Item 1. Financial Statements
Item 1.
Financial Statements
NETLIST, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets
(In thousands, except par value)
July 2,
January 1,
2022
2022
(unaudited)
ASSETS
Current Assets:
Cash and cash equivalents
$
40,465
$
47,679
Restricted cash
20,100
10,800
Accounts receivable, net of allowances of $ 235 (2022) and $ 283 (2021)
12,328
12,727
Inventories
21,857
15,670
Prepaid expenses and other current assets
1,018
1,126
Total current assets
95,768
88,002
Property and equipment, net
1,180
989
Operating lease right-of-use assets
2,369
1,891
Other assets
319
294
Total assets
$
99,636
$
91,176
LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY
Current Liabilities:
Accounts payable
$
38,309
$
25,887
Revolving line of credit
8,019
7,000
Accrued payroll and related liabilities
1,430
1,308
Accrued expenses and other current liabilities
1,485
632
Long-term debt due within one year
189
562
Total current liabilities
49,432
35,389
Operating lease liabilities
1,932
1,593
Other liabilities
356
152
Total liabilities
51,720
37,134
Commitments and contingencies
Stockholders' equity:
Preferred stock, $ 0.001 par value— 10,000 shares authorized: Series A preferred stock, $ 0.001 par value; 1,000 shares authorized; none issued and outstanding
—
—
Common stock, $ 0.001 par value— 450,000 shares authorized; 231,488 (2022) and 230,113 (2021) shares issued and outstanding
232
231
Additional paid-in capital
248,563
243,866
Accumulated deficit
( 200,879 )
( 190,055 )
Total stockholders' equity
47,916
54,042
Total liabilities and stockholders' equity
$
99,636
$
91,176
See accompanying Notes to Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements.
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NETLIST, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations (Unaudited)
(In thousands, except per share amounts)
Three Months Ended
Six Months Ended
July 2,
July 3,
July 2,
July 3,
2022
2021
2022
2021
Net product sales
$
55,358
$
24,363
$
105,558
$
39,260
License fee
—
40,000
—
40,000
Net sales
55,358
64,363
105,558
79,260
Cost of sales
50,610
21,498
97,447
34,894
Gross profit
4,748
42,865
8,111
44,366
Operating expenses:
Research and development
2,672
2,060
5,129
3,184
Intellectual property legal fees
3,313
3,837
6,139
6,124
Selling, general and administrative
3,724
3,092
7,662
5,049
Total operating expenses
9,709
8,989
18,930
14,357
Operating (loss) income
( 4,961 )
33,876
( 10,819 )
30,009
Other (expense) income, net:
Interest income (expense), net
15
( 145 )
4
( 292 )
Other (expense) income, net
( 6 )
645
( 8 )
643
Total other (expense) income, net
9
500
( 4 )
351
(Loss) income before provision for income taxes
( 4,952 )
34,376
( 10,823 )
30,360
Provision for income taxes
—
6,600
1
6,601
Net (loss) income
$
( 4,952 )
$
27,776
$
( 10,824 )
$
23,759
(Loss) earnings per share:
Basic
$
( 0.02 )
$
0.13
$
( 0.05 )
$
0.11
Diluted
$
( 0.02 )
$
0.12
$
( 0.05 )
$
0.10
Weighted-average common shares outstanding:
Basic
231,298
215,706
230,922
210,693
Diluted
231,298
235,176
230,922
229,305
See accompanying Notes to the Condensed Consolidated Statements.
