necessary for the operation of those products and we may increase our reliance on such third-parties in the future. We could have difficulties fulfilling our orders and our sales and profits could decline if: (i) we are not able to engage such third-parties with the capabilities or capacities required by our business, (ii) such third-parties lack sufficient quality control or fail to deliver quality components, products, services or software on time and at reasonable prices, or deliver products, services or software that do not meet regulatory or industry standards or requirements, (iii) if there are significant changes in the financial or business condition of such third-parties, or (iv) if we have difficulties transitioning operations to such third-parties.
Because of the long life-cycle of many of our products, we need access to limited quantities of components for manufacturing and repair and suppliers have been and may continue to be unwilling to manufacture such components or may only do so at high prices. Certain key component suppliers are reducing the expected lifetime of key components, in particular semiconductor and electrical components, on some of our products. This could result in the need for more frequent product redesigns and increased engineering costs on some products or costly last time buys, which may negatively impact our financial performance. In addition, we may be unable to meet our repair obligations to our customers.
We are exposed to risks under large, multi-year system and solutions and services contracts that may negatively impact our business.
We enter into large, multi-year system and solutions and services contracts with large municipal, state, and nationwide government and commercial customers. In some cases we may not be the prime contractor and may be dependent on other third-parties such as commercial carriers or systems integrators. This exposes us to risks, including among others: (i) technological risks, especially when the contracts involve new technology, (ii) risk of defaults by third-parties on whom we are relying for products or services as part of our offering or who are the prime contractors, (iii) financial risks, including the estimates inherent in projecting costs associated with large, long-term contracts, the impact of currency fluctuations, inflation, and the related impact on operating results, (iv) cyber security risk, especially in managed services contracts with public safety and commercial customers that process data, and (v) political risk, especially related to the contracts with government customers. In addition, multi-year awards from governmental customers may often only receive partial funding initially and may typically be cancelable on short notice with limited penalties. Recovery of front loaded capital expenditures in long-term managed services contracts is dependent on the continued viability of such customers. The termination of funding for a government program or insolvency of commercial customer could result in a loss of anticipated future revenue attributable to that program, which could have an adverse impact on our profitability.
Our success depends in part on our timely introduction of new products and technologies and our results can be impacted by the effectiveness of our significant investments in new products and technologies.
The markets for certain products of ours are characterized by changing technologies and evolving industry standards. In some cases it is unclear what specific technology will be adopted in the market or what delivery model will prevail, including whether public safety LTE will be delivered via private networks, public carriers or some combination thereof. In addition, new technologies such as voice over LTE or push-to-talk clients over LTE could reduce sales of our traditional products. The shift to smart public safety and the prevalence of data in our customer’s use cases results in our competing in a more fragmented marketplace. In addition, new technologies and new competitors continue to enter our markets at a faster pace than we have experienced in the past, resulting in increased competition from non-traditional suppliers, including public carriers, telecom equipment providers, consumer device manufacturers and software companies. New products are expensive to develop and bring to market and additional complexities are added when this process is outsourced as we have done in certain cases or as we increase our reliance on third-party content and technology. Our success depends, in substantial part, on the timely and successful introduction of new products, upgrades and enhancements of current products to comply with emerging industry standards, laws and regulations, such as China's proprietary technology, PDT, and to address competing technological and product developments carried out by our competitors. Developing new technologies to compete in a specific market may not be financially viable, resulting in our inability to compete in that market. The R&D of new, technologically-advanced products is a complex and uncertain process requiring high levels of innovation and investment, as well as the accurate anticipation of technology and market trends. Many of our products and systems are complex and we may experience delays in completing development and introducing new products or technologies in the future. We may focus our resources on technologies that do not become widely accepted or are not commercially viable or involve compliance obligations with additional areas of regulatory requirements.
Our results are subject to risks related to our significant investment in developing and introducing new products. These risks include among others: (i) difficulties and delays in the development, production, testing and marketing of products, particularly when such activities are done through third-parties, (ii) customer acceptance of products, (iii) the development of, approval of, and compliance with industry standards and regulatory requirements, (iv) the significant amount of resources we must devote to the development of new technologies, and (v) the ability to differentiate our products and compete with other companies in the same markets.
If the quality of our products does not meet our customers' expectations or regulatory or industry standards, then our sales and operating earnings, and ultimately our reputation, could be negatively impacted.
Some of the products we sell may have quality issues resulting from the design or manufacture of the product, or from the software used in the product. Sometimes, these issues may be caused by components we purchase from other manufacturers or suppliers. Often these issues are identified prior to the shipment of the products and may cause delays in shipping products to customers, or even the cancellation of orders by customers. Sometimes, we discover quality issues in the products after they have been shipped to our customers, requiring us to resolve such issues in a timely manner that is the least disruptive to our customers, particularly in light of the mission-critical nature of our communications products. Such pre-shipment and post- shipment quality issues can have legal, financial and reputational ramifications, including: (i) delays in the recognition of revenue, loss of revenue or future orders, (ii) customer-imposed penalties for failure to meet contractual requirements, (iii) increased costs associated with repairing or replacing products, and (iv) a negative impact on our goodwill and brand name reputation.
In some cases, if the quality issue affects the product's performance, safety or regulatory compliance, then such a “defective” product may need to be “stop-shipped” or recalled. Depending on the nature of the quality issue and the number of products in the field, it could cause us to incur substantial recall or corrective field action costs, in addition to the costs associated with the potential loss of future orders and the damage to our goodwill or brand reputation. In addition, we may be required, under certain customer contracts, to pay damages for failed performance that might exceed the revenue that we receive from the contracts. Recalls and field actions involving regulatory non-compliance could also result in fines and additional costs. Recalls and field actions could result in third-party litigation by persons or companies alleging harm or economic damage as a result of the use of the products.
We expect to continue to make strategic acquisitions of other companies or businesses and these acquisitions introduce significant risks and uncertainties, including risks related to integrating the acquired businesses and achieving benefits from the acquisitions.
In order to position ourselves to take advantage of growth opportunities or to meet other strategic needs such as product or technology gaps, we have made, and expect to continue to make, strategic acquisitions that involve significant risks and uncertainties. These risks and uncertainties include: (i) the difficulty or inability in integrating newly-acquired businesses and operations in an efficient and effective manner, (ii) risks associated with integrating financial reporting and internal control systems, (iii) the challenges in achieving strategic objectives, cost savings and other benefits from acquisitions, (iv) the risk that our contractual relationships or the markets do not evolve as anticipated and that the technologies acquired do not prove to be those needed to be successful in those markets, (v) the potential loss of key employees of the acquired businesses, (vi) the risk of diverting the attention of senior management from our operations, (vii) the risks of entering new markets in which we have limited experience, (viii) difficulties in integrating information technology systems and other business processes to accommodate the acquired businesses, (ix) challenges in integrating acquired businesses to create the operating platform for public safety and (x) future impairments of goodwill of an acquired business. In particular, failure to achieve targeted cost and revenue synergies could negatively impact our business performance.
Certain acquisition candidates in the industries in which we participate may carry higher relative valuations (based on revenues, earnings, cash flow, or other relevant multiples) than we do. This is particularly evident in software and certain services businesses. Acquiring a business that has a higher relative valuation than Motorola Solutions may be dilutive to our earnings. In addition, we may not pursue opportunities that are highly dilutive to near-term earnings.
Key employees of acquired businesses may receive substantial value in connection with a transaction in the form of cash payments for their ownership interest, particularly in the case of founders and other shareholder employees, or as a result of change-in-control agreements, acceleration of stock options and the lifting of restrictions on other equity-based compensation rights. To retain such employees and integrate the acquired business, we may offer additional retention incentives, but it may still be difficult to retain certain key employees.
We have completed a number of large divestitures over the last several years and have ongoing obligations and potential liabilities associated with those transactions and the businesses we divested. In addition, these divestitures have resulted in less diversity of our business and our customer base, which could negatively impact our financial results in the event of a downturn in our mission-critical communications business.
Over the last several years we have spun-off or sold a number of large businesses, including Motorola Mobility, our Networks business and our Enterprise business. In connection with our divestitures we typically remain liable for certain pre- closing liabilities associated with the divested business, such as pension liabilities, taxes, employment, environmental liabilities and litigation. In addition, although we often assign contracts associated with the divested business to a buyer in a divestiture, often that assignment will be subject to the consent of the contractual counterparty, which may not be obtained or may be conditioned, resulting in the company remaining liable under the contract. In connection with our divestitures we make representations and warranties and agree to covenants relating to the business divested. We remain liable for a period of time for breaches of representations, warranties and covenants and we also indemnify buyers in the event of such breaches and for other specific risks. Even though we establish reserves for any expected ongoing liability associated with divested businesses, those reserves may not be sufficient if unexpected liabilities arise and this could negatively impact our financial condition and future results of operations.
Because we are now singularly focused on mission-critical communications for public safety and commercial customers we have less diversity in our business and our customer base. A downturn in this business could have a greater negative impact on our financial results than when we were a more diversified communications provider.
We face many risks relating to intellectual property rights.
Our business will be harmed if: (i) we, our customers and/or our suppliers are found to have infringed intellectual property rights of third-parties, (ii) the intellectual property indemnities in our supplier agreements are inadequate to cover damages and losses due to infringement of third-party intellectual property rights by supplier products, (iii) we are required to provide broad intellectual property indemnities to our customers, (iv) our intellectual property protection is inadequate to protect against threats of misappropriation from internal or external sources or otherwise inadequate to protect our proprietary rights, or (v) our competitors negotiate significantly more favorable terms for licensed intellectual property. We may be harmed if we are forced to make publicly available, under the relevant open-source licenses, certain internally developed software-related intellectual property as a result of either our use of open-source software code or the use of third-party software that contains open-source code.
Since our products are comprised of complex technology, much of which we acquire from suppliers through the purchase of components or licensing of software, we are often involved in or impacted by assertions, including both requests for licenses and litigation, regarding patent and other intellectual property rights. Third-parties have asserted, and in the future may assert, intellectual property infringement claims against us and against our customers and suppliers. Many of these assertions are brought by non-practicing entities whose principle business model is to secure patent licensing-based revenue from product manufacturing companies. The patent holders often make broad and sweeping claims regarding the applicability of their patents to our products, seeking a percentage of sales as licenses fees, seeking injunctions to pressure us into taking a license, or a combination thereof. Defending claims may be expensive and divert the time and efforts of our management and employees. Increasingly, third-parties have sought broad injunctive relief which could limit our ability to sell our products in the U.S. or
elsewhere with intellectual property subject to the claims. If we do not succeed in any such litigation, we could be required to expend significant resources to pay damages, develop non-infringing products or to obtain licenses to the intellectual property that is the subject of such litigation, each of which could have a negative impact on our financial results. However, we cannot be certain that any such licenses, if available at all, will be available to us on commercially reasonable terms. In some cases, we might be forced to stop delivering certain products if we or our customer or supplier are subject to a final injunction.
We attempt to negotiate favorable intellectual property indemnities with our suppliers for infringement of third-party intellectual property rights. However, there is no assurance that we will be successful in our negotiations or that a supplier's indemnity will cover all damages and losses suffered by us and our customers due to the infringing products or that a supplier will choose to accept a license or modify or replace its products with non-infringing products which would otherwise mitigate such damages and losses. Further, we may not be able to participate in intellectual property litigation involving a supplier and may not be able to influence any ultimate resolution or outcome that may negatively impact our sales if a court enters an injunction that enjoins the supplier's products or if the International Trade Commission issues an exclusionary order that blocks our products from importation into the U.S. Intellectual property disputes involving our suppliers have resulted in our involvement in International Trade Commission proceedings from time to time. These proceedings are costly and entail the risk that we will be subjected to a ban on the importation of our products into the U.S. solely as a result of our use of a supplier's components.
In addition, our customers increasingly demand that we indemnify them broadly from all damages and losses resulting from intellectual property litigation against them. These demands stem from the increasing trend of the non-practicing entities that engage in patent enforcement and litigation targeting the end users of our products. End users are targeted so the non- practicing entities can seek royalties and litigation judgments in proportion to the value of the use of our products, rather than in proportion to the cost of our products. Such demands can amount to many times the selling price of our products.
Our patent and other intellectual property rights are important competitive tools and may generate income under license agreements. We regard our intellectual property as proprietary and attempt to protect it with patents, copyrights, trademarks, trade secret laws, confidentiality agreements and other methods. We also generally restrict access to and distribution of our proprietary information. Despite these precautions, it may be possible for a third-party to obtain and use our proprietary information or develop similar technology independently. In addition, effective patent, copyright, trademark and trade secret protection may be unavailable or limited in certain foreign countries. Unauthorized use of our intellectual property rights by third- parties and the cost of any litigation necessary to enforce our intellectual property rights could have a negative impact on our financial results.
As we expand our business, including through acquisitions, and compete with new competitors in new markets, the breadth and strength of our intellectual property portfolio in those new markets may not be as developed as in our longer- standing businesses. This may expose us to a heightened risk of litigation and other challenges from competitors in these new markets. Further, competitors may be able to negotiate significantly more favorable terms for licensed intellectual property than we are able to, which puts them at a competitive advantage.
We may not have the ability to settle the principal amount of the $1 billion of 2% Senior Convertible Notes (the "Senior Convertible Notes") in cash in the event of conversion or to repurchase the Senior Convertible Notes upon the occurrence of a fundamental change, which could have a material effect on our reported financial results.
Our Senior Convertible Notes are convertible any time. In the event of conversion, the Company currently intends to settle the principal amount of the Senior Convertible Notes in cash.
Under certain circumstances, convertible debt instruments (such as the Senior Convertible Notes) that may be settled entirely or partially in cash are evaluated for their impact on earnings per share utilizing the treasury stock method, the effect of which is that the shares issuable upon conversion of the Senior Convertible Notes are not included in the calculation of diluted earnings per share except to the extent that the conversion value of the Senior Convertible Notes exceeds their principal amount. Under the treasury stock method the number of shares outstanding for purposes of calculating diluted earnings per share includes the number of shares that would be required to settle the excess of the conversion value of the Senior Convertible Notes, if any, over the principal amounts of the Senior Convertible Notes (which would be settled in cash). The conversion value of the Senior Convertible Notes will exceed the principal amount of the notes to the extent the trading price of a share of our stock exceeds the effective conversion price as of the conversion date.
If we do not have adequate cash available, either from cash on hand, funds generated from operations or existing financing arrangements, or we cannot obtain additional financing arrangements, we may not be able to settle the principal amount of the Senior Convertible Notes in cash and, in the case of settlement of conversion elections, will be required to settle the principal amount of the Senior Convertible Notes in stock. If we settle any portion of the principal amount of the Senior Convertible Notes in stock, it will result in immediate, and possibly material, dilution to the interests of existing security holders.
Following any conclusion that we no longer have the ability to settle the Senior Convertible Notes in cash, we will be required on a going forward basis to change our accounting policy for earnings per share from the treasury stock method to the if-converted method. Earnings per share will most likely be significantly lower under the if-converted method as compared to the treasury stock method.
Our ability to repurchase the Senior Convertible Notes in cash upon the occurrence of a fundamental change or make any other required payments may be limited by law or the terms of other agreements relating to our indebtedness outstanding at the time. Our failure to repurchase the Senior Convertible Notes when required would result in an event of default with respect to the Senior Convertible Notes and may constitute an event of default or prepayment under, or result in the acceleration of the maturity of, our then-existing indebtedness.
Tax matters could have a negative impact on our financial condition and results of operations.