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B
NETLIST, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
Condensed Consolidated Statements of Stockholders Equity (Unaudited)
(In thousands)
Additional
Total
Common Stock
Paid-in
Accumulated
Stockholders'
Shares
Amount
Capital
Deficit
Equity
Balance, January 1, 2022
230,113
$
231
$
243,866
$
( 190,055 )
$
54,042
Net loss
—
—
—
( 5,872 )
( 5,872 )
Issuance of common stock, net
303
—
1,767
—
1,767
Exercise of stock options
197
—
138
—
138
Stock-based compensation
—
—
682
—
682
Restricted stock units vested and distributed
533
1
( 1 )
—
—
Tax withholdings related to net share settlements of equity awards
( 117 )
—
( 591 )
—
( 591 )
Balance, April 2, 2022
231,029
232
245,861
( 195,927 )
50,166
Net loss
—
—
—
( 4,952 )
( 4,952 )
Issuance of common stock, net
354
—
1,973
—
1,973
Exercise of stock options
72
—
47
—
47
Stock-based compensation
—
—
790
—
790
Restricted stock units vested and distributed
50
—
—
—
—
Tax withholdings related to net share settlements of equity awards
( 17 )
—
( 108 )
—
( 108 )
Balance, July 2, 2022
231,488
$
232
$
248,563
$
( 200,879 )
$
47,916
Additional
Total
Common Stock
Paid-in
Accumulated
Stockholders'
Shares
Amount
Capital
Deficit
Equity
Balance, January 2, 2021
195,978
$
195
$
192,071
$
( 194,886 )
$
( 2,620 )
Net loss
—
—
—
( 4,017 )
( 4,017 )
Issuance of common stock, net
11,700
12
9,349
—
9,361
Exercise of stock options
476
—
376
—
376
Exercise of warrants
6,508
7
3,975
—
3,982
Stock-based compensation
—
—
338
—
338
Restricted stock units vested and distributed
501
1
( 1 )
—
—
Tax withholdings related to net share settlements of equity awards
( 150 )
—
( 276 )
—
( 276 )
Balance, April 3, 2021
215,013
215
205,832
( 198,903 )
7,144
Net Income
—
—
—
27,776
27,776
Exercise of stock options
345
—
256
—
256
Exercise of warrants
588
1
375
—
376
Stock-based compensation
—
—
379
—
379
Restricted stock units vested and distributed
63
—
—
—
—
Tax withholdings related to net share settlements of equity awards
( 22 )
—
( 47 )
—
( 47 )
Balance, July 3, 2021
215,987
$
216
$
206,795
$
( 171,127 )
$
35,884
See accompanying Notes to the Condensed Consolidated Statements
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NETLIST, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows (Unaudited)
(In thousands)
Six Months Ended
July 2,
July 3,
2022
2021
Cash flows from operating activities:
Net income (loss)
$
( 10,824 )
$
23,759
Adjustments to reconcile net income (loss) to net cash provided by (used in) operating activities:
Depreciation and amortization
157
65
Interest accrued on convertible promissory notes
—
152
Amortization of debt discounts
—
105
Non-cash lease expense
314
206
Gain on extinguishment of debt
—
( 643 )
Stock-based compensation
1,472
717
Changes in operating assets and liabilities:
Accounts receivable
399
( 127 )
Inventories
( 6,187 )
( 9,073 )
Prepaid expenses and other assets
83
( 331 )
Accounts payable
12,422
12,014
Accrued payroll and related liabilities
122
380
Accrued expenses and other liabilities
609
( 97 )
Net cash provided by (used in) operating activities
( 1,433 )
27,127
Cash flows from investing activities:
Acquisition of property and equipment
( 326 )
( 144 )
Net cash used in investing activities
( 326 )
( 144 )
Cash flows from financing activities:
Net borrowings (repayments) under line of credit
1,019
( 2,926 )
Principal repayments under finance lease
( 27 )
—
Payments on note payable
( 373 )
( 167 )
Proceeds from issuance of common stock, net
3,740
9,361
Proceeds from exercise of stock options and warrants
185
4,990
Payments for taxes related to net share settlement of equity awards
( 699 )
( 323 )
Net cash provided by financing activities
3,845
10,935
Net change in cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash
2,086
37,918
Cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash at beginning of period
58,479
16,526
Cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash at end of period
$
60,565
$
54,444
Reconciliation of cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash at end of period:
Cash and cash equivalents
$
40,465
$
44,544
Restricted cash
20,100
9,900
Cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash at end of period
$
60,565
$
54,444
See accompanying Notes to the Condensed Consolidated Statements.
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NETLIST, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
Notes to Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements (Unaudited)
Note 1—Description of Business
Netlist, Inc. and its wholly owned subsidiaries (collectively the “Company” or “Netlist”) provides high-performance solid-state drives and modular memory solutions to enterprise customers in diverse industries. The Company's NVMe SSDs in various capacities and form factors and the line of custom and specialty memory products bring industry-leading performance to server and storage appliance customers and cloud service providers. Netlist licenses its portfolio of intellectual property including patents, in server memory, hybrid memory and storage class memory, to companies that implement Netlist’s technology.
Note 2—Summary of Significant Accounting Policies
Basis of Presentation
The accompanying unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“U.S. GAAP”). Certain information and footnote disclosures normally included in the condensed consolidated financial statements prepared in accordance with U.S. GAAP have been condensed or omitted pursuant to the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”). These condensed consolidated financial statements should be read in conjunction with the condensed consolidated financial statements and notes thereto as of and for the year ended January 1, 2022, included in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC on March 1, 2022 (the “2021 Annual Report”).
In the opinion of management, all adjustments for the fair presentation of the Company’s condensed consolidated financial statements have been made. The adjustments are of a normal recurring nature except as otherwise noted. The results of operations for the interim periods are not necessarily indicative of the results to be expected for other periods or the full fiscal year. The Company has evaluated events occurring subsequent to July 2, 2022 through the filing date of this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q and concluded that there were no events that required recognition and disclosures other than those discussed elsewhere in the notes hereto.
Principles of Consolidation
The accompanying condensed consolidated financial statements include the accounts of Netlist, Inc. and its wholly owned subsidiaries. All intercompany balances and transactions have been eliminated in consolidation.
Fiscal Year
The Company’s fiscal year is the 52 - or 53 -week period that ends on the Saturday nearest to December 31. The Company’s fiscal year 2022 will include 52 weeks and ends on December 31, 2022. Each quarter of fiscal year 2022 will be comprised of 13 weeks. Unless otherwise stated, references to particular years, quarters, months and periods refer to the Company’s fiscal years ended in January and the associated quarters, months and periods of those fiscal years.
Use of Estimates
The preparation of the accompanying condensed consolidated financial statements in conformity with U.S. GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the amounts reported. Actual results may differ materially from those estimates.
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Recently Adopted Accounting Guidance
In the first quarter of 2022, we adopted the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) No. 2020-06, Debt—Debt with Conversion and Other Options (Subtopic 470-20) and Derivatives and Hedging—Contracts in Entity’s Own Equity (Subtopic 815-40): Accounting for Convertible Instruments and Contracts in an Entity’s Own Equity . This ASU amends the guidance on convertible instruments and the derivatives scope exception for contracts in an entity's own equity, and also improves and amends the related earnings per share guidance for both Subtopics. The adoption of this ASU did not have an impact on the Company’s condensed consolidated financial statements as the Company paid off its convertible debt in December 2021.
Note 3—Supplemental Financial Information
Inventories
Inventories consisted of the following (in thousands):
July 2,
January 1,
2022
2022
Raw materials
$
11,021
$
4,208
Work in process
418
154
Finished goods
10,418
11,308
$
21,857
$
15,670
(Loss) Earnings Per Share
The following table shows the computation of basic and diluted (loss) earnings per share of common stock (in thousands, except per share data):
Three Months Ended
Six Months Ended
July 2,
July 3,
July 2,
July 3,
2022
2021
2022
2021
Numerator:
Net (loss) income
$
( 4,952 )
$
27,776
$
( 10,824 )
$
23,759
Denominator:
Weighted-average basic shares outstanding
231,298
215,706
230,922
210,693
Effect of dilutive securities
—
19,470
—
18,612
Weighted-average diluted shares
231,298
235,176
230,922
229,305
Basic (loss) earnings per share
$
( 0.02 )
$
0.13
$
( 0.05 )
$
0.11
Diluted (loss) earnings per share
$
( 0.02 )
$
0.12
$
( 0.05 )
$
0.10
The table below shows potentially dilutive weighted average common share equivalents, consisting of shares issuable upon the exercise of outstanding stock options and warrants using the treasury stock method, shares issuable upon conversion feature of a convertible note using the “if-converted” method, and the shares vesting of issuable upon the RSAs and RSUs. These potential weighted average common share equivalents for the three and six months ended July 2, 2022 have been excluded from the diluted net loss per share calculations above as their effect would be anti-dilutive (in thousands):
Three Months Ended
Six Months Ended
July 2,
July 3,
July 2,
July 3,
2022
2021
2022
2021
Weighted average common share equivalents
5,419
19,470
5,911
18,612
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Disaggregation of Net Sales
The following table shows disaggregated net sales by major source (in thousands):
Three Months Ended
Six Months Ended
July 2,
July 3,
July 2,
July 3,
2022
2021
2022
2021
Resales of third-party products
$
49,168
$
14,608
$
94,753
$
25,966
Sale of the Company's modular memory subsystems
6,190
9,755
10,805
13,294
License fee
—
40,000
—
40,000
Total net sales
$
55,358
$
64,363
$
105,558
$
79,260
Major Customers and Products
The Company’s net product sales have historically been concentrated in a small number of customers. The following table sets forth the percentage of net product sales made to customers that each comprise 10% or more of total product sales:
Three Months Ended
Six Months Ended
July 2,
July 3,
July 2,
July 3,
2022
2021
2022
2021
Customer A
32 %
11 %
42 %
*
Customer B
*
11 %
*
*
Customer C
23 %
*
16 %
*
*
Less than 10% of net sales during the period.
As of July 2, 2022, three customers represented 21 %, 17 %, and 16 % of aggregated gross receivables, respectively. As of January 1, 2022, four customers represented 26 %, 16 %, 13 %, and 13 % of aggregate gross receivables, respectively. The loss of a major customer or a reduction in sales to or difficulties collecting payments from these customers could significantly reduce the Company’s net sales and adversely affect its operating results. The Company mitigates risks associated with foreign and domestic receivables by purchasing comprehensive credit insurance.