We are subject to income taxes in the U.S. and numerous foreign tax jurisdictions. Our provision for income taxes and cash tax liability may be negatively impacted by: (i) changes in the mix of earnings taxable in jurisdictions with different statutory tax rates, (ii) changes in tax laws and accounting principles, (iii) changes in the valuation of our deferred tax assets and liabilities, (iv) failure to meet commitments under tax incentive agreements, (v) discovery of new information during the course of tax return preparation, (vi) increases in nondeductible expenses, or (vii) difficulties in repatriating cash held abroad in a tax- efficient manner.
As of December 22, 2017 the U.S. enacted wide-sweeping tax law changes that will impact our provision for income taxes. Certain provisions included in the legislation, primarily related to the taxation of non-U.S. income, do not contain sufficient details for us to determine the specific financial impact on the Company in future years. The future guidance or interpretations of the new law could result in an increase to our U.S. tax liability and a resulting negative impact on our future operating results.
Tax audits may also negatively impact our business, financial condition and results of operations. We are subject to continued examination of our income tax returns, and tax authorities may disagree with our tax positions and assess additional tax. We regularly evaluate the likelihood of adverse outcomes resulting from these examinations to determine the adequacy of our provision for income taxes. There can be no assurance that the outcomes from these continuing examinations will not have a negative impact on our future financial condition and operating results.
Certain tax policy efforts, including the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s ("OECD") Base Erosion and Profit Shifting ("BEPS") Project, the European Commission’s state aid investigations, and other initiatives could have an adverse effect on the taxation of international businesses. Furthermore, many of the countries where we are subject to taxes, including the United States, are independently evaluating their tax policy and we may see significant changes in legislation and regulations concerning taxation. Certain countries have already enacted legislation which could affect international businesses, and other countries have become more aggressive in their approach to audits and enforcement of their applicable tax laws. Such changes, to the extent they are brought into tax legislation, regulations, policies, or practices, could increase our effective tax rates in many of the countries where we have operations and have an adverse effect on our overall tax rate, along with increasing the complexity, burden and cost of tax compliance, all of which could impact our operating results, cash flows and financial condition.
Our success depends in part upon our ability to attract, retain and prepare succession plans for senior management and key employees.
The performance of our CEO, senior management and other key employees is critical to our success. If we are unable to retain talented, highly qualified senior management and other key employees or attract them when needed, it could negatively impact our business. We rely on the experience of our senior management, most of whom have been with the Company for many years and as a result have specific knowledge relating to us and our industry that is difficult to replace and competition for management with experience in the communications industry is intense. A loss of the CEO, a member of senior management or key employee particularly to a competitor could also place us at a competitive disadvantage. Further, if we fail to adequately plan for the succession of our CEO, senior management and other key employees, our business could be negatively impacted.
It may be difficult for us to recruit and retain the types of engineers and other highly-skilled employees that are necessary to remain competitive and layoffs of such skilled employees as a result of divestitures, restructuring activities or cost reductions may benefit our competitors.
Competition for key technical personnel in high-technology industries is intense. As we expand our solutions and services business, we now have increased demand for technical personnel in areas like software development, which is an area of particularly high demand for skilled employees. We believe that our future success depends in large part on our continued ability to hire, assimilate, retain and leverage the skills of qualified engineers and other highly-skilled personnel needed to develop successful new products or services. We may not be as successful as our competitors at recruiting, assimilating, retaining and utilizing these highly-skilled personnel, which could have a negative impact on our business. In addition, as we have divested businesses and restructured our operations we have, in some cases, had to layoff engineers and other highly skilled employees. If these employees were to go to work for our competitors it could have a negative impact on our business.
Returns on pension and retirement plan assets and interest rate changes could affect our earnings and cash flows in future periods.
Although we engaged in pension de-risking activities in 2014, we continue to have large underfunded pension obligations, in part resulting from the fact that we retained almost all of the U.S. pension liabilities and a major portion of our non-U.S. pension liabilities following our divestitures, including the distribution of Motorola Mobility, the sale of our Networks business and the sale of our Enterprise business. The funding position of our pension plans is affected by the performance of the financial markets, particularly the equity and debt markets, and the interest rates used to calculate our pension obligations for funding and expense purposes. Minimum annual pension contributions are determined by government regulations and calculated based upon our pension funding status, interest rates, and other factors. If the financial markets perform poorly, we have been and could be required to make additional large contributions. The equity and debt markets can be volatile, and therefore our estimate of future contribution requirements can change dramatically in relatively short periods of time. Similarly, changes in interest rates can affect our contribution requirements. In volatile capital market environments, the uncertainty of material changes in future minimum required contributions increases.
Changes in our operations or sales outside the U.S. markets could result in lost benefits in impacted countries and increase our cost of doing business.
We have entered into various agreements with non-U.S. governments, agencies or similar organizations under which we receive certain benefits relating to its operations and/or sales in the jurisdiction. If our circumstances change, and operations or sales are not at levels originally anticipated, we may be at risk of having to reimburse benefits already granted, and losing some or all of these benefits and increasing our cost of doing business.
We transferred a significant portfolio of intellectual property rights, including patents, to Motorola Mobility and Zebra and we are unable to leverage these intellectual property rights as we did prior to the distribution of Motorola Mobility or the sale of our Enterprise business.
We contributed approximately 17,200 granted patents and approximately 8,000 pending patent applications worldwide to Motorola Mobility in connection with the distribution. We also transferred approximately 2,700 granted patents and approximately 800 pending patent applications to Zebra in connection with the sale of the Enterprise business. Although we have a worldwide, perpetual, royalty-free license to these patents and other intellectual property rights, we no longer own them. As a result we are unable to leverage these intellectual property rights for purposes of generating licensing revenue or entering into favorable licensing arrangements with third-parties. As a result we may incur increased license fees or litigation costs. Although we cannot predict the extent of such unanticipated costs, it is possible such costs could negatively impact our financial results.
We are subject to a wide range of product regulatory and safety, consumer, worker safety and environmental laws that continue to expand and could impact our ability to grow our business, could subject us to unexpected costs and liabilities and could impact our financial performance.
Our operations and the products we manufacture and/or sell are subject to a wide range of product regulatory and safety, consumer, worker safety and environmental laws. Compliance with such existing or future laws could subject us to future costs or liabilities, impact our production capabilities, constrict our ability to sell, expand or acquire facilities, restrict what products and services we can offer, and generally impact our financial performance. Some of these laws are environmental and relate to the use, disposal, clean up of, and exposure to certain substances. For example, in the U.S., laws often require parties to fund remedial studies or actions regardless of fault and often times in response to action or omissions that were legal at the time they occurred. We continue to incur disposal costs and have ongoing remediation obligations. Changes to environmental laws or our discovery of additional obligations under these laws could have a negative impact on our financial performance.
Laws focused on: (i) the energy efficiency of electronic products and accessories, (ii) recycling of both electronic products and packaging, (iii) reducing or eliminating certain hazardous substances in electronic products, and (iv) the transportation of batteries continue to expand significantly. Laws pertaining to accessibility features of electronic products, standardization of connectors and power supplies, the transportation of lithium-ion batteries and other aspects of our products are also proliferating. There are also demanding and rapidly changing laws around the globe related to issues such as product safety, radio interference, radio frequency radiation exposure, medical related functionality, and consumer and social mandates pertaining to use of wireless or electronic equipment. These laws, and changes to these laws, could have a substantial impact on whether we can offer certain products, solutions and services, on product costs, and on what capabilities and characteristics our products or services can or must include.
These laws could impact our products and negatively affect our ability to manufacture and sell products competitively. We expect these trends to continue. In addition, we anticipate that we will see increased demand to meet voluntary criteria related to reduction or elimination of certain constituents from products, increasing energy efficiency, and providing additional accessibility.
We may be unable to obtain components and parts that are verified to be Democratic Republic of Congo ("DRC") Conflict Free, which could result in reputational damage if we disclose that our products include minerals that have been identified as “not found to be DRC conflict free” or if we disclose that we are unable to determine whether such minerals are included in our products.
The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act included disclosure requirements regarding the use of tin, tantalum, tungsten and gold (which are defined as “conflict minerals”) in our products and if the origin of these materials were from the DRC or an adjoining country. If the minerals originated from the DRC or an adjoining country then a company must disclose the measures it has taken to exercise due diligence and chain of custody to prevent the sourcing of such minerals that have been found to be financing conflict in the DRC. There is a limited pool of suppliers who can provide verifiable DRC Conflict Free components and parts, particularly since our supply chain is complex. As a result, we may be required to publicly disclose that we are not currently able to determine if the products we manufactured in 2017 are DRC Conflict Free. For future reporting years, if the industry systems that we are relying on are not mature enough for us to make a definitive Conflict Free determination, we may have to declare our products as “not found to be DRC conflict free,” or such other definitional standard as determined by the SEC and/or the judicial system and we may face reputational challenges with our customers, other stockholders and the activist community as a result. In addition, the European Union has passed conflict minerals legislation which may have an impact on our reporting obligations and compliance programs in Europe.
Any system or network disruption could have negative impact on our operations, sales and operating results.
We rely extensively on our information systems to manage our business operations. Our systems are subject to damage or interruption from various sources, including power outages, computer and telecommunications failures, computer viruses, cyber security breaches, vandalism, severe weather conditions, catastrophic events, terrorism, and human error, and our disaster recovery planning cannot account for all eventualities. If our systems are damaged, fail to function properly, or otherwise become
compromised or unavailable, we may incur substantial costs to repair or replace them, and we may experience loss of critical data and interruptions or delays in our ability to perform critical functions, which could adversely affect our business and operating results. We also currently rely on a number of older legacy information systems that are harder to maintain and that we now have fewer resources to maintain since implementing our new ERP system. A system failure could negatively impact our operations and financial results. In addition, as we have outsourced more of our business operations we have increased our dependence on the IT systems of our outsourced business partners which are not under our direct management or control. Any disruption to either those outsourced systems or the communication links between Motorola Solutions and the outsourced supplier, may negatively impact our ability to manufacture, distribute, or repair products. We may incur additional costs to remedy the damages caused by these disruptions.
Item 1B: Unresolved Staff Comments
None.
Item 2: Properties
Motorola Solutions' principal executive offices are located at 500 W. Monroe Street, Chicago, Illinois 60661. Motorola Solutions also operates manufacturing facilities and sales offices in other U.S. locations and in many other countries.
As of December 31, 2017, we: (i) owned 2 facilities (manufacturing and office), both of which were located in Europe, (ii) leased 203 facilities, 105 of which were located in North America and South America and 98 of which were located in other countries and (iii) primarily utilized three major facilities for the manufacturing and distribution of our products, located in: Penang, Malaysia; Elgin, Illinois; and Berlin, Germany. Motorola Solutions sold its Penang, Malaysia facility and manufacturing operations to Sanmina Corporation ("Sanmina") on February 1, 2016.
We generally consider the productive capacity of our manufacturing facilities to be adequate and sufficient for our requirements. The extent of utilization of each manufacturing facility varies throughout the year.
In 2017, approximately 35% of our products were manufactured in Illinois and approximately 60% of our products were manufactured in Penang. We rely on third-party providers in order to enhance our ability to lower costs and deliver products that meet demand. If manufacturing in Malaysia or Illinois were disrupted, our overall productive capacity could be significantly reduced.
Item 3: Legal Proceedings
We are a defendant in various lawsuits, claims, and actions, which arise in the normal course of business. In the opinion of management, the ultimate disposition of these matters will not have a material adverse effect on our consolidated financial position, liquidity, or results of operations. However, an unfavorable resolution could have a material adverse effect on our consolidated financial position, liquidity, or results of operations in the periods in which the matters are ultimately resolved, or in the periods in which more information is obtained that changes management's opinion of the ultimate disposition.
Item 4: Mine Safety Disclosures
Not applicable.
Executive Officers of the Registrant
The following are the persons who were the executive officers of Motorola Solutions, their ages, and their current titles as of February 16, 2018 and the positions they have held during the last five years with the Company:
Gregory Q. Brown; age 57; Chairman and Chief Executive Officer since May 3, 2011.
Gino A. Bonanotte; age 53; Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer since November 13, 2013; Corporate Vice President and Acting Chief Financial Officer from August 2013 to November 2013; and Corporate Vice President, Finance, Sales and Field Operations, from October 2012 to August 2013.
Bruce W. Brda; age 55; Executive Vice President, Products and Solutions since July 24, 2017; Executive Vice President, Products & Services from January 2016 to July 2017; Executive Vice President, Systems & Products from May 2015 to January 2016; Senior Vice President, Systems & Products from December 2014 to May 2015; Senior Vice President, Government Solutions from March 2014 to December 2014; and Senior Vice President, Global Solutions & Services from January 2013 to March 2014.
Mark S. Hacker; age 46; Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Chief Administrative Officer since January 21, 2015; Senior Vice President and General Counsel from June 2013 to January 2015; and Corporate Vice President, Law, Sales and Product Operations, International and Legal Operations from January 2013 to June 2013.
John P. "Jack" Molloy; age 46; Executive Vice President, Worldwide Sales and Services since July 24, 2017; Executive Vice President, Worldwide Sales from January 2016 to July 2017; Executive Vice President, Americas Sales & Services from November 2015 to January 2016; Senior Vice President, The Americas Sales & Marketing from September 2015 to November 2015; Senior Vice President, North America Sales from January 2014 to August 2015; Corporate Vice President, Central US & Canada and NA Energy Market from January 2013 to December 2013.
John K. Wozniak; age 46; Corporate Vice President and Chief Accounting Officer since November 3, 2009.
The above executive officers will serve as executive officers of Motorola Solutions until the regular meeting of the Board of Directors in May 2018 or until their respective successors are elected. There is no family relationship between any of the executive officers listed above.
PART II
Item 5: Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities
Motorola Solutions' common stock is listed on the New York Stock Exchange. The number of stockholders of record of its common stock on February 2, 2018 was 28,697.
Information regarding securities authorized for issuance under equity compensation plans is incorporated by reference to the information under the caption “Equity Compensation Plan Information” of Motorola Solutions’ Proxy Statement for the 2018 Annual Meeting of Stockholders. The remainder of the response to this Item incorporates by reference Note 16, “Quarterly and Other Financial Data (unaudited)” of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements appearing under “Item 8: Financial Statements and Supplementary Data.’’
The following table provides information with respect to acquisitions by the Company of shares of its common stock during the quarter ended December 31, 2017.
ISSUER PURCHASES OF EQUITY SECURITIES
|
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Period | (a) Total Number of Shares Purchased | | (b) Average Price Paid per Share (1) | | (c) Total Number of Shares Purchased as Part of Publicly Announced Plans or Program (2) | | (d) Approximate Dollar Value of Shares that May Yet Be Purchased Under the Plans or Program (2) |
09/28/17 to 10/25/17 | — |
| | N/A |
| | — |
| | $ | 1,833,468,345 |
|
10/26/17 to 11/22/17 | 749,423 |
| | $ | 91.59 |
| | 749,423 |
| | $ | 1,770,826,834 |
|
11/23/17 to 12/27/17 | 610,029 |
| | $ | 92.39 |
| | 610,029 |
| | $ | 1,708,468,411 |
|
Total | 1,359,452 |
| | $ | 91.95 |
| | 1,359,452 |
| | |
|
| |
| |
(1) | Average price paid per share of common stock repurchased is the execution price, including commissions paid to brokers. |
(2) | Through a series of actions, the Board of Directors has authorized the Company to repurchase an aggregate amount of up to $14.0 billion of its outstanding shares of common stock (the “share repurchase program”). The share repurchase program does not have an expiration date. As of December 31, 2017, the Company had used approximately $12.3 billion, including transaction costs, to repurchase shares. |
PERFORMANCE GRAPH
The following graph compares the five-year cumulative total returns of Motorola Solutions, Inc., the S&P 500 Index and the S&P Communications Equipment Index.