The Company resells certain component products to end-customers that are not reached in the distribution models of the component manufacturers, including storage customers, appliance customers, system builders and cloud and datacenter customers. For the three and six months ended July 2, 2022, resales of these products represented approximately 89 % and 90 % of net product sales, respectively. For the three and six months ended July 3, 2021, resales of these products represented approximately 60 % and 66 % of net product sales, respectively.
Note 4—Credit Agreement
On October 31, 2009, the Company and Silicon Valley Bank (“SVB”) entered into a credit agreement (as the same may from time to time be amended, modified , supplemented or restated, (the “SVB Credit Agreement”)), which provided for a revolving line of credit up to $ 5.0 million. The borrowing base was limited to 85 % of the eligible accounts receivable, subject to certain adjustments. On April 9, 2021, we entered into an amendment to the SVB Credit Agreement to accrue interest on borrowings at a per annum rate equal to the greater of 2.25 % above the Wall Street Journal prime rate (“Prime Rate”) or 5.50 % from the Prime Rate plus 2.75 % and to extend the maturity date to December 30, 2021. In December 2021, after meeting the conditions set forth in the amendment, the amount available for borrowing was increased to $ 7.0 million and the maturity date was extended to April 29, 2022, upon our request.
On April 29, 2022, the Company entered into an amendment to the SVB Credit Agreement to accrue interest on advance at a per annum rate equal to the greater of 0.75 % above the Prime Rate or 4.25 % . The borrowing base is limited
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to 85 % of eligible accounts receivable, subject to certain adjustments, and 50 % of eligible inventory. The maximum amount available for borrowing was increased to $ 10.0 million and the maturity date was extended to April 28, 2023.
The SVB Credit Agreement requires letters of credit to be secured by cash, which is classified as restricted cash in the accompanying condensed consolidated balance sheets. As of July 2, 2022 and January 1, 2022, (i) outstanding letters of credit were $ 20.1 million and $ 10.8 million, respectively, (ii) outstanding borrowings were $ 8.0 million and $ 7.0 million, respectively, and (iii) availability under the revolving line of credit was $ 2.0 million and none , respectively.
Note 5—Debt
The Company’s debt consisted of the following (in thousands):
July 2,
January 1,
2022
2022
Notes payable
189
562
Less: amounts due within one year
( 189 )
( 562 )
Long-term debt
$
—
$
—
Note 6—Leases
The Company has operating and finance leases primarily associated with office and manufacturing facilities and certain equipment. The determination of which discount rate to use when measuring the lease obligation was deemed a significant judgment.
Lease cost and supplemental condensed consolidated cash flow information related to operating and finance leases were as follows (in thousands):
Three Months Ended
Six Months Ended
July 2,
July 3,
July 2,
July 3,
2022
2021
2022
2021
Lease cost:
Operating lease cost
$
198
$
121
$
396
$
240
Cash paid for amounts included in the measurement of lease liabilities:
Operating cash flows from operating leases
170
121
319
240
Right-of-use assets obtained in exchange for lease obligations:
Operating leases
$
33
$
—
$
588
$
—
Finance leases
372
—
372
—
Lease modification to increase operating lease assets
204
338
204
338
For the three and six months ended July 2, 2022, and July 3, 2021, finance lease costs and cash flows from finance leases were immaterial.
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Supplemental condensed consolidated balance sheet information related to leases was as follows (in thousands):
July 2,
January 1,
2022
2022
Operating Leases
Operating lease right-of-use assets
$
2,369
$
1,891
Accrued expenses and other current liabilities
$
533
$
318
Operating lease liabilities
1,932
1,593
Total operating lease liabilities
$
2,465
$
1,911
Finance Leases
Property and equipment, at cost
$
488
$
116
Accumulated depreciation
( 72 )
( 54 )
Property and equipment, net
$
416
$
62
Accrued expenses and other current liabilities
$
207
$
24
Other liabilities
203
41
Total finance lease liabilities
$
410
$
65
The following table includes supplemental information:
July 2,
January 1,
2022
2022
Weighted Average Remaining Lease Term (in years)
Operating lease
4.2
4.8
Finance lease
2.1
2.9
Weighted Average Discount Rate
Operating lease
5.5 %
5.5 %
Finance lease
4.4 %
5.2 %
Maturities of lease liabilities as of July 2, 2022, were as follows (in thousands):
Operating
Finance
Fiscal Year
Leases
Leases
2022 (remainder of the year)
$
334
$
110
2023
559
221
2024
613
91
2025
624
5
2026
639
2
2027
23
—
Total lease payments
2,792
429
Less: imputed interest
( 327 )
( 19 )
Total
$
2,465
$
410
Note 7 – Commitments and Contingencies
Contingent Legal Expenses
We may retain the services of law firms that specialize in patent licensing and enforcement and patent law in connection with our licensing and enforcement activities. These law firms may be retained on a contingent fee basis whereby such law firms are paid on a scaled percentage of any negotiated fee, settlements or judgments awarded based on how and when the fees, settlements or judgments are obtained.
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Litigation and Patent Reexaminations
We own numerous patents and continue to seek to grow and strengthen our patent portfolio, which covers various aspects of our innovations and includes various claim scopes. We plan to pursue avenues to monetize our intellectual property portfolio, in which we would generate revenue by selling or licensing our technology, and we intend to vigorously enforce our patent rights against alleged infringers of such rights. We dedicate substantial resources to protecting and enforcing our intellectual property rights, including with patent infringement proceedings we file against third parties and defense of our patents against challenges made by way of reexamination and review proceedings at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”) Patent Trial and Appeal Board (“PTAB”). We expect these activities to continue for the foreseeable future, with no guarantee that any ongoing or future patent protection or litigation activities will be successful, or that we will be able to monetize our intellectual property portfolio. We are also subject to litigation based on claims that we have infringed on the intellectual property rights of others.
Any litigation, regardless of its outcome, is inherently uncertain, involves a significant dedication of resources, including time and capital, and diverts management’s attention from our other activities. As a result, any current or future infringement claims or patent challenges by or against third parties, whether eventually decided in our favor or settled, could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. Additionally, the outcome of pending or future litigation and related patent reviews and reexaminations, as well as any delay in their resolution, could affect our ability to continue to sell our products, protect against competition in the current and expected markets for our products or license or otherwise monetize our intellectual property rights in the future.
Google Litigations
On December 4, 2009, Netlist filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Google, Inc. (“Google”) in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California (the “NDCA”), seeking damages and injunctive relief based on Google’s alleged infringement of our U.S. Patent No. 7,619,912 (the “‘912 patent”) which relates generally to technologies to implement rank multiplication. The NDCA case was stayed, pending challenges to the ‘912 patent before the United States Patent and Trademark Office. Eventually, the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit confirmed the ‘912 patent’s validity on June 15, 2020, and the NDCA case stay was lifted and the case proceeded before Senior Judge Armstrong, where the parties entered cross motions for summary judgment. Of the issues in play, the parties contested the application of the defense of intervening rights to the claims at issue in the case. Afterward, the NDCA case was re-assigned to Chief Judge Seeborg of the NDCA, and the hearing for the parties’ cross motions took place on March 3, 2022. On May 5, 2022, Chief Judge Seeborg entered an Order granting Netlist, Inc.’s Motion for Summary Judgement that Claim 16 of the ‘912 patent is not subject to Google’s pleaded defense of Intervening Rights. On July 13, 2022, Chief Judge Seeborg ordered – shortly before the planned July 14, 2022 case management conference – that the case be stayed for a 90-day period, and that the case management conference be continued to October 27, 2022.
On July 26, 2022, Netlist filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Google Cloud EMEA Limited, Google Germany GmbH, Redtec Computing GmbH, and Google, Inc., seeking damages based on those defendants’ infringement of European Patents EP 2,454,735 (“EP735”) and EP 3,404,660 (“EP660”), which both generally relate to LRDIMM technologies. As of the reporting date, the Dusseldorf Court has not set an oral hearing date.
Micron Litigations
On April 28, 2021, Netlist filed a complaint for patent infringement against Micron Technology, Inc. (“Micron”) in the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas, Waco Division (Case No. 6:21-cv00431 & Case No. 6:21-cv-00430). These proceedings are based on the alleged infringement by Micron’s load reduced dual in line memory modules (“LRDIMM”) and Micron’s non-volatile dual in line memory modules (“NVDIMM”) enterprise memory modules under four U.S. patents – U.S. Patent Nos. 10,489,314; 9,824,035; 10,268,608; & 8,301,833. As of the reporting date, the case has been assigned to Hon. Judge Lee Yeakel, and the parties completed briefing on their claim construction arguments. On May 11, 2022, Judge Yeakel entered a stay of the case pending the resolution of Micron’s requested Inter Partes Review (“IPR”) proceedings against the four patents asserted by Netlist in this case (U.S. Patent Nos. 8,301,833, 9,854,035, 10,268,608, and 10,489,314). Micron filed requests to bring IPR proceedings against
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Netlist’s U.S. Patent Nos. 8,301,833, 9,854,035, 10,268,608, and 10,489,314. As of the reporting date, the PTAB granted Micron’s request for the ‘035 Patent, but denied its request for the ‘608 Patent. Netlist’s Patent Owner Preliminary Response to Micron’s requests to IPR the ‘314 patent were filed August 3, 2022, and the PTAB’s deadline to make a decision on institution for the ‘833 Patent is September 9, 2022.