This graph assumes $100 was invested in the stock or the indices on December 31, 2012 and reflects the payment of dividends.
Item 6: Selected Financial Data
|
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Years Ended December 31 |
(In millions, except per share amounts) | 2017 | | 2016 | | 2015 | | 2014 | | 2013 |
Operating Results | | | | | | | | | |
Net sales | $ | 6,380 |
| | $ | 6,038 |
| | $ | 5,695 |
| | $ | 5,881 |
| | $ | 6,227 |
|
Operating earnings (loss) | 1,282 |
| | 1,067 |
| | 994 |
| | (1,006 | ) | | 947 |
|
Earnings (loss) from continuing operations, net of tax* | (155 | ) | | 560 |
| | 640 |
| | (697 | ) | | 933 |
|
Per Share Data (in dollars) | | | | | | | | | |
Diluted earnings (loss) from continuing operations per common share* | $ | (0.95 | ) | | $ | 3.24 |
| | $ | 3.17 |
| | $ | (2.84 | ) | | $ | 3.45 |
|
Earnings (loss) per diluted common share* | (0.95 | ) | | 3.24 |
| | 3.02 |
| | 5.29 |
| | 4.06 |
|
Diluted weighted average common shares outstanding (in millions) | 162.9 |
| | 173.1 |
| | 201.8 |
| | 245.6 |
| | 270.5 |
|
Dividends declared per share | $ | 1.93 |
| | $ | 1.70 |
| | $ | 1.43 |
| | $ | 1.30 |
| | $ | 1.14 |
|
Balance Sheet | | | | | | | | | |
Total assets | $ | 8,208 |
| | $ | 8,463 |
| | $ | 8,346 |
| | $ | 10,423 |
| | $ | 11,851 |
|
Total debt | 4,471 |
| | 4,396 |
| | 4,349 |
| | 3,400 |
| | 2,461 |
|
Other Data | | | | | | | | | |
Capital expenditures | $ | 227 |
| | $ | 271 |
| | $ | 175 |
| | $ | 181 |
| | $ | 169 |
|
% of sales | 3.6 | % | | 4.5 | % | | 3.1 | % | | 3.1 | % | | 2.7 | % |
Research and development expenditures | $ | 568 |
| | $ | 553 |
| | $ | 620 |
| | $ | 681 |
| | $ | 761 |
|
% of sales | 8.9 | % | | 9.2 | % | | 10.9 | % | | 11.6 | % | | 12.2 | % |
* Amounts attributable to Motorola Solutions, Inc. common shareholders.
Item 7: Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations
The following is a discussion and analysis of our financial position as of December 31, 2017 and 2016 and results of operations for each of the three years in the period ended December 31, 2017. This commentary should be read in conjunction with our consolidated financial statements and the notes thereto appearing under “Item 8: Financial Statements and Supplementary Data.”
Executive Overview
Our Business
We are a leading global provider of mission-critical communication infrastructure, devices, accessories, software, and services. Our products and services help government, public safety, and commercial customers improve their operations through increased effectiveness, efficiency, and safety of their mobile workforces. We serve our customers with a global footprint of sales in more than 100 countries and 15,000 employees worldwide based on our industry leading innovation and a deep portfolio of products and services.
We conduct our business globally and manage it by two segments:
Products: The Products segment is comprised of Devices and Systems. Devices includes two-way portable and vehicle mounted radios, accessories, and software features and upgrades. Systems includes the radio network core and central processing software, base stations, consoles, repeaters, and software applications and features. The primary customers of the Products segment are government, public safety and first-responder agencies, municipalities, and commercial and industrial customers who operate private communications networks and manage a mobile workforce. In 2017, the segment’s net sales were $3.8 billion, representing 59% of our consolidated net sales.
Services: The Services segment provides a full set of service offerings for government, public safety, and commercial communication networks including: (i) Integration services, (ii) Managed & Support services, and (iii) iDEN services. Integration services includes the implementation, optimization, and integration of systems, devices, software, and applications. Managed & Support services includes a continuum of service offerings beginning with repair, technical support, and hardware maintenance. More advanced offerings include network monitoring, software maintenance, and cyber security services. Managed service offerings range from partial or full operation of customer owned networks to operation of Motorola Solutions owned networks. Services and SaaS offerings are provided across all radio network technologies, Command Center Consoles, and Smart Public Safety Solutions. iDEN services consists primarily of hardware and software maintenance services for our legacy iDEN customers. In 2017, the segment’s net sales were $2.6 billion, representing 41% of our consolidated net sales.
Trends Affecting Our Business
Impact of Macroeconomic Conditions: The stronger U.S. dollar and weakening economic conditions had a negative impact on sales throughout 2015 and 2016, particularly in Latin America, parts of Europe, and China. During that time, the strengthening dollar reduced the purchasing power of our customers, and economic challenges negatively impacted government and commercial budgets in these regions. While economic conditions in parts of the world stabilized in 2017 in contrast to the prior year, we expect continued political and economic uncertainty, in particular with the United Kingdom’s planned exit from the European Union (commonly referred to as “Brexit”), and in parts of Latin America and Europe.
Focus on Managed & Support Services and Software: Services continues to grow at a faster rate than the Products segment, driven by acquisitions as well as growth in Managed & Support services absent of acquisitions. While Services generally have lower gross margins than our Products segment, we expect revenue growth will continue to drive operating margin expansion. During the year ended December 31, 2017, our Services segment grew by 9%.
In addition, we continue to invest in software through internal development and strategic acquisitions, as our customers increasingly demand expanded technology solutions that are delivered via software and related services. This includes mobile applications and software in the Command Center that provide enhanced capabilities such as analytics and predictive intelligence. In some cases, government funding or mandates help drive this software expansion, such as Next Generation 9-1-1 funding in the United States, and Public Safety LTE investment in the United States, United Kingdom, and other countries. This evolving trend provides a growth opportunity for us.
Recent Developments
On February 1, 2018, we announced our intention to purchase Avigilon Corporation, a provider of advanced end-to-end security and surveillance solutions including video analytics, network video management hardware and software, surveillance cameras and access control solutions for a purchase price of approximately $1.3 billion Canadian dollars. The acquisition is expected to be completed in the second quarter of 2018.
On July 28, 2017, we announced our intention to purchase Plant Holdings, Inc., the parent company of Airbus DS Communications. This acquisition will expand our software portfolio in the Command Center with additional solutions for Next Generation 9-1-1. The acquisition is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2018.
Recent Changes to U.S. Tax Law
On December 22, 2017, the U.S. Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (the “Tax Act”) was enacted into law. The Tax Act contains broad and complex provisions including, but not limited to: (i) the reduction of corporate income tax rate from 35% to 21%, (ii) requiring companies to pay a one-time transition tax on certain unrepatriated earnings of foreign subsidiaries, (iii) generally eliminating U.S. federal income taxes on dividends from foreign subsidiaries, (iv) modifying limitation on excessive employee remuneration, (v) requiring current inclusion in U.S. federal taxable income of certain earnings of controlled foreign corporations, (vi) repeal of corporate alternative minimum tax (“AMT”) and changing how AMT credits can be realized, (vii) creating a new minimum tax, (viii) creating a new limitation on deductible interest expense, (ix) changing rules related to uses and limitations of net operating loss carryforwards and foreign tax credits created in tax years beginning after December 31, 2017, and (x) eliminating the deduction for income attributable to domestic production activities.
As required under U.S. GAAP, the effects of tax law changes are recognized in the period of enactment. Accordingly, we have recorded incremental income tax expense in the amount of $874 million associated with the Tax Act during the year ended December 31, 2017.
Change in Presentation
During the first quarter of 2017, we restructured our regions to combine the North America and Latin America regions into one region which is now reflected as the Americas. Accordingly, we now report net sales in the following three geographic regions: the Americas, Europe, Middle East and Africa ("EMEA"), and Asia Pacific ("AP"). We have updated all periods presented to reflect this change in presentation.
2017 financial results
| |
• | Ended 2017 with a record backlog position of $9.6 billion, up 15% compared to 2016 |
| |
• | Net sales were $6.4 billion in 2017 compared to $6.0 billion in 2016 and grew in every region |
| |
• | Operating earnings were $1.3 billion in 2017, compared to $1.1 billion in 2016 |
| |
• | Recorded an $874 million tax expense due to U.S. tax reform |
| |
• | Loss from continuing operations was $155 million, or $0.95 per diluted common share in 2017, compared to earnings of $560 million, or $3.24 per diluted common share in 2016 |
| |
• | Operating cash flow increased $181 million to $1.3 billion in 2017 |
| |
• | Returned $790 million of capital in the form of $483 million in share repurchases and $307 million in dividends in 2017 and invested $298 million in acquisitions |
| |
• | Increased our quarterly dividend by 11% to $0.52 per share in November 2017 |
Financial results for our two segments in 2017
| |
• | In the Products segment, net sales were $3.8 billion in 2017, an increase of $123 million, or 3%, compared to $3.6 billion in 2016. On a geographic basis, net sales increased in every region, compared to 2016. Operating earnings were $914 million in 2017, compared to $734 million in 2016. Operating margin increased in 2017 to 24.2% from 20.1% in 2016. |
| |
• | In the Services segment, net sales were $2.6 billion in 2017, an increase of $219 million, or 9%, compared to $2.4 billion in 2016. On a geographic basis, net sales increased in every region, compared to 2016. Managed & Support services grew 12% primarily driven by the acquisitions of Airwave, Spillman Technologies, Interexport and Kodiak Networks. Operating earnings were $368 million in 2017, compared to $333 million in 2016. Operating margin increased in 2017 to 14.1% from 13.9% in 2016. |
Looking Forward
Entering 2018, we believe we are well-positioned to compete moving forward. We have a broad, compelling products and services portfolio specifically tailored for our mission-critical communications customer base that spans many layers of governments, public safety, and first responders, as well as commercial and industrial customers in a number of key verticals. As we add new products, features, and software upgrades, we ensure our solutions are interoperable and backward-compatible, enabling customers to confidently invest for their future needs while allowing them to utilize their prior investment in our technology.
Supplementing our traditional core business is our investment in our Managed & Support services business and software solutions in the Command Center. As communication networks have become increasingly complex, software-centric, and data-driven, we have shifted our offerings to align with this technology trend in serving our customers. We expect to continue to see growing demand for our Managed & Support services going forward. These services offerings help customers manage, support, and upgrade their networks as well as utilize features, applications, and data in new ways, including predictive policing, proactive support, or smarter response strategies. We expect our overall revenue mix to continue to shift towards software and services over time. We expanded our software solutions and services portfolios in 2017 with the acquisitions of Kodiak Networks and Interexport, respectively.
Another key technology trend complementing our existing business is the expanded use of broadband LTE by our customers. We have been proactively investing in next-generation public safety broadband solutions for years, as we believe public safety LTE solutions are the next-generation tool for our public safety first-responder customers. We believe our expertise in both public and private networks makes us uniquely qualified to provide these public safety broadband solutions to this customer base. We have now won the four largest public safety LTE network installations awarded to date and expect LTE sales to represent a larger portion of our revenue in the coming years.
We remain committed to driving shareholder value with revenue growth, operating leverage, cash flow generation, and efficient capital deployment. Our framework for efficient capital deployment of cash flow from operations consists of approximately: (i) 50% for acquisitions or share repurchases, (ii) 30% for dividends, and (iii) 20% for investments in the business through capital expenditures. We expect to continue a balanced approach in allocating capital through this framework. Our share repurchase program has approximately $1.7 billion of authority available as of December 31, 2017.
Results of Operations
|
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Years ended December 31 |
(Dollars in millions, except per share amounts) | 2017 | | % of Sales ** | | 2016 | | % of Sales ** | | 2015 | | % of Sales ** |
Net sales from products | $ | 3,772 |
| | | | $ | 3,649 |
| | | | $ | 3,676 |
| | |
Net sales from services | 2,608 |
| | | | 2,389 |
| | | | 2,019 |
| | |
Net sales | 6,380 |
| | | | 6,038 |
| | | | 5,695 |
| | |
Costs of product sales | 1,686 |
| | 44.7 | % | | 1,649 |
| | 45.2 | % | | 1,625 |
| | 44.2 | % |
Costs of services sales | 1,670 |
| | 64.0 | % | | 1,520 |
| | 63.6 | % | | 1,351 |
| | 66.9 | % |
Costs of sales | 3,356 |
| | 52.6 | % | | 3,169 |
| | 52.5 | % | | 2,976 |
| | 52.3 | % |
Gross margin | 3,024 |
| | 47.4 | % | | 2,869 |
| | 47.5 | % | | 2,719 |
| | 47.7 | % |
Selling, general and administrative expenses | 979 |
| | 15.3 | % | | 1,000 |
| | 16.6 | % | | 1,021 |
| | 17.9 | % |
Research and development expenditures | 568 |
| | 8.9 | % | | 553 |
| | 9.2 | % | | 620 |
| | 10.9 | % |
Other charges | 195 |
| | 3.1 | % | | 249 |
| | 4.1 | % | | 84 |
| | 1.5 | % |
Operating earnings | 1,282 |
| | 20.1 | % | | 1,067 |
| | 17.7 | % | | 994 |
| | 17.5 | % |
Other income (expense): | | | | | | | | | | | |
Interest expense, net | (201 | ) | | (3.2 | )% | | (205 | ) | | (3.4 | )% | | (173 | ) | | (3.0 | )% |
Gains (losses) on sales of investments and businesses, net | 3 |
| | — | % | | (6 | ) | | (0.1 | )% | | 107 |
| | 1.9 | % |
Other | (8 | ) | | (0.1 | )% | | (12 | ) | | (0.2 | )% | | (11 | ) | | (0.2 | )% |
Total other expense | (206 | ) | | (3.2 | )% | | (223 | ) | | (3.7 | )% | | (77 | ) | | (1.4 | )% |
Earnings from continuing operations before income taxes | 1,076 |
| | 16.9 | % | | 844 |
| | 14.0 | % | | 917 |
| | 16.1 | % |
Income tax expense | 1,227 |
| | 19.2 | % | | 282 |
| | 4.7 | % | | 274 |
| | 4.8 | % |
Earnings (loss) from continuing operations | (151 | ) | | (2.4 | )% | | 562 |
| | 9.3 | % | | 643 |
| | 11.3 | % |
Less: Earnings attributable to noncontrolling interests | 4 |
| | 0.1 | % | | 2 |
| | — | % | | 3 |
| | 0.1 | % |
Earnings (loss) from continuing operations* | (155 | ) | | (2.4 | )% | | 560 |
| | 9.3 | % | | 640 |
| | 11.2 | % |
Loss from discontinued operations, net of tax | — |
| | — | % | | — |
| | — | % | | (30 | ) | | (0.5 | )% |
Net earnings (loss)* | $ | (155 | ) | | (2.4 | )% | | $ | 560 |
| | 9.3 | % | | $ | 610 |
| | 10.7 | % |
Earnings (loss) per diluted common share*: | | | | | | | | | | | |
Continuing operations | $ | (0.95 | ) | | | | $ | 3.24 |
| | | | $ | 3.17 |
| | |
Discontinued operations | — |
| | | | — |
| | | | (0.15 | ) | | |
Earnings per diluted common share* | $ | (0.95 | ) | | | | $ | 3.24 |
| | | | $ | 3.02 |
| | |
* Amounts attributable to Motorola Solutions, Inc. common shareholders.