On March 31, 2022, Netlist filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Micron in Germany, seeking damages based on their infringement of EP735 and EP660. On June 24, 2022, Netlist filed an extension of its Complaint requesting injunctive relief. The Dusseldorf Court set an oral hearing for the case in Dusseldorf on May 4, 2023.
On June 10, 2022, Netlist filed a complaint for patent infringement against Micron in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, Marshall Division (Case No. 2:22-cv-00203-JRG-RSP). These proceedings are based on the alleged infringement by Micron’s load reduced dual in line memory modules (“LRDIMM”), Micron’s memory modules utilizing on-board power management modules (“PMIC”), and Micron’s high bandwidth memory (“HBM”) components, under six U.S. patents – U.S. Patent Nos. 8,787,060; 9,318,160; 10,860,506; 10,949,339; 11,016,918; & 11,232,054. As of the reporting date, the case has been assigned to Hon. Chief Judge Rodney Gilstrap.
On August 1, 2022, Netlist filed a complaint for patent infringement against Micron in the United States Court for the Eastern District of Texas (Case No. 2:22-cv-00294) under the ‘912 Patent, which relates generally to technologies to implement rank multiplication.
Samsung Litigations
On May 28, 2020, Netlist filed a complaint against Samsung in the United States District Court for the Central District of California for Samsung’s breach of the parties’ JDLA. On July 22, 2020, Netlist amended its complaint to seek a Declaratory Judgment that it properly terminated the JDLA in light of Samsung’s material breaches. On October 14, 2021, the Court entered summary judgment in Netlist’s favor and confirmed Netlist properly terminated the JDLA as of July 15, 2020. On February 15, 2022, the Court entered a Final Judgment in favor of Netlist on each of its three claims and confirmed conclusively that all licenses granted under the JDLA were terminated. On February 25, 2022, Samsung filed a Notice of Appeal, and the Federal Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued a Time Schedule Order on February 28, 2022, setting Samsung’s deadline to file an opening appeal brief as June 6, 2022. As of the reporting date, Samsung filed its opening brief seeking an appeal of the lower Court’s decisions. Netlist filed its response to Samsung’s appeal and its own opening cross-appeal brief on August 4, 2022.
On October 15, 2021, Samsung filed a declaratory judgement action against Netlist in the United States District Court for the District of Delaware (“DDE”), requesting in relevant part that the Delaware District Court declare that Samsung does not infringe Netlist’s U.S. Patent Nos. 7,619,912, 9,858,218, 10,217,523, 10,474,595, 10,860,506, 10,949,339, and 11,016,918. As of the reporting date, Samsung seeks leave to add U.S. Patent No. 11,232,054 (issued Jan. 25, 2022) to the action. Netlist believes Samsung’s claims levied in the DDE action meritless, and the relief Samsung requests unjustified. Netlist filed a motion seeking dismissal of Samsung’s operative DDE complaint, and an opposition contesting the inclusion of U.S. Patent No. 11,232,054 as part of Samsung’s proposed second amended complaint filing. On August 1, 2022, the Court entered an Order on the pending motions denying Samsung’s request to amend its operative complaint a second time to add a count against U.S. Patent No. 11,232,054, and granting-in-part Netlist’s motion that various causes of action be dismissed. Specifically, Judge Andrews dismissed all of Samsung’s counts related to Netlist’s U.S. Patent Nos. 7,619,912, 10,860,506, 10,949,339, and 11,016,918. As of the reporting date, the Court has not yet set a case schedule.
On November 19, 2021, Samsung filed IPR requests contesting the validity of U.S. Patent Nos. 9,858,218 (the “’218 patent”), 10,474,595 (the “’595 patent”), and 10,217,523 (the “’523 patent”). Netlist filed its initial responses to Samsung’s petitions on February 18, 2022, contesting the institution of any IPR on the grounds propounded. As of the reporting date, the PTAB has granted Samsung’s IPR requests related to the ‘218, ‘523, and ‘595 patents. Netlist filed its Patent Owner’s Response for the ‘523 IPR on August 4, 2022, and has a deadline to file its Patent Owner Responses for the ‘218 and’595 IPRs on August 15, 2022.
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On February 17, 2022, Samsung filed an IPR request contesting the validity of only claim 16 within Netlist’s U.S. Patent No. 7,619,912. Samsung then filed two additional IPR requests contesting the validity of Netlist’s U.S. Patent Nos. 10,860,506 and 10,949,339. As of the reporting date, Netlist filed its Patent Owner’s Preliminary Response for the ‘912 and ‘339 IPRs on July 21, 2022, and for the ‘506 IPR on July 28, 2022. As of the reporting date, Samsung filed two additional IPR requests contesting the validity of Netlist’s U.S. Patent Nos. 11,016,918 and 11,232,054. The PTAB issued filing dates for both, making Netlist’s deadline to file its Preliminary Responses to each on September 9, 2022 and September 8, 2022, respectively.