** Percentages may not add due to rounding.
Geographic Market Sales by Locale of End Customer
|
| | | | | | | | |
| 2017 | | 2016 | | 2015 |
Americas | 68 | % | | 68 | % | | 71 | % |
EMEA | 21 | % | | 21 | % | | 17 | % |
AP | 11 | % | | 11 | % | | 12 | % |
| 100 | % | | 100 | % | | 100 | % |
Results of Operations—2017 Compared to 2016
Net Sales
Net sales were $6.4 billion in 2017, up $342 million, or 6%, compared to $6.0 billion in 2016, reflecting solid demand across the globe for our products and services. The increase in net sales is reflective of Products and Services growth in every region. Within the Products segment, Systems net sales increased in the Americas, while Devices net sales increased in every region. Services net sales increased, driven by the acquisitions of Airwave, Interexport, Spillman Technologies and Kodiak Networks and growth in Managed & Support and Integration services, absent of acquisitions.
Gross Margin
Gross margin was $3.0 billion, or 47.4% of net sales in 2017, compared to $2.9 billion, or 47.5% of net sales in 2016.
Selling, General and Administrative Expenses
SG&A expenses decreased 2% to $979 million, or 15.3% of net sales in 2017, compared to $1.0 billion, or 16.6% of net sales in 2016. The decrease in SG&A expenditures is primarily due to cost saving initiatives, partially offset by expenses associated with acquired businesses.
Research and Development Expenditures
R&D expenditures increased 3% to $568 million, or 8.9% of net sales in 2017, compared to $553 million, or 9.2% of net sales in 2016. The increase in R&D expenditures is primarily due to increased expenses associated with acquired businesses.
Other Charges
We recorded net other charges of $195 million in 2017, compared to net charges of $249 million in 2016. The charges in 2017 included: (i) $151 million of charges relating to the amortization of intangibles, (ii) $48 million of losses on settlements within a non-U.S. pension plan, (iii) $33 million of net reorganization of business charges, (iv) $9 million of asset impairments, and (v) $1 million of charges for acquisition related transaction fees, partially offset by a $47 million gain on legal settlements. The charges in 2016 included: (i) $113 million of charges relating to the amortization of intangibles, (ii) $97 million of net reorganization of business charges, including a $17 million building impairment and a $3 million impairment of our corporate aircraft, (iii) $26 million of losses on settlements within a non-U.S. pension plan, and (iv) $13 million of transaction fees on the acquisition of Airwave. The net reorganization of business charges are discussed in further detail in the “Reorganization of Businesses” section.
Net Interest Expense
Net interest expense was $201 million in 2017 compared to $205 million in 2016. The decrease in net interest expense in 2017 compared to 2016 was a result of lower outstanding debt throughout 2017, due to the $675 million term loan outstanding throughout 2016, which was repaid at the end of 2016.
Gains (losses) on Sales of Investments and Businesses, net
Net gains on sales of investments and businesses were $3 million in 2017, compared to net losses on sales of investments and businesses of $6 million in 2016. The net gains in 2017 were primarily related to the sales of various equity investments. The net losses in 2016 consisted primarily of a $19 million loss on the sale of an investment in United Kingdom treasury securities and a $7 million loss from the sale of our Malaysia manufacturing operations, partially offset by $20 million of gains on the sales of equity investments.
Other
Net Other expense was $8 million in 2017, compared to $12 million in 2016. The net Other expense in 2017 was primarily comprised of a $31 million foreign currency loss, partially offset by: (i) a $15 million gain on derivative instruments, (ii) $7 million of other non-operating gains and (iii) a $1 million gain on equity method investments. The net Other expense in 2016 was primarily comprised of: (i) a $56 million loss on derivative instruments, (ii) a $10 million foreign currency loss on currency purchased and held in anticipation of the acquisition of Airwave, (iii) a $4 million investment impairment, and (iv) a $2 million loss on the extinguishment of long-term debt, partially offset by: (i) a $46 million foreign currency gain, (ii) $9 million of other non-operating gains, and (iii) $5 million gain on equity method investments.
Effective Tax Rate
We recorded $1.2 billion of net tax expense in 2017, an increase of $945 million compared to $282 million of net tax expense in 2016, or an effective tax rate of 33%. As a result of the Tax Act, we recorded $874 million of non-recurring charges during 2017, primarily related to a valuation allowance of $471 million against U.S. foreign tax credit carryforwards and income tax expense of $366 million from the remeasurement of our deferred tax balances at the lower federal tax rate of 21%. Excluding the income tax effects from the Tax Act, our effective tax rate was lower than the current U.S. federal statutory rate of 35%.
Our effective tax rate in 2016 was lower than the U.S. statutory tax rate of 35% primarily due to lower tax rates on non-U.S. income.
Our effective tax rate will change from period to period based on non-recurring events, such as the settlement of income tax audits, changes in valuation allowances, changes in tax laws, and the tax impact of significant unusual or extraordinary items, as well as recurring factors including changes in the geographic mix of income and effects of various global income tax strategies.
Earnings (Loss) from Continuing Operations Attributable to Motorola Solutions, Inc.
After taxes, we had a loss from continuing operations attributable to Motorola Solutions, Inc. of $155 million, or $0.95 per diluted share, in 2017, compared to earnings of $560 million, or $3.24 per diluted share, in 2016.
The decrease in earnings from continuing operations in 2017, as compared to 2016, was driven by an increase in income tax expense primarily related to an $874 million charge for the implementation of the Tax Act.
Results of Operations—2016 Compared to 2015
Net Sales
Net sales were $6.0 billion in 2016, up $343 million, or 6%, compared to $5.7 billion in 2015. The increase in net sales is reflective of growth in every region. EMEA grew on Services sales, partially offset by lower Products sales. The increase in EMEA Services sales was due to expansion of our Managed & Support services, primarily from the acquisition of Airwave which provided $462 million of net sales during the year ended December 31, 2016. The Americas grew on Products sales, partially offset by lower Services sales. The decrease in the Americas Services sales was primarily due to macroeconomic pressures in Latin America. AP grew on both Services and Products sales.
Gross Margin
Gross margin was $2.9 billion, or 47.5% of net sales in 2016, compared to $2.7 billion, or 47.7% of net sales in 2015.
Selling, General and Administrative Expenses
SG&A expenses decreased 2% to $1.0 billion, or 16.6% of net sales in 2016, compared to $1.0 billion, or 17.9% of net sales in 2015. The decrease in SG&A expenditures is primarily due to cost savings initiatives, including headcount reductions, partially offset by higher incentive compensation and acquisitions costs.
Research and Development Expenditures
R&D expenditures decreased 11% to $553 million, or 9.2% of net sales in 2016, compared to $620 million, or 10.9% of net sales in 2015. The decrease in R&D expenditures is primarily due to: (i) cost savings initiatives, including headcount reductions, and (ii) the movement of employees to lower cost work sites.
Other Charges
We recorded net other charges of $249 million in 2016, compared to net charges of $84 million in 2015. The charges in 2016 included: (i) $113 million of charges relating to the amortization of intangibles, (ii) $97 million of net reorganization of business charges, including a $17 million building impairment and a $3 million impairment on our corporate aircraft, (iii) $26 million of losses on settlements within a non-U.S. pension plan, and (iv) $13 million of transaction fees on the acquisition of Airwave. The charges in 2015 included: (i) $108 million of net reorganization of business charges, including a $31 million impairment of our corporate aircraft which was sold and (ii) $8 million of charges relating to the amortization of intangibles, partially offset by a $32 million non-U.S. pension curtailment gain. The net reorganization of business charges are discussed in further detail in the “Reorganization of Businesses” section.
Net Interest Expense
Net interest expense was $205 million in 2016 compared to $173 million in 2015. The increase in net interest expense in 2016 compared to 2015 was a result of higher outstanding debt balances throughout 2016.
Gains (losses) on Sales of Investments and Businesses, net
Net losses on sales of investments and businesses were $6 million in 2016, compared to net gains on sales of investments and businesses of $107 million in 2015. The net losses in 2016 consisted primarily of: (i) a $19 million loss on the sale of an investment in United Kingdom treasury securities and (ii) a $7 million loss from the sale of our Malaysia manufacturing operations, partially offset by $20 million of gains on the sales of equity investments. The net gains in 2015 were related to the sales of equity investments.
Other
Net Other expense was $12 million in 2016, compared to $11 million in 2015. The net Other expense in 2016 was primarily comprised of: (i) a $56 million loss on derivative instruments, (ii) a $10 million foreign currency loss on currency purchased and held in anticipation of the acquisition of Airwave, (iii) a $4 million investment impairment, and (iv) a $2 million loss on the extinguishment of long-term debt, partially offset by: (i) a $46 million foreign currency gain, (ii) $9 million of other non-operating gains, and (iii) a $5 million gain on equity method investments. The net Other expense in 2015 was primarily comprised of: (i) a $23 million foreign currency loss and (ii) a $6 million investment impairment, partially offset by: (i) a $7 million gain on derivative instruments, (ii) a $6 million gain on equity method investments, and (iii) $5 million of other non-operating gains.
Effective Tax Rate
We recorded $282 million of net tax expense in 2016, resulting in an effective tax rate of 33%, compared to $274 million of net tax expense in 2015, resulting in an effective tax rate of 30%. Our effective tax rate in 2016 and 2015 were lower than the U.S. statutory tax rate of 35% primarily due to lower tax rates on non-U.S. income.
Our effective tax rate will change from period to period based on non-recurring events, such as the settlement of income tax audits, changes in valuation allowances, and the tax impact of significant unusual or extraordinary items, as well as recurring factors including changes in the geographic mix of income and effects of various global income tax strategies.
Earnings (Loss) from Continuing Operations Attributable to Motorola Solutions, Inc.
After taxes, we had earnings from continuing operations attributable to Motorola Solutions, Inc. of $560 million, or $3.24 per diluted share, in 2016, compared to $640 million, or $3.17 per diluted share, in 2015.
The decrease in earnings from continuing operations in 2016, as compared to 2015, was primarily driven by: (i) a $165 million increase in Other charges primarily due to the increase in intangible amortization expense and (ii) a $113 million decrease in Gains on sales of investments and businesses, partially offset by: (i) a $150 million increase in Gross margin, (ii) a $67 million decrease in R&D, and (iii) a $21 million decrease in SG&A. The increase in earnings from continuing operations per diluted share was driven by lower shares outstanding as a result of repurchases made through our ongoing share repurchase program, offset by a decrease in earnings from continuing operations.
Earnings from Discontinued Operations
In 2016, we reported no earnings from discontinued operations, compared to a loss from discontinued operations of $30 million, or $0.15 per diluted share, in 2015. The loss from discontinued operations in 2015 was related to the sale of the Enterprise business.
Segment Information
The following commentary should be read in conjunction with the financial results of each operating business segment as detailed in Note 12, “Information by Segment and Geographic Region,” of our consolidated financial statements. Net sales and operating results for our two segments for 2017, 2016, and 2015 are presented below.
Products Segment
The Products segment’s net sales represented 59% of our consolidated net sales in 2017, compared to 60% in 2016 and 65% in 2015.
|
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Years ended December 31 | | Percent Change |
(Dollars in millions) | 2017 | | 2016 | | 2015 | | 2017—2016 | | 2016—2015 |
Segment net sales | $ | 3,772 |
| | $ | 3,649 |
| | $ | 3,676 |
| | 3 | % | | (1 | )% |
Operating earnings (loss) | 914 |
| | 734 |
| | 704 |
| | 25 | % | | 4 | % |
Segment Results—2017 Compared to 2016
The segment’s net sales increased $123 million, or 3%, to $3.8 billion in 2017, as compared to $3.6 billion in 2016. On a geographic basis, net sales increased in every region in 2017, compared to 2016. Devices net sales increased in every region while Systems net sales increased in the Americas partially offset by decreases in EMEA and AP. The segment's backlog was $1.9 billion at December 31, 2017 and $1.5 billion at December 31, 2016.
Net sales in the Americas continued to comprise a significant portion of the segment’s business, accounting for approximately 74% of the segment’s net sales in both 2017 and 2016.
The segment had operating earnings of $914 million in 2017, compared to $734 million in 2016. The increase in operating earnings in 2017 compared to 2016 was driven primarily by higher net sales and lower SG&A expenses, R&D expenditures, and Other charges.
Segment Results—2016 Compared to 2015
The segment’s net sales decreased $27 million, or 1%, to $3.6 billion in 2016, as compared to $3.7 billion in 2015. The decrease in the segment's net sales was primarily driven by a decrease in global Systems sales and unfavorable foreign exchange rates with a strengthening U.S. dollar in EMEA, Latin America, and AP, partially offset by growth in Devices in the Americas and AP. On a geographic basis, net sales decreased in EMEA and increased in the Americas and AP in 2016, compared to 2015. The segment's backlog was $1.5 billion at December 31, 2016 and $1.2 billion at December 31, 2015.
Net sales in the Americas continued to comprise a significant portion of the segment’s business, accounting for approximately 74% of the segment’s net sales in 2016, up from 73% of the segment’s net sales in 2015.
The segment had operating earnings of $734 million in 2016, compared to $704 million in 2015. The increase in operating earnings in 2016 compared to 2015 was driven primarily by: (i) lower SG&A and R&D expenditures as a result of cost savings initiatives including headcount reductions, partially offset by an increase in Other charges.
Services Segment
The Services segment’s net sales represented 41% of our consolidated net sales in 2017, compared to 40% in 2016 and 35% in 2015.
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| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Years ended December 31 | | Percent Change |
(Dollars in millions) | 2017 | | 2016 | | 2015 | | 2017—2016 | | 2016—2015 |
Segment net sales | $ | 2,608 |
| | $ | 2,389 |
| | $ | 2,019 |
| | 9 | % | | 18 | % |
Operating earnings (loss) | 368 |
| | 333 |
| | 290 |
| | 11 | % | | 15 | % |
Segment Results—2017 Compared to 2016
The segment’s net sales increased $219 million, or 9%, to $2.6 billion in 2017, as compared to $2.4 billion in 2016. The increase in the segment's net sales was driven by growth in Managed & Support services and Integration services absent of acquisitions and the acquisitions of Interexport, Airwave, Spillman Technologies and Kodiak Networks. The net sales increase in the Americas was driven by Managed & Support services absent of acquisitions and the acquisitions of Interexport, Spillman Technologies and Kodiak Networks. The net sales increase in EMEA was driven by the acquisition of Airwave and growth in both Managed & Support services and Integration services absent of acquisitions. The net sales increase in AP was driven by growth in Integration services. The segment's backlog was $7.7 billion at December 31, 2017 and $6.9 billion at December 31, 2016.
Net sales in the Americas continued to comprise a significant portion of the segment’s business, accounting for approximately 59% of the segment’s net sales in 2017, up from 58% of the segment’s net sales in 2016.
The segment had operating earnings of $368 million in 2017 compared to $333 million in 2016. The increase in operating earnings in 2017 compared to 2016 was driven primarily by higher net sales, partially offset by operating expenses related to acquisitions.