On June 3, 2022, Netlist filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Samsung in Dusseldorf, Germany, seeking damages for Samsung’s infringement of Netlist’s Patents EP735 and EP660. The Dusseldorf Court set an Oral Hearing date for September 5, 2023.
On December 20, 2021, Netlist filed a complaint for patent infringement against Samsung in the United States Court for the Eastern District of Texas (Case No. 2:21-cv-463) under US Patent No. 10,860,506; US Patent No. 10,949,339; & US Patent No. 11,016,918. Samsung responded to Netlist’s complaint on April 12, 2022, and Judge Gilstrap ordered a scheduling conference be set for May 18, 2022. On May 3, 2022, Netlist entered a First Amended Complaint pursuant to FRCP Rule 15, adding claims for infringement under three additional patents: U.S. Patent Nos. 8,787,060, 9,318,160, and 11,232,054. On May 4, 2022, Netlist complied with the EDTX local patent rules and served its preliminary infringement contentions on Samsung. As of the reporting date, the Court set a schedule, with a claim construction hearing set for October 14, 2022 and Trial set for May 1, 2023.
On August 1, 2022, Netlist filed a complaint for patent infringement against Samsung in the United States Court for the Eastern District of Texas (Case No. 2:22-cv-00293) under the ‘912 Patent, which relates generally to technologies to implement rank multiplication.
Other Contingent Obligations
In the ordinary course of our business, we have made certain indemnities, commitments and guarantees pursuant to which we may be required to make payments in relation to certain transactions. These include, among others: (i) intellectual property indemnities to our customers and licensees in connection with the use, sale and/or license of our products; (ii) indemnities to vendors and service providers pertaining to claims based on our negligence or willful misconduct; (iii) indemnities involving the accuracy of representations and warranties in certain contracts; (iv) indemnities to our directors and officers to the maximum extent permitted under the laws of the State of Delaware; (v) indemnities to SVB pertaining to all obligations, demands, claims, and liabilities claimed or asserted by any other party in connection with transactions contemplated by the applicable investment or loan documents, as applicable; and (vi) indemnities or other claims related to certain real estate leases, under which we may be required to indemnify property owners for environmental and other liabilities or may face other claims arising from our use of the applicable premises. The duration of these indemnities, commitments and guarantees varies and, in certain cases, may be indefinite. The majority of these indemnities, commitments and guarantees do not provide for any limitation of the maximum potential for future payments we could be obligated to make. Historically, we have not been obligated to make significant payments as a result of these obligations, and no liabilities have been recorded for these indemnities, commitments and guarantees in the accompanying consolidated balance sheets.
Note 8—Stockholders’ Equity
Serial Preferred Stock
The Company’s authorized capital stock includes 10,000,000 shares of serial preferred stock, with a par value of $ 0.001 per share. No shares of preferred stock were outstanding as of July 2, 2022 or January 2, 2022.
On April 17, 2017, the Company entered into a rights agreement (as amended from time to time, the “Rights Agreement”) with Computershare Trust Company, N.A., as rights agent. In connection with the adoption of the Rights Agreement and pursuant to its terms, the Company’s board of directors authorized and declared a dividend of one right (each, a “Right”) for each outstanding share of the Company’s common stock to stockholders of record at the close of
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business on May 18, 2017 (the “Record Date”), and authorized the issuance of one Right for each share of the Company’s common stock issued by the Company (except as otherwise provided in the Rights Agreement) between the Record Date and the Distribution Date (as defined below).
Each Right entitles the registered holder, subject to the terms of the Rights Agreement, to purchase from the Company, when exercisable and subject to adjustment, one unit consisting of one one -thousandth of a share (a “Unit”) of Series A Preferred Stock of the Company (the “Preferred Stock”), at a purchase price of $ 6.56 per Unit, subject to adjustment. Subject to the provisions of the Rights Agreement, including certain exceptions specified therein, a distribution date for the Rights (the “Distribution Date”) will occur upon the earlier of (i) 10 business days following a public announcement that a person or group of affiliated or associated persons (an “Acquiring Person”) has acquired or otherwise obtained beneficial ownership of 15 % or more of the then-outstanding shares of the Company’s common stock, and (ii) 10 business days (or such later date as may be determined by the Company’s board of directors) following the commencement of a tender offer or exchange offer that would result in a person or group becoming an Acquiring Person. The Rights are not exercisable until the Distribution Date and, unless earlier redeemed or exchanged by the Company pursuant to the terms of the Rights Agreement (as amended on April 16, 2018, April 16, 2019 and August 14, 2020) will expire on the close of business on April 17, 2024.