Segment Results—2016 Compared to 2015
The segment’s net sales increased $370 million, or 18%, to $2.4 billion in 2016, as compared to $2.0 billion in 2015. The increase in the segment's net sales was primarily driven by higher Managed & Support services sales from both the acquisition of Airwave and absent of acquisitions. The acquisition of Airwave provided $462 million of net sales within EMEA during the year ended December 31, 2016, while the Managed & Support services business absent of acquisitions grew in the Americas and AP. This sales growth was partially offset by: (i) a decrease in Integration services sales, with a significant decrease in EMEA related to the winding down of a large system implementation, (ii) declining iDEN services sales in the Americas, and (iii) the effect of unfavorable foreign exchange rates with a strengthening U.S. dollar in EMEA, Latin America, and AP. On a geographic basis, net sales increased in EMEA and AP and decreased in the Americas in 2016, compared to 2015. The segment's backlog was $6.9 billion at December 31, 2016 and $5.2 billion at December 31, 2015. The increase in the segment's backlog in 2016 compared to 2015 was driven in part by $1.2 billion from the acquisition of Airwave.
Net sales in the Americas continued to comprise a significant portion of the segment’s business, accounting for approximately 58% of the segment’s net sales in 2016, down from 69% of the segment’s net sales in 2015.
The segment had operating earnings of $333 million in 2016 compared to $290 million in 2015. The increase in operating earnings in 2016 compared to 2015 was driven primarily by: (i) increased sales volume generating higher gross margin on our Managed & Support services, primarily in EMEA due to the acquisition of Airwave, and (ii) lower SG&A expenditures due to cost savings initiatives, including headcount reductions, partially offset by an increase in Other charges, including $105 million of intangible amortization expense, primarily associated with the Airwave acquisition.
Reorganization of Businesses
In 2017, we recorded net reorganization of business charges of $42 million relating to the separation of 400 employees, of which 300 were indirect employees and 100 were direct employees. The $42 million of charges included $9 million recorded to Cost of sales and $33 million recorded to Other charges. Included in the aggregate $42 million are charges of $43 million for employee separation costs and $8 million for exit costs, partially offset by $9 million of reversals for accruals no longer needed.
During 2016, we recorded net reorganization of business charges of $140 million relating to the separation of 1,300 employees, of which 900 were indirect employees and 400 were direct employees. The $140 million of charges included $43 million recorded to Cost of sales and $97 million recorded to Other charges. Included in the aggregate $140 million are charges of: (i) $120 million for employee separation costs, (ii) $20 million for impairments, including $17 million for a building impairment and $3 million for the impairment of corporate aircraft, and (iii) $5 million for exit costs, partially offset by $5 million of reversals for accruals no longer needed.
During 2015, we recorded net reorganization of business charges of $117 million relating to the separation of 1,100 employees, of which 900 were indirect employees and 200 were direct employees. The $117 million of charges in earnings from continuing operations included $9 million recorded to Cost of sales and $108 million recorded to Other charges. Included in the aggregate $117 million are charges of: (i) $74 million for employee separation costs, (ii) $31 million for the impairment of
corporate aircraft, (iii) $10 million for exit costs, and (iv) a $6 million building impairment charge, partially offset by $4 million of reversals for accruals no longer needed.
The following table displays the net charges incurred by business segment:
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| | | | | | | | | | | |
Years ended December 31 | 2017 | | 2016 | | 2015 |
Products | $ | 31 |
| | $ | 106 |
| | $ | 84 |
|
Services | 11 |
| | 34 |
| | 33 |
|
| $ | 42 |
| | $ | 140 |
| | $ | 117 |
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Cash payments for exit costs and employee severance in connection with the reorganization of business plans were $93 million, $79 million, and $71 million in 2017, 2016, and 2015, respectively. The reorganization of business accruals at December 31, 2017 were $50 million, of which $41 million relates to employee separation costs that are expected to be paid within one year and $9 million relates primarily to lease termination obligations that are expected to be paid over a number of years.
Liquidity and Capital Resources
We increased the aggregate of our cash and cash equivalent balances from $1.0 billion as of December 31, 2016 to $1.3 billion as of December 31, 2017. As highlighted in the consolidated statements of cash flows, our liquidity and available capital resources are impacted by four key components: (i) cash and cash equivalents, (ii) operating activities, (iii) investing activities, and (iv) financing activities.
Cash and Cash Equivalents
At December 31, 2017, $757 million of the $1.3 billion cash and cash equivalents balance was held in the U.S. and $511 million was held outside of the U.S. Restricted cash was approximately $63 million at both December 31, 2017 and December 31, 2016.
In 2017, we repatriated approximately $606 million in cash to the U.S. from international jurisdictions. Under the Tax Act, federal income taxes on dividends from foreign subsidiaries have been generally eliminated after December 31, 2017. The change in tax law will allow the Company to more simply repatriate foreign income in a tax exempt manner. However, we do not anticipate significant changes in liquidity or our ability to repatriate foreign earnings more efficiently in the future as a result of the Tax Act.
Undistributed earnings that we intend to reinvest indefinitely, and for which no U.S. income taxes have been provided, aggregate to $1.8 billion at December 31, 2017. We currently have no plans to repatriate the foreign earnings permanently reinvested. If circumstances change and it becomes apparent that some or all of the permanently reinvested earnings will be remitted to the U.S. in the foreseeable future, an additional income tax charge may be necessary.
Where appropriate, we may also pursue capital reduction activities; however, such activities can be involved and lengthy. While we regularly repatriate funds, and a portion of offshore funds can be repatriated with minimal adverse financial impact, repatriation of some of these funds may be subject to delay for local country approvals and could have potential adverse cash tax consequences.
Operating Activities
Net cash provided by operating activities from continuing operations in 2017 was $1.3 billion, compared to cash provided by operating activities from continuing operations of $1.2 billion in 2016 and cash provided by operating activities from continuing operations of $1.0 billion in 2015. Operating cash flows in 2017, as compared to 2016, were positively impacted by higher revenue from continuing operations and resulting operating earnings. Operating cash flows in 2016, as compared to 2015, were positively impacted by higher earnings from continuing operations, offset by higher employee incentive compensation payments.
We expect to make a $500 million debt funded contribution to our U.S. Pension Plans in 2018. As a result, we will generate a tax benefit under the current U.S. federal tax rate of 35% for the plan year 2017, before the enacted rate lowers to 21% as a result of the Tax Act. We expect to make approximately $7 million of cash contributions to our Non-U.S. Pension Plans in 2018.
Investing Activities
Net cash used by investing activities from continuing operations was $448 million in 2017, compared to net cash used by investing activities from continuing operations of $1.0 billion in 2016 and net cash used by investing activities from continuing operations of $528 million in 2015. The decrease in net cash used by investing activities from 2016 to 2017 was primarily due to a decrease in acquisitions and investments, partially offset by lower proceeds from sales of investments and businesses. The increase in net cash used by investing activities from 2015 to 2016 was primarily due to the acquisition of Airwave, offset by the sale of an investment used to fund the acquisition.
Acquisitions and Investments: We used net cash of $404 million for acquisitions and new investment activities in 2017, compared to $1.5 billion in 2016, and $586 million in 2015. The cash used during 2017 was used for investment in short-term government securities, and the acquisitions (net of acquired cash) of Kodiak Networks for $225 million and Interexport for $55 million. In 2016, we paid cash of $1.0 billion related to the acquisition of Airwave, $217 million for the acquisition of Spillman, and
$26 million related to the acquisition of other software and services related businesses. The remainder of the cash was used for several debt and equity investments. In 2015, we invested $401 million in order to partially offset our foreign currency risk associated with the purchase of Airwave. We liquidated these investments in February 2016 to partially fund the acquisition. Additionally, we paid $49 million for the acquisition of two public safety software solution providers, as well as several debt and equity investments.
Sales of Investments and Businesses: We received $183 million of proceeds in 2017, compared to $670 million in 2016, and $230 million in 2015. The $183 million of cash provided by investments in 2017 primarily consisted of the sales of short-term government securities. The $670 million of cash received in 2016 was primarily comprised of: (i) $382 million from the sale of an investment used to finance the acquisition of Airwave, (ii) $242 million from the sales of various debt and equity securities, and (iii) $46 million from the sale of our Penang, Malaysia facility and manufacturing operations. The $230 million of cash received in 2015 was primarily comprised of: (i) $49 million reimbursement from Zebra for cash transferred with the sale of the Enterprise business in conjunction with legal entities sold through a stock sale, (ii) $107 million from the sale of two equity investments, (iii) $13 million net cash received from Zebra for the final purchase price adjustment, as well as for reimbursement of liabilities of the Enterprise business paid on Zebra's behalf, and (iv) proceeds from the sale of various debt and equity securities, partially offset by $27 million of net cash transferred in conjunction with the sale of our ownership interest in a majority owned subsidiary to the entity's noncontrolling interest.
Capital Expenditures: Capital expenditures were $227 million in 2017, compared to $271 million in 2016, and $175 million in 2015. The decrease in capital spending in 2017, as compared to 2016, was primarily driven by lower facilities spend and lower expenditures on networks that we build and operate on behalf of our customers, partially offset by an increase in information technology spend. The increase in capital spending in 2016, as compared to 2015, was primarily driven by an increase in expenditures on networks that we build and operate on behalf of our customers, information technology spend and facilities expenditures.
Sales of Property, Plant, and Equipment: We had no proceeds related to the sale of property, plant, and equipment in 2017, compared to $73 million in 2016 and $3 million in 2015. The proceeds in 2016 were driven by the sale of buildings and land on the Schaumburg, IL campus and the sale of the corporate aircraft. The proceeds in 2015 were primarily comprised of sales of buildings and land.
Financing Activities
Net cash used for financing activities was $722 million in 2017, compared to $1.0 billion in 2016, and $2.4 billion in 2015. Cash used for financing activities in 2017 was primarily comprised of: (i) $483 million used for purchases under our share repurchase program and (ii) $307 million of cash used for the payment of dividends, partially offset by $82 million of net proceeds from the issuance of common stock in connection with our employee stock option and employee stock purchase plans.
Cash used for financing activities in 2016 was primarily comprised of: (i) $842 million used for purchases under our share repurchase program and (ii) $280 million of cash used for the payment of dividends, partially offset by $93 million of net proceeds from the issuance of common stock in connection with our employee stock option and employee stock purchase plans.
Cash used for financing activities in 2015 was primarily comprised of: (i) $3.2 billion used for purchases under our share repurchase program and (ii) $277 million of cash used for the payment of dividends, partially offset by: (i) $971 million of net proceeds from the issuance of the Senior Convertible Notes and (ii) $84 million of net proceeds from the issuance of common stock in connection with our employee stock option and employee stock purchase plans.
Current and Long-Term Debt: We had outstanding long-term debt of $4.5 billion and $4.4 billion, including the current portions of $52 million and $4 million, at December 31, 2017 and December 31, 2016, respectively. In the acquisition of Interexport, we assumed $92 million of debt, including a current portion of $40 million, primarily related to capital leases.
On August 25, 2015, we entered into an agreement with Silver Lake Partners to issue $1.0 billion of 2% Senior Convertible Notes which mature in September 2020. The notes became fully convertible as of August 25, 2017. The notes are convertible based on a conversion rate of 14.7476, as may be adjusted for dividends declared, per $1,000 principal amount (which is currently equal to a published conversion price of $67.81 per share). The exercise price adjusts automatically for dividends. In the event of conversion, the notes may be settled in either cash or stock, at our discretion. We intend to settle the principal amount of the Senior Convertible Notes in cash.
We have investment grade ratings on our senior unsecured long-term debt from the three largest U.S. national rating agencies. We believe that we will be able to maintain sufficient access to the capital markets. Any future disruptions, uncertainty, volatility in the capital markets, or deterioration in our credit ratings may result in higher funding costs for us and adversely affect our ability to access funds.
We may, from time to time, seek to retire certain outstanding debt of ours through open market cash purchases, privately-negotiated transactions or otherwise. Such repurchases, if any, will depend on prevailing market conditions, our liquidity requirements, contractual restrictions and other factors.
Share Repurchase Program: Through a series of actions, the Board of Directors has authorized an aggregate share repurchase amount of up to $14.0 billion of our outstanding shares of common stock (the “share repurchase program”). The share repurchase program does not have an expiration date. As of December 31, 2017, we have used approximately $12.3 billion of the share repurchase authority, including transaction costs, to repurchase shares, leaving approximately $1.7 billion of authority available for future repurchases.
During 2017, we paid an aggregate of $483 million, including transaction costs, to repurchase 5.7 million shares at an average price of $85.32 per share. During 2016, we paid an aggregate of $842 million, including transaction costs, to repurchase 12.0 million shares at an average price of $70.28. During 2015, we paid an aggregate of $3.2 billion, including transaction costs, to repurchase 48.0 million shares at an average price of $66.22. Shares repurchased in 2015 include 30.1 million shares repurchased under a modified "Dutch auction" tender offer at a tender price of $66.50 for an aggregate of $2.0 billion, including transaction costs.
Payment of Dividends: We paid cash dividends to holders of our common stock of $307 million in 2017, $280 million in 2016, and $277 million in 2015. Subsequent to quarter end, we paid an additional $84 million in cash dividends to holders of our common stock.
Credit Facilities
As of December 31, 2017, we had a $2.2 billion unsecured revolving credit facility scheduled to mature in April 2022, which can be used for borrowing and letters of credit (the "2017 Motorola Solutions Credit Agreement"). The 2017 Motorola Solutions Credit Agreement includes a $500 million letter of credit sub-limit with $450 million of fronting commitments. Borrowings under the facility bear interest at the prime rate plus the applicable margin, or at a spread above the London Interbank Offered Rate, at our option. An annual facility fee is payable on the undrawn amount of the credit line. The interest rate and facility fee are subject to adjustment if our credit rating changes. We must comply with certain customary covenants including a maximum leverage ratio, as defined in the 2017 Motorola Solutions Credit Agreement. We were in compliance with our financial covenants as of December 31, 2017. During the twelve months ended December 31, 2017, we had borrowings and repayments of $150 million under the 2017 Motorola Solutions Credit Agreement. Such borrowings were used to purchase Kodiak Networks in April of 2017, and were repaid using cash from operations in June of 2017. No letters of credit were issued under the revolving credit facility as of December 31, 2017.
Contractual Obligations and Other Purchase Commitments
Summarized in the table and text below are our obligations and commitments to make future payments under long-term debt obligations, lease obligations, purchase obligations and tax obligations as of December 31, 2017.
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| Payments Due by Period |
(in millions) | Total | | 2018 | | 2019 | | 2020 | | 2021 | | 2022 | | Uncertain Timeframe | | Thereafter |
Long-term debt obligations | $ | 4,528 |
| | $ | 52 |
| | $ | 6 |
| | $ | 1,007 |
| | $ | 417 |
| | $ | 770 |
| | $ | — |
| | $ | 2,276 |
|
Lease obligations | 661 |
| | 121 |
| | 107 |
| | 82 |
| | 64 |
| | 53 |
| | — |
| | 234 |
|
Purchase obligations* | 237 |
| | 173 |
| | 41 |
| | 15 |
| | 7 |
| | 1 |
| | — |
| | — |
|
Tax obligations | 76 |
| | 14 |
| | — |
| | — |
| | — |
| | — |
| | 62 |
| | — |
|
Total contractual obligations | $ | 5,502 |
| | $ | 360 |
| | $ | 154 |
| | $ | 1,104 |
| | $ | 488 |
| | $ | 824 |
| | $ | 62 |
| | $ | 2,510 |
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*Amounts included represent firm, non-cancelable commitments.
Lease Obligations: We lease certain office, factory and warehouse space, land, information technology and other equipment, principally under non-cancelable operating leases. Our future minimum lease obligations, net of minimum sublease rentals, totaled $661 million. Rental expense, net of sublease income, was $94 million in 2017, $84 million in 2016, and $42 million in 2015.
Purchase Obligations: During the normal course of business, in order to manage manufacturing lead times and help ensure adequate component supply, we enter into agreements with contract manufacturers and suppliers that either allow them to procure inventory based upon criteria as defined by us or establish the parameters defining our requirements. In addition, we have entered into software license agreements which are firm commitments and are not cancelable. We had entered into firm, noncancelable, and unconditional commitments under such arrangements through 2022. The total payments expected to be made under these agreements are $237 million, of which $220 million relate to take or pay obligations from arrangements with suppliers for the sourcing of inventory supplies and materials. We do not anticipate the cancellation of any of our take or pay agreements in the future and estimate that purchases from these suppliers will exceed the minimum obligations during the agreement periods.
Tax Obligations: We have approximately $76 million of unrecognized income tax benefits relating to multiple tax jurisdictions and tax years. Based on the potential outcome of our global tax examinations, or the expiration of the statute of limitations for specific jurisdictions, it is reasonably possible that the unrecognized tax benefits will change within the next twelve months. The associated net tax impact on the effective tax rate, exclusive of valuation allowance changes, is estimated to be in the range of a $10 million tax charge to a $30 million tax benefit, with cash payments not expected to exceed $20 million.
Commitments Under Other Long-Term Agreements: We have entered into certain long-term agreements to purchase software, components, supplies and materials from suppliers which are not "take or pay" in nature. Most of the agreements extend for periods of one to three years (three to five years for software). Generally, these agreements do not obligate us to make any purchases, and many permit us to terminate the agreement with advance notice (usually ranging from 60 to 180 days). If we were to terminate these agreements, we generally would be liable for certain termination charges, typically based on work performed and supplier on-hand inventory and raw materials attributable to canceled orders. Our liability would only arise in the event we terminate the agreements for reasons other than “cause.”
We outsource certain corporate functions, such as benefit administration and information technology-related services, under third-party contracts, the longest of which is expected to expire in 2022. Our remaining payments under these contracts are approximately $97 million over the remaining life of the contracts; however, these contracts can be terminated. Termination would result in a penalty substantially less than the remaining annual contract payments. We would also be required to find another source for these services, including the possibility of performing them in-house.
As is customary in bidding for and completing certain projects and pursuant to a practice we have followed for many years, we have a number of performance bonds, bid bonds, standby letters of credit and surety bonds outstanding (collectively, referred to as “Performance Bonds”), primarily relating to projects with our government customers. These Performance Bonds normally have maturities of multiple years and are standard in the industry as a way to give customers a convenient mechanism to seek resolution if a contractor does not satisfy certain requirements under a contract. Typically, a customer can draw on the Performance Bond only if we do not fulfill all terms of a project contract. If such an occasion occurred, we would be obligated to reimburse the institution that issued the Performance Bond for the amounts paid. In our long history, it has been rare for us to have a Performance Bond drawn upon. At December 31, 2017, outstanding Performance Bonds totaled approximately $2.4 billion, compared to $2.2 billion at December 31, 2016. Any future disruptions, uncertainty, or volatility in bank, insurance or capital markets, or a change in our credit ratings could adversely affect our ability to obtain Performance Bonds and may result in higher funding costs to obtain such Performance Bonds.
Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements: At December 31, 2017, we had no significant off-balance sheet arrangements other than operating leases and guarantees to third parties as described in Note 11 to the consolidated financial statements and our obligation to settle the embedded conversion option under the Senior Convertible Notes described in Note 4 to the consolidated financial statements.
Long-term Customer Financing Commitments
Outstanding Commitments: Certain purchasers of our products and services may request that we provide long-term financing (defined as financing with a term of greater than one year) in connection with the sale of equipment. These requests may include all or a portion of the purchase price of the products and services. Our obligation to provide long-term financing may be conditioned on the issuance of a letter of credit in favor of us by a reputable bank to support the purchaser's credit or a pre-existing commitment from a reputable bank to purchase the long-term receivables from us. We had outstanding commitments to provide long-term financing to third-parties totaling $93 million at December 31, 2017, compared to $125 million at December 31, 2016.
Outstanding Long-Term Receivables: We had non-current long-term receivables of $19 million at December 31, 2017, compared to $49 million at December 31, 2016. There were no allowances for losses in 2017 and $2 million of allowances for losses in 2016. These long-term receivables are generally interest bearing, with interest rates ranging from 0% to 11%.
Sales of Receivables
From time to time, we sell accounts receivable and long-term receivables to third-parties under one-time arrangements. We may or may not retain the obligation to service the sold accounts receivable and long-term receivables. Servicing obligations are limited to collection activities for sold accounts receivables and long-term receivables.
The following table summarizes the proceeds received from sales of accounts receivable and long-term receivables for the years ended December 31, 2017, 2016, and 2015:
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| | | | | | | | | | | |
Years ended December 31 | 2017 | | 2016 | | 2015 |
Accounts receivable sales proceeds | $ | 193 |
| | $ | 51 |
| | $ | 29 |
|
Long-term receivables sales proceeds | 284 |
| | 289 |
| | 196 |
|
Total proceeds from receivable sales | $ | 477 |
| | $ | 340 |
| | $ | 225 |
|
At December 31, 2017, the Company had retained servicing obligations for $873 million of long-term receivables, compared to $774 million of long-term receivables at December 31, 2016. Servicing obligations are limited to collection activities related to the sales of accounts receivables and long-term receivables.
Adequate Internal Funding Resources
We believe that we have adequate internal resources available to fund expected working capital and capital expenditure requirements for the next twelve months as supported by the level of cash and cash equivalents in the U.S., the ability to repatriate funds from foreign jurisdictions, cash provided by operations, as well as liquidity provided by our $2.2 billion revolving credit facility.
Other Contingencies
Potential Contractual Damage Claims in Excess of Underlying Contract Value: In certain circumstances, we enter into contracts with customers pursuant to which the damages that could be claimed by the customer for failed performance might exceed the revenue we receive from the contract. Contracts with these types of uncapped damages provisions are fairly rare, but individual contracts could still represent meaningful risk. There is a possibility that a claim by a counterparty to one of these contracts could result in expenses that are far in excess of the revenue received from the counterparty in connection with the contract.
Indemnification Provisions: We may provide indemnifications for losses that result from the breach of general warranties contained in certain commercial, intellectual property and divestiture agreements. Historically, we have not made significant payments under these agreements, nor have there been significant claims asserted against us. However, there is an increasing risk in relation to intellectual property indemnities given the current legal climate. In indemnification cases, payment by us is conditioned on the other party making a claim pursuant to the procedures specified in the particular contract, which procedures typically allow us to challenge the other party’s claims. In some instances we may have recourse against third-parties for certain payments made by us. Further, our obligations under divestiture agreements for indemnification based on breach of representations and warranties are generally limited in terms of duration, typically not more than 18 months, and for amounts not in excess of a percentage of the contract value.
Legal Matters: We are a defendant in various lawsuits, claims, and actions, which arise in the normal course of business. In the opinion of management, the ultimate disposition of these matters will not have a material adverse effect on our consolidated financial position, liquidity, or results of operations. However, an unfavorable resolution could have a material adverse effect on our consolidated financial position, liquidity, or results of operations in the periods in which the matters are ultimately resolved, or in the periods in which more information is obtained that changes management's opinion of the ultimate disposition.
Critical Accounting Policies
Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations discusses our consolidated financial statements, which have been prepared in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles ("GAAP"). The preparation of these financial statements requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and the disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements, as well as the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting period.
Management bases its estimates and judgments on historical experience, current economic and industry conditions and on various other factors that are believed to be reasonable under the circumstances. This forms the basis for making judgments about the carrying values of assets and liabilities that are not readily apparent from other sources. Actual results may differ from these estimates under different assumptions or conditions. Management believes the following significant accounting policies require significant judgment and estimates.
Revenue Recognition
Net sales consist of a wide range of activities including the delivery of stand-alone equipment or services, custom design and installation over a period of time, and bundled sales of equipment, software and services. We enter into revenue arrangements that may consist of multiple deliverables of our products and services due to the needs of our customers, including any combination of products, services and software. For multiple-element arrangements, deliverables are separated into more than one unit of accounting when: (i) the delivered element(s) have value to the customer on a stand-alone basis and (ii) delivery of the undelivered element(s) is probable and substantially in our control.
In these arrangements, we generally allocate revenue to all deliverables based on their relative selling prices, applying an estimated selling price (“ESP”) as our best estimate of fair value. We determine ESP by: (i) collecting all reasonably available data points including sales, cost and margin analysis of the product or service, and other inputs based on our normal pricing and discounting practices, (ii) making any reasonably required adjustments to the data based on market and Company-specific factors, and (iii) stratifying the data points, when appropriate, based on major product or service type, type of customer, geographic market, and sales volume. Once elements of an arrangement are separated into more than one unit of accounting, revenue is recognized for each separate unit of accounting based on the nature of the revenue as described above. Our arrangements with multiple deliverables may also contain one or more software deliverables that are subject to software revenue recognition guidance. In limited circumstances, we have established vendor specific objective evidence ("VSOE") of fair value on certain post-contract service offerings. Where the contract contains more than one software deliverable and VSOE does not exist for the undelivered software elements, revenue is deferred until the undelivered element is delivered. When the final undelivered software element is post contract support, revenue is recognized on a ratable basis over the remaining service period.
For long-term contracts that involve customization of equipment and/or software, we generally recognize revenue using the percentage of completion method based on the percentage of costs incurred to date compared to the total estimated costs to complete the contract (“Estimated Costs at Completion”). Total Estimated Costs at Completion include direct labor, material and subcontracting costs. Due to the nature of the work required to be performed under many of our long-term contracts, determining Estimated Costs at Completion is complex and subject to many variables. We have a standard and disciplined quarterly process in which management reviews the progress and performance of open contracts in order to determine the best estimate of Estimated Costs at Completion. As part of this process, management reviews information including, but not limited to, any outstanding key contract matters, progress towards completion, the project schedule, identified risks and opportunities, and the related changes in estimates of revenues and costs. The risks and opportunities include management's judgment about the ability and cost to achieve the project schedule, technical requirements, and other contract requirements. Management must make assumptions and estimates regarding labor productivity and availability, the complexity of the work to be performed, the availability of materials, and performance by subcontractors, among other variables. Based on this analysis, any quarterly adjustments to net sales, cost of sales, and the related impact to operating income are recorded as necessary in the period they become known. Changes in estimates of net sales or cost of sales could affect the profitability of one or more of our contracts.
The impact on operating earnings as a result of changes in Estimated Costs at Completion was not significant for the years 2017, 2016, and 2015. When estimates of total costs to be incurred on a contract exceed estimates of total revenue to be earned, a provision for the entire loss on the contract is recorded in the period the loss is determined.
Retirement Benefits
Our benefit obligations and net periodic pension cost (benefits) associated with our domestic noncontributory pension plans (“U.S. Pension Benefit Plans”), our foreign noncontributory pension plans (“Non-U.S. Plans”), as well as our domestic postretirement health care plan (“Postretirement Health Care Benefits”), are determined using actuarial assumptions. The assumptions are based on management’s best estimates, after consulting with outside investment advisors and actuaries.
Accounting methodologies use an attribution approach that generally spreads the effects of individual events over the service lives of the participants in the plan, or estimated average lifetime when almost all of the plan participants are considered "inactive." Examples of “events” are plan amendments and changes in actuarial assumptions such as discount rate, expected long-term rate of return on plan assets, and rate of compensation increases.
There are various assumptions used in calculating the net periodic cost (benefit) and related benefit obligations. One of these assumptions is the expected long-term rate of return on plan assets. The required use of the expected long-term rate of return on plan assets may result in recognized pension income that is greater or less than the actual returns of those plan assets in any given year. Over time, however, the expected long-term returns are designed to approximate the actual long-term returns. We use a five-year, market-related asset value method of recognizing asset related gains and losses.
We use long-term historical actual return experience with consideration of the expected investment mix of the plans’ assets, as well as future estimates of long-term investment returns, to develop our expected rate of return assumption used in calculating the net periodic pension cost and the net retirement health care expense. Our investment return assumption for the U.S. Pension Benefit Plans was 6.95% in 2017 and 7.00% in 2016. Our investment return assumption for the Postretirement Health Care Benefits Plan was 7.00% in 2017 and 2016. Our weighted average investment return assumption for the Non-U.S. Plans was 5.20% in 2017 and 5.90% in 2016. At December 31, 2017, the pension plans, including the U.S. Pension Benefit Plans and Non-U.S. Plans investment portfolios were comprised of approximately 29% equity investments, while the Postretirement Health Care Benefits Plan was all comprised of approximately 34% equity investments.
A second key assumption is the discount rate. The discount rate assumptions used for pension benefits and Postretirement Health Care Benefits Plan reflects, at December 31 of each year, the prevailing market rates for high-quality, fixed-income debt instruments that, if the obligation was settled at the measurement date, would provide the necessary future cash flows to pay the benefit obligation when due. Our discount rates for measuring our U.S. Pension Benefit Plan obligations were 3.79% and 4.42% at December 2017 and 2016, respectively. Our weighted average discount rates for measuring our Non-U.S. Plans were 2.34% and 2.54% at December 2017 and 2016, respectively. Our discount rates for measuring the Postretirement Health Care Benefits Plan obligation were 3.62% and 4.11% at December 31, 2017 and 2016, respectively.
Under relevant accounting rules, when almost all of the plan participants are considered inactive, the amortization period for certain unrecognized losses changes from the average remaining service period to the average remaining lifetime of the participant. As such, depending on the specific plan, we amortize gains and losses over periods ranging from eleven to thirty-four years. Prior service costs are being amortized over periods ranging from one to five years. Benefits under all pension plans are valued based on the projected unit credit cost method.
Effective January 1, 2016, we began to use a full yield curve approach in the estimation of our interest and service cost components of our net periodic cost, which uses a single weighted-average discount rate derived from the yield curve used to measure the projected benefit obligation at the beginning of the period. This method was elected to improve the correlation between projected benefit cash flows and the corresponding yield curve spot rates and to provide a more precise measurement of interest and service costs. Prior to January 1, 2016, estimates of interest and service cost components used a single weighted-average discount rate derived from the yield curve used to measure the projected benefit obligation at the beginning of the year.
Valuation and Recoverability of Goodwill
We assess the recorded amount of goodwill for recovery on an annual basis in the fourth quarter of each fiscal year. Goodwill is assessed more frequently if an event occurs or circumstances change that would indicate it is more-likely-than-not that the fair value of a reporting unit is below its carrying amount. We continually assess whether any such events and circumstances have occurred, which requires a significant amount of judgment. Such events and circumstances may include: adverse changes in macroeconomic conditions, adverse changes in the industry or market in which we transact, changes in cost factors negatively impacting earnings and cash flows, negative or declining overall financial performance, events affecting the carrying value or composition of a reporting unit, or a sustained decrease in share price, among others. Any such adverse event or change in circumstances could have a significant impact on the recoverability of goodwill and could have a material impact on our consolidated financial statements.
The goodwill impairment assessment is performed at the reporting unit level. A reporting unit is an operating segment or one level below an operating segment (referred to as a “component”). A component of an operating segment is a reporting unit if the component constitutes a business for which discrete financial information is available and segment management regularly reviews the operating results of that component. When two or more components of an operating segment have similar economic characteristics, the components are aggregated and deemed a single reporting unit. An operating segment is deemed to be a reporting unit if all of its components are similar, if none of its components is a reporting unit, or if the segment comprises only a
single component. Based on this guidance, we have determined that our Products and Services segments each meet the definition of a reporting unit. We performed a qualitative assessment of goodwill and determined that it was not more-likely-than-not that the fair value of each reporting unit was less than its carrying amount for the fiscal years 2017, 2016, and 2015. In performing this qualitative assessment we assessed relevant events and circumstances including macroeconomic conditions, industry and market conditions, cost factors, overall financial performance, changes in enterprise value, and entity-specific events. For fiscal years 2017, 2016, and 2015, we concluded it was more-likely-than-not that the fair value of each reporting unit exceeded its carrying value.
Valuation of Deferred Tax Assets and Liabilities
We record deferred income tax assets and liabilities based on the estimated future tax effects of differences between the financial and tax bases of assets and liabilities based on the currently enacted tax laws. As a result of the enactment of the Tax Act, we have reflected our best estimates and assumptions regarding: (i) the value of deferred income tax assets and liabilities based on the enacted corporate federal tax rate of 21%, (ii) the value of foreign tax credit carryforwards based on our ability to utilize foreign tax credits to offset future income tax liabilities and (iii) the accounting impact of new rules such as Global Intangible Low-Taxed Income ("GILTI") and Base Erosion Anti-abuse Tax ("BEAT"). We will continue to evaluate the valuation of our deferred tax positions on a quarterly basis to determine if valuation allowances are appropriately estimated by considering available evidence, including historical and projected taxable income and tax planning strategies that are both prudent and feasible. As our understanding of the application of certain rules under the Tax Act becomes clarified, we will further refine our estimates throughout 2018.
Recent Accounting Pronouncements
In May 2014, the Financial Accounting Standards Board ("FASB") issued Accounting Standards Update ("ASU") No. 2014-09, "Revenue from Contracts with Customers." This new standard will replace the existing revenue recognition guidance in U.S. GAAP. The core principle of the ASU is the recognition of revenue for the transfer of goods and services equal to the amount an entity expects to receive for those goods and services. This ASU requires additional disclosures about the nature, amount, timing and uncertainty of revenue and cash flows arising from customer contracts, including significant judgments and estimates and changes in those estimates. In August 2015, the FASB issued ASU No. 2015-14, "Revenue from Contracts with Customers: Deferral of the Effective Date" that delayed the effective date of ASU No. 2014-09 by one year to January 1, 2018, as our annual reporting period begins after December 15, 2017.
We have analyzed the impact of the new standard on our financial results based on an inventory of our current contracts with customers. We have obtained an understanding of the new standard and currently believe that we will retain much of the same accounting treatment used to recognize revenue under current standards. Revenue on a significant portion of our contracts is currently recognized under percentage of completion accounting applying a cost-to-cost method, including contracts for radio network deployments based on the APCO P25, TETRA, and DMR technologies, as well as certain offerings within our Smart Public Safety Solutions requiring significant integration (collectively "network integration contracts").
Under the new standard, we must identify the distinct promises to transfer goods and/or services within our contracts using certain factors. For network integration contracts, we have considered the factors used to determine whether promises made in the contract are distinct and determined that devices and accessories represent distinct goods. Accordingly, adoption of the new standard will impact our network integration contracts that include devices and accessories, with the resulting impact being revenue recognized earlier as control of the devices and accessories transfers to the customer at a point in time rather than over time. For the remaining promised goods and services within our network integration contracts, we will continue to recognize revenue on these contracts using a cost-to-cost method based on the continuous transfer of control to the customer over time. Transfer of control in our contracts is demonstrated by creating a customized asset for customers, in conjunction with contract terms which provide the right to receive payment for goods and services.
In addition, the standard may generally cause issuers to accelerate revenue recognition in contracts which were previously limited by software revenue recognition rules. While we have contracts which fall under these rules in the current standard, we have not historically deferred significant amounts of revenue under these rules as many arrangements are single-element software arrangements or sales of software with a tangible product which falls out of the scope of the current software rules. Based on the contracts currently in place, we do not anticipate a significant acceleration of revenue upon applying the new standard to our current contracts under these fact patterns.
The new standard also requires the concept of transfer of control to determine whether an entity must present revenue from providing goods or services at the gross amount billed to a customer (as a principal) or at the net amount retained (as an agent). Therefore, an entity must assess whether it controls the goods or services provided to a customer before they are transferred. The new standard provides three indicators to assist entities in determining control. Under the current standard, eight indicators (including the three indicators under the new standard) exist to evaluate whether an entity should present revenue gross as a principal or net as an agent. Historically, we have presented transactions that involved a third-party sales representative on a net basis. After considering the control concept and remaining three indicators under the new standard, we have determined that we are the principal in contracts that involve a third-party sales representative. Thus, upon adoption of the new standard we will present associated revenues on a gross basis, recording third-party sales commissions within selling, general and administrative expenses.
Under current accounting standards, we expense sales commissions as incurred. However, under ASU No. 2014-09, we will capitalize sales commissions as incremental costs to obtain a contract. Such costs will be classified as a contract asset and amortized over a period that approximates the timing of revenue recognition on the underlying contracts.
We have evaluated the impact of ASU No. 2014-09 on our financial results and determined to adopt this standard using the modified retrospective method, which requires the recognition of the cumulative effect of the transition as an adjustment to retained earnings for open contracts as of January 1, 2018. Based on the application of the changes described above to our contracts open as of January 1, 2018, we expect to recognize a transition adjustment in the range of $120 million to $140 million, net of deferred tax effects, which will increase our opening retained earnings. Based on our existing operations, ASU No. 2014-09 is not expected to have a material impact to net earnings for the year ended December 31, 2018.
In February 2016, the FASB issued ASU No. 2016-02, "Leases," which amends existing guidance to require lessees to recognize assets and liabilities on the balance sheet for the rights and obligations created by long-term leases and to disclose additional quantitative and qualitative information about leasing arrangements. The ASU is effective for us on January 1, 2019 and interim periods within that reporting period. The ASU prescribes the use of a modified retrospective method upon adoption, which requires all prior periods presented in the financial statements to be restated, with a cumulative adjustment to retained earnings as of the beginning of the earliest period presented. We are in the process of assessing the impact of this ASU on our consolidated financial statements and footnote disclosures.
In August 2016, the FASB issued ASU No. 2016-15, “Statement of Cash Flows (Topic 230) - Classification of Certain Cash Receipts and Cash Payments,” which clarifies eight specific cash flow issues in an effort to reduce diversity in practice in how certain transactions are classified within the statement of cash flows. This ASU is effective for us on January 1, 2018 with early adoption permitted. We intend to adopt this ASU on January 1, 2018. Upon adoption, the ASU requires a retrospective application unless it is determined that it is impractical to do so, in which case it must be retrospectively applied at the earliest date practical. Upon adoption, we do not anticipate significant changes to our existing accounting policies or presentation of the Statement of Cash Flows.
In October 2016, the FASB issued ASU No. 2016-16, “Accounting for Income Taxes: Intra-Entity Asset Transfers of Assets Other than Inventory,” as part of the Board’s simplification initiative aimed at reducing complexity in accounting standards. This ASU eliminates the current application of deferring the income tax effect of intra-entity asset transfers, other than inventory, until the transferred asset is sold to a third party or otherwise recovered through use and will require entities to recognize tax expense when the transfer occurs. The guidance will be effective for us on January 1, 2018 and interim periods within that reporting period; early adoption permitted. We intend to adopt the ASU on January 1, 2018. The ASU requires a modified retrospective application with a cumulative-effect adjustment recorded in retained earnings as of the beginning of the period of adoption. We expect to record a $30 million cumulative-effect adjustment to beginning retained earnings in the first quarter of 2018 for the remaining unrecognized deferred tax expense related to the intra-entity transfers of property, plant, and equipment.
In November 2016, the FASB issued ASU No. 2016-18, "Statement of Cash Flows (Topic 230): Restricted Cash," which requires that the statement of cash flows explain the change during the period in the total cash, which is inclusive of cash and cash equivalents and amounts generally described as restricted cash or restricted cash equivalents. Restricted cash and restricted cash equivalents will be included with cash and cash equivalents when reconciling the beginning of period and end of period balances on the statement of cash flows upon adoption of this standard. The ASU is effective for us on January 1, 2018 with early adoption permitted. We intend to adopt the ASU on January 1, 2018. Upon adoption, the ASU requires retrospective application. We do not anticipate significant changes to our financial statements and related disclosures from adoption of the ASU.
In March 2017, the FASB issued ASU No. 2017-07, "Compensation - Retirement Benefits (Topic 715) - Improving the Presentation of Net Periodic Pension Cost and Net Periodic Postretirement Benefit Cost." The amendments in this update require that an employer disaggregate the service cost component from the other components of net periodic cost (benefit) and report that component in the same line item as other compensation costs arising from services rendered by employees during the period. The other components of net periodic cost (benefit) are required to be presented in the statement of operations separately from the service cost component and outside of operating earnings. The amendment also allows for the service cost component of net periodic cost (benefit) to be eligible for capitalization when applicable. The guidance will be effective for us on January 1, 2018 and interim periods within that reporting period; early adoption is permitted. The guidance on the income statement presentation of the components of net periodic cost (benefit) must be applied retrospectively, while the guidance limiting the capitalization of net periodic cost (benefit) in assets to the service cost component must be applied prospectively. We intend to adopt this ASU on January 1, 2018. Upon adoption, we plan to update the presentation of net periodic cost (benefit) accordingly, noting all components of our net periodic cost (benefit), with the exception of the service cost component, will be presented outside of operating earnings. The estimated impact of adoption of the ASU will be a reclassification of certain components of net periodic benefit from operating earnings to other income (expense) in the amount of approximately $8 million and $29 million for the years ended December 31, 2017 and December 31, 2016, respectively.
In August 2017, the FASB issued ASU No. 2017-12 "Derivatives and Hedging (Topic 815): Targeted Improvements to Accounting for Hedging Activities," which is intended to simplify the application of hedge accounting and better portray the economic results of risk management strategies in the consolidated financial statements. The ASU expands and refines hedge accounting for both financial and non-financial risk components, aligns the recognition and presentation of the effects of hedging instruments and hedge items in the financial statements, and includes certain targeted improvements to ease the application of current guidance related to the assessment of hedge effectiveness. The ASU is effective for us on January 1, 2019 with adoption permitted immediately in any interim or annual period (including the current period). We are currently assessing the impact of this ASU, including transition elections and required elections, on our consolidated financial statements and the timing of adoption.
Recently Adopted Accounting Pronouncements
We have elected to early adopt ASU No. 2018-2, "Income Statement – Reporting Comprehensive Income (Topic 220): Reclassification of Certain Tax Effects from Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income," as of January 1, 2017. The ASU, which was issued by the FASB in February 2018, allows for a reclassification from Accumulated other comprehensive income to Retained earnings for stranded tax effects resulting from the newly enacted federal corporate income tax rate and other stranded tax amounts related to the Tax Act. As a result of adoption of the ASU, we reclassified $270 million of stranded tax effects related to our U.S. Pension Plans out of Accumulated other comprehensive loss and into Retained earnings for the year ended December 31, 2017.
Forward-Looking Statements
Except for historical matters, the matters discussed in this Form 10-K are forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable federal securities law. These statements are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and generally include words such as “believes,” “expects,” “intends,” “aims,” “estimates” and similar expressions. We can give no assurance that any future results or events discussed in these statements will be achieved. Any forward-looking statements represent our views only as of today and should not be relied upon as representing our views as of any subsequent date. Readers are cautioned that such forward-looking statements are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties that could cause our actual results to differ materially from the statements contained in this Form 10-K. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements under the following headings: (1) “Business,” about: (a) industry growth and demand, including opportunities resulting from such growth, (b) future product development and the demand for new products, (c) customer spending, (d) the impact of our strategy and focus areas, (e) the impact from the loss of key customers, (f) competitive position and our ability to maintain a leadership position in our core products, (g) increased competition, (h) the impact of regulatory matters, (i) the impact from the allocation and regulation of spectrum, particularly with respect to broadband spectrum, (j) the firmness of each segment's backlog, (k) the competitiveness of the patent portfolio, (l) the impact of research and development, (m) the availability of materials and components, energy supplies and labor, and (n) the seasonality of the business; (2) “Properties,” about the sufficiency of our manufacturing capacity and the consequences of a disruption in manufacturing; (3) “Legal Proceedings,” about the ultimate disposition of pending legal matters and timing; (4) “Management's Discussion and Analysis,” about: (a) the impact of acquisitions on our business, (b) market growth/contraction, demand, spending and resulting opportunities, (c) the impact of foreign exchange rate fluctuations, (d) our continued ability to reduce our operating expenses, (e) the growth of our Services segment and the resulting impact on consolidated gross margin, (f) the increase in public safety LTE revenues, (g) the decline in iDEN, (h) the return of capital to shareholders through dividends and/or repurchasing shares, (i) our ability to invest in capital expenditures and R&D, (j) the success of our business strategy and portfolio, (k) future payments, charges, use of accruals and expected cost-saving and profitability benefits associated with our reorganization of business programs and employee separation costs, (l) our ability and cost to repatriate funds, (m) future cash contributions to pension plans or retiree health benefit plans, (n) the liquidity of our investments, (o) our ability and cost to access the capital markets, (p) our ability to borrow and the amount available under our credit facilities, (q) our ability to settle the principal amount of the Senior Convertible Notes in cash, (r) our ability and cost to obtain Performance Bonds, (s) adequacy of internal resources to fund expected working capital and capital expenditure measurements, (t) expected payments pursuant to commitments under long-term agreements, (u) the ability to meet minimum purchase obligations, (v) our ability to sell accounts receivable and the terms and amounts of such sales, (w) the outcome and effect of ongoing and future legal proceedings, (x) the impact of the loss of key customers, (y) the expected effective tax rate and deductibility of certain items, and (z) the impact of the adoption of accounting pronouncements on our retained earnings; and (5) “Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures about Market Risk,” about: (a) the impact of foreign currency exchange risks, (b) future hedging activity and expectations of the Company, and (c) the ability of counterparties to financial instruments to perform their obligations.
Some of the risk factors that affect our business and financial results are discussed in “Item 1A: Risk Factors.” We caution the reader that the risk factors discussed in “Item 1A: Risk Factors,” and those described elsewhere in this report or in our other Securities and Exchange Commission filings, could cause our actual results to differ materially from those stated in the forward-looking statements.
Item 7A. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk
Interest Rate Risk
As of December 31, 2017, we have $4.5 billion of long-term debt, including the current portion of long-term debt, which is primarily priced at long-term, fixed interest rates. Our subsidiaries have variable interest loans denominated in the Euro and Chilean Peso. We have interest rate swap agreements in place which change the characteristics of interest rate payments from variable to maximum fixed-rate payments. A hypothetical unfavorable movement of 10% in the interest rates would have an immaterial impact on the hedge’s fair value.
Foreign Currency Risk
We use financial instruments to reduce our overall exposure to the effects of currency fluctuations on cash flows. Our policy prohibits speculation in financial instruments for profit on exchange rate price fluctuations, trading in currencies for which there are no underlying exposures, or entering into transactions for any currency to intentionally increase the underlying exposure. Instruments that are designated as part of a hedging relationship must be effective at reducing the risk associated with the exposure being hedged and are designated as part of a hedging relationship at the inception of the contract. Accordingly, changes in the market values of hedge instruments must be highly correlated with changes in market values of the underlying hedged items both at the inception of the hedge and over the life of the hedge contract.
Our strategy related to foreign exchange exposure management is to offset the gains or losses on the financial instruments against losses or gains on the underlying operational cash flows or investments based on our assessment of risk. We enter into derivative contracts for some of our non-functional currency cash, receivables, and payables, which are primarily denominated in major currencies that can be traded on open markets. We typically use forward contracts and options to hedge these currency exposures. In addition, we enter into derivative contracts for some forecasted transactions, which are designated as part of a hedging relationship if it is determined that the transaction qualifies for hedge accounting under the provisions of the authoritative accounting guidance for derivative instruments and hedging activities. A portion of our exposure is from currencies that are not traded in liquid markets and these are addressed, to the extent reasonably possible, by managing net asset positions, product pricing and component sourcing.
At December 31, 2017, we had outstanding foreign exchange contracts totaling $507 million, compared to $717 million outstanding at December 31, 2016. Management does not believe these financial instruments should subject it to undue risk due to foreign exchange movements because gains and losses on these contracts should generally offset gains and losses on the underlying assets, liabilities and transactions.
The following table shows the five largest net notional amounts of the positions to buy or sell foreign currency as of December 31, 2017 and the corresponding positions as of December 31, 2016:
|
| | | | | | | |
| Notional Amount |
Net Buy (Sell) by Currency | 2017 | | 2016 |
Euro | $ | 149 |
| | $ | 122 |
|
British Pound | 72 |
| | 246 |
|
Chinese Renminbi | (73 | ) | | (108 | ) |
Australian Dollar | (64 | ) | | (51 | ) |
Brazilian Real | (45 | ) | | (56 | ) |
Foreign exchange financial instruments that are subject to the effects of currency fluctuations, which may affect reported earnings, include derivative financial instruments and other monetary assets and liabilities denominated in a currency other than the functional currency of the legal entity holding the instrument. Derivative financial instruments consist primarily of currency forward contracts and options. Other monetary assets and liabilities denominated in a currency other than the functional currency of the legal entity consist primarily of cash, cash equivalents, short-term investments, as well as accounts payable and receivable. Accounts payable and receivable are reflected at fair value in the financial statements. Assuming the amounts of the outstanding foreign exchange contracts represent our underlying foreign exchange risk related to monetary assets and liabilities, a hypothetical unfavorable 10% movement in the foreign exchange rates, from current levels, would reduce the value of those monetary assets and liabilities by approximately $52 million. Our market risk calculation represents an estimate of reasonably possible net losses that would be recognized assuming hypothetical 10% movements in future currency market pricing and is not necessarily indicative of actual results, which may or may not occur. It does not represent the maximum possible loss or any expected loss that may occur, since actual future gains and losses will differ from those estimated, based upon, among other things, actual fluctuation in market rates, operating exposures, and the timing thereof. We believe, however, that any such loss incurred would be offset by the effects of market rate movements on the respective underlying derivative financial instruments transactions. The foreign exchange financial instruments are held for purposes other than trading.
® Reg. U.S. Patent & Trademark Office.
MOTOROLA, MOTO, MOTOROLA SOLUTIONS and the Stylized M Logo, as well as iDEN are trademarks or registered trademarks of Motorola Trademark Holdings, LLC and are used under license. All other products or service names are the property of their respective owners.
Item 8: Financial Statements and Supplementary Data
REPORT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM
To the Stockholders and Board of Directors
Motorola Solutions, Inc.:
Opinion on the Consolidated Financial Statements
We have audited the accompanying consolidated balance sheets of Motorola Solutions, Inc. and subsidiaries (the “Company”) as of December 31, 2017 and 2016, the related consolidated statements of operations, comprehensive income (loss), stockholders’ equity, and cash flows for each of the years in the three-year period ended December 31, 2017, and the related notes (collectively, the “consolidated financial statements”). In our opinion, the consolidated financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the Company as of December 31, 2017 and 2016, and the results of their operations and their cash flows for each of the years in the three-year period ended December 31, 2017, in conformity with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles.
We also have audited, in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (“PCAOB”), the Company’s internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2017, based on the criteria established in Internal Control - Integrated Framework (2013) issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO), and our report dated February 16, 2018 expressed an unqualified opinion on the effectiveness of the Company’s internal control over financial reporting.
Basis for Opinion
These consolidated financial statements are the responsibility of the Company’s management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on these consolidated financial statements based on our audits. We are a public accounting firm registered with the PCAOB and are required to be independent with respect to the Company in accordance with the U.S. federal securities laws and the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PCAOB.
We conducted our audits in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the consolidated financial statements are free of material misstatement, whether due to error or fraud. Our audits included performing procedures to assess the risks of material misstatement of the consolidated financial statements, whether due to error or fraud, and performing procedures that respond to those risks. Such procedures included examining, on a test basis, evidence supporting the amounts and disclosures in the consolidated financial statements. Our audits also included evaluating the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall presentation of the consolidated financial statements. We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinion.
We have served as the Company’s auditor since 1959.
Chicago, Illinois
February 16, 2018
Consolidated Statements of Operations
|
| | | | | | | | | | | |
| Years ended December 31 |
(In millions, except per share amounts) | 2017 | | 2016 | | 2015 |
Net sales from products | $ | 3,772 |
| | $ | 3,649 |
| | $ | 3,676 |
|
Net sales from services | 2,608 |
| | 2,389 |
| | 2,019 |
|
Net sales | 6,380 |
| | 6,038 |
| | 5,695 |
|
Costs of products sales | 1,686 |
| | 1,649 |
| | 1,625 |
|
Costs of services sales | 1,670 |
| | 1,520 |
| | 1,351 |
|
Costs of sales | 3,356 |
| | 3,169 |
| | 2,976 |
|
Gross margin | 3,024 |
| | 2,869 |
| | 2,719 |
|
Selling, general and administrative expenses | 979 |
| | 1,000 |
| | 1,021 |
|
Research and development expenditures | 568 |
| | 553 |
| | 620 |
|
Other charges | 195 |
| | 249 |
| | 84 |
|
Operating earnings | 1,282 |
| | 1,067 |
| | 994 |
|
Other income (expense): | | | | | |
Interest expense, net | (201 | ) | | (205 | ) | | (173 | ) |
Gains (losses) on sales of investments and businesses, net | 3 |
| | (6 | ) | | 107 |
|
Other | (8 | ) | | (12 | ) | | (11 | ) |
Total other expense | (206 | ) | | (223 | ) | | (77 | ) |
Earnings from continuing operations before income taxes | 1,076 |
| | 844 |
| | 917 |
|
Income tax expense | 1,227 |
| | 282 |
| | 274 |
|
Earnings (loss) from continuing operations | (151 | ) | | 562 |
| | 643 |
|
Loss from discontinued operations, net of tax | — |
| | — |
| | (30 | ) |
Net earnings (loss) | (151 | ) | | 562 |
| | 613 |
|
Less: Earnings attributable to noncontrolling interests | 4 |
| | 2 |
| | 3 |
|
Net earnings (loss) attributable to Motorola Solutions, Inc. | $ | (155 | ) | | $ | 560 |
| | $ | 610 |
|
Amounts attributable to Motorola Solutions, Inc. common stockholders: | | | | | |
Earnings (loss) from continuing operations, net of tax | $ | (155 | ) | | $ | 560 |
| | $ | 640 |
|
Loss from discontinued operations, net of tax | — |
| | — |
| | (30 | ) |
Net earnings (loss) attributable to Motorola Solutions, Inc. | $ | (155 | ) | | $ | 560 |
| | $ | 610 |
|
Earnings (loss) per common share: | | | | | |
Basic: | | | | | |
Continuing operations | $ | (0.95 | ) | | $ | 3.30 |
| | $ | 3.21 |
|
Discontinued operations | — |
| | — |
| | (0.15 | ) |
| $ | (0.95 | ) | | $ | 3.30 |
| | $ | 3.06 |
|
Diluted: | | | | | |
Continuing operations | $ | (0.95 | ) | | $ | 3.24 |
| | $ | 3.17 |
|
Discontinued operations | — |
| | — |
| | (0.15 | ) |
| $ | (0.95 | ) | | $ | 3.24 |
| | $ | 3.02 |
|
Weighted average common shares outstanding: | | | | | |
Basic | 162.9 |
| | 169.6 |
| | 199.6 |
|
Diluted | 162.9 |
| | 173.1 |
| | 201.8 |
|
Dividends declared per share | $ | 1.93 |
| | $ | 1.70 |
| | $ | 1.43 |
|
See accompanying notes to consolidated financial statements.
Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income (Loss)
|
| | | | | | | | | | | |
| Years ended December 31 |
(In millions) | 2017 | | 2016 | | 2015 |
Net earnings (loss) | $ | (151 | ) | | $ | 562 |
| | $ | 613 |
|
Other comprehensive income (loss), net of tax (Note 3): | | | | | |
Foreign currency translation adjustments | 141 |
| | (228 | ) | | (62 | ) |
Marketable securities | 6 |
| | 3 |
| | (47 | ) |
Defined benefit plans | (392 | ) | | (226 | ) | | 98 |
|
Total other comprehensive loss, net of tax | (245 | ) | | (451 | ) | | (11 | ) |
Comprehensive income (loss) | (396 | ) | | 111 |
| | 602 |
|
Less: Earnings attributable to noncontrolling interest | 4 |
| | 2 |
| | 3 |
|
Comprehensive income (loss) attributable to Motorola Solutions, Inc. common shareholders | $ | (400 | ) | | $ | 109 |
| | $ | 599 |
|
See accompanying notes to consolidated financial statements.
Consolidated Balance Sheets
|
| | | | | | | |
| December 31 |
(In millions, except par value) | 2017 | | 2016 |
ASSETS |
Cash and cash equivalents | $ | 1,205 |
| | $ | 967 |
|
Restricted cash | 63 |
| | 63 |
|
Total cash and cash equivalents | 1,268 |
| | 1,030 |
|
Accounts receivable, net | 1,523 |
| | 1,410 |
|
Inventories, net | 327 |
| | 273 |
|
Other current assets | 832 |
| | 755 |
|
Total current assets | 3,950 |
| | 3,468 |
|
Property, plant and equipment, net | 856 |
| | 789 |
|
Investments | 247 |
| | 238 |
|
Deferred income taxes | 1,023 |
| | 2,219 |
|
Goodwill | 938 |
| | 728 |
|
Intangible assets, net | 861 |
| | 821 |
|
Other assets | 333 |
| | 200 |
|
Total assets | $ | 8,208 |
| | $ | 8,463 |
|
LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY |
Current portion of long-term debt | $ | 52 |
| | $ | 4 |
|
Accounts payable | 593 |
| | 553 |
|
Accrued liabilities | 2,286 |
| | 2,111 |
|
Total current liabilities | 2,931 |
| | 2,668 |
|
Long-term debt | 4,419 |
| | 4,392 |
|
Other liabilities | 2,585 |
| | 2,355 |
|
Stockholders’ Equity | | | |
Preferred stock, $100 par value | — |
| | — |
|
Common stock, $.01 par value: | 2 |
| | 2 |
|
Authorized shares: 600.0 | | | |
Issued shares: 12/31/17—161.6; 12/31/16—165.5 | | | |
Outstanding shares: 12/31/17—161.2; 12/31/16—164.7 | | | |
Additional paid-in capital | 351 |
| | 203 |
|
Retained earnings | 467 |
| | 1,148 |
|
Accumulated other comprehensive loss | (2,562 | ) | | (2,317 | ) |
Total Motorola Solutions, Inc. stockholders’ equity (deficit) | (1,742 | ) | | (964 | ) |
Noncontrolling interests | 15 |
| | 12 |
|
Total stockholders’ equity (deficit) | (1,727 | ) | | (952 | ) |
Total liabilities and stockholders’ equity | $ | 8,208 |
| | $ | 8,463 |
|
See accompanying notes to consolidated financial statements.
Consolidated Statements of Stockholders’ Equity
|
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
(In millions, except per share amounts) | Shares | | Common Stock and Additional Paid-in Capital | | Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income (Loss) | | Retained Earnings | | Noncontrolling Interests |
Balance as of January 1, 2015 | 220.5 |
| | $ | 1,180 |
| | $ | (1,855 | ) | | $ | 3,410 |
| | $ | 31 |
|
Net earnings |
| |
| |
|
| | 610 |
| | 3 |
|
Other comprehensive loss |
| |
| | (11 | ) | |
| |
|
Issuance of common stock and stock options exercised | 2.0 |
| | 80 |
| |
| |
| |
|
Share repurchase program | (48.0 | ) | | (1,147 | ) | |
| | (2,030 | ) | |
|
Tax shortfalls from share-based compensation |
| | (155 | ) | |
| |
| |
|
Share-based compensation expense |
| | 78 |
| |
| |
| |
|
Sale of controlling interest in subsidiary common stock |
| | | |
| |
| | (24 | ) |
Equity component of Senior Convertible Notes | | | 8 |
| | | | | | |
Dividends declared |
| |
| |
| | (274 | ) | |
|
|
Balance as of December 31, 2015 | 174.5 |
| | $ | 44 |
| | $ | (1,866 | ) | | $ | 1,716 |
| | $ | 10 |
|
Net earnings |
| |
| |
|
| | 560 |
| | 2 |
|
Other comprehensive loss |
| |
| | (451 | ) | |
| |
|
Issuance of common stock and stock options exercised | 3.0 |
| | 93 |
| |
| |
| |
|
Share repurchase program | (12.0 | ) | |
|
| |
| | (842 | ) | |
|
Share-based compensation expense |
| | 68 |
| |
| |
| |
|
Dividends declared |
| |
| |
| | (286 | ) | |
|
|
Balance as of December 31, 2016 | 165.5 |
| | $ | 205 |
| | $ | (2,317 | ) | | $ | 1,148 |
| | $ | 12 |
|
Net earnings (loss) |
| |
| |
| | (155 | ) | | 4 |
|
Other comprehensive income |
| |
| | 25 |
| |
| |
|
Issuance of common stock and stock options exercised | 1.8 |
| | 82 |
| |
| |
| |
|
Share repurchase program | (5.7 | ) | |
| |
| | (483 | ) | |
|
Reclassification of stranded tax effects |
|
| |
|
| | (270 | ) | | 270 |
| |
|
Share-based compensation expense |
| | 66 |
| |
| |
| |
|
Dividends paid to noncontrolling interest on subsidiary common stock |
| |
| |
| |
| | (1 | ) |
Dividends declared |
|
| |
|
| |
| | (313 | ) | |
|
Balance as of December 31, 2017 | 161.6 |
| | $ | 353 |
| | $ | (2,562 | ) | | $ | 467 |
| | $ | 15 |
|
See accompanying notes to consolidated financial statements.
Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows
|
| | | | | | | | | | | |
| Years ended December 31 |
(In millions) | 2017 | | 2016 | | 2015 |
Operating | | | | | |
Net earnings (loss) attributable to Motorola Solutions, Inc. | $ | (155 | ) | | $ | 560 |
| | $ | 610 |
|
Earnings attributable to noncontrolling interests | 4 |
| | 2 |
| | 3 |
|
Net earnings (loss) |