In connection with the adoption of the Rights Agreement, the Company’s board of directors approved a Certificate of Designation of the Series A Preferred Stock (the “Certificate of Designation”) designating 1,000,000 shares of its serial preferred stock as Series A Preferred Stock and setting forth the rights, preferences and limitations of the Preferred Stock. The Company filed the Certificate of Designation with the Secretary of State of the State of Delaware on April 17, 2017.
Common Stock
September 2021 Lincoln Park Purchase Agreement
On September 28, 2021, the Company entered into a purchase agreement (the “September 2021 Purchase Agreement”) with Lincoln Park, pursuant to which the Company has the right to sell to Lincoln Park up to an aggregate of $ 75 million in shares of its common stock subject to the conditions and limitations set forth in the September 2021 Purchase Agreement. Concurrent with the execution of the September 2021 Purchase Agreement, the Company also entered into a registration rights agreement with Lincoln Park relating to the Company’s common stock to be sold to Lincoln Park. As consideration for entering into the September 2021 Purchase Agreement, the Company issued to Lincoln Park 218,750 shares of its common stock as initial commitment shares in a noncash transaction on September 28, 2021 and will issue up to 143,750 additional shares of its common stock as additional commitment shares on a pro rata basis in connection with any additional purchases. The Company will not receive any cash proceeds from the issuance of these additional commitment shares.
Pursuant to the September 2021 Purchase Agreement, on any business day and as often as every other business day over the 36-month term of the September 2021 Purchase Agreement, the Company has the right, from time to time, at its sole discretion and subject to certain conditions, to direct Lincoln Park to purchase up to 750,000 shares of its common stock, provided Lincoln Park’s obligation under any single such purchase will not exceed $ 4.0 million, unless the Company and Lincoln Park mutually agree to increase the maximum amount of such single regular purchase. If the Company directs Lincoln Park to purchase the maximum number of shares of common stock it then may sell in a regular purchase, then in addition to such regular purchase, and subject to certain conditions and limitations in the September 2021 Purchase Agreement, the Company may direct Lincoln Park to purchase an additional amount of common stock that may not exceed the lesser of (i) 300 % of the number of shares purchased pursuant to the corresponding regular purchase or (ii) 30 % of the total number of shares of its common stock traded during a specified period on the applicable purchase date as set forth in the September 2021 Purchase Agreement. Under certain circumstances and in accordance with the September 2021 Purchase Agreement, the Company may direct Lincoln Park to purchase shares in multiple accelerated purchases on the same trading day.
The Company controls the timing and amount of any sales of its common stock to Lincoln Park. There is no upper limit on the price per share that Lincoln Park must pay for the Company’s common stock under the September
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2021 Purchase Agreement, but in no event will shares be sold to Lincoln Park on a day the closing price is less than the floor price specified in the September 2021 Purchase Agreement. In all instances, the Company may not sell shares of its common stock to Lincoln Park under the September 2021 Purchase Agreement if that would result in Lincoln Park beneficially owning more than 9.99 % of its common stock.
The September 2021 Purchase Agreement does not limit the Company’s ability to raise capital from other sources at the Company’s sole discretion, except that, subject to certain exceptions, the Company may not enter into any Variable Rate Transaction (as defined in the September 2021 Purchase Agreement, including the issuance of any floating conversion rate or variable priced equity-like securities) during the 36 months after the date of the September 2021 Purchase Agreement. The Company has the right to terminate the September 2021 Purchase Agreement at any time, at no cost to the Company.
During 2021, Lincoln Park purchased an aggregate of 1,550,000 shares of our common stock for a net purchase price of $ 10.9 million under the September 2021 Purchase Agreement. In connection with the purchases, we issued to Lincoln Park an aggregate of 20,809 shares of our common stock as additional commitment shares in noncash transactions. During the six months ended July 2, 2022, Lincoln Park purchased an aggregate of 650,000 shares of our common stock for a net purchase price of $ 3.7 million under the September 2021 Purchase Agreement. In connection with the purchases, we issued to Lincoln Park an aggregate of 7,168 shares of our common stock as additional commitment shares in noncash transactions.
Note 9—Stock-Based Awards
As of July 2, 2022, the Company had 127,406 shares of common stock reserved for future issuance under its Amended and Restated 2006 Incentive Plan (“Amended 2006 Plan”). Stock options granted under the Amended 2006 Plan generally vest at a rate of at least 25 % per year over four years and expire 10 years from the grant date. RSUs granted for employees and consultants generally vest in equal installments annually and fully vest over a four-year term from the grant date.
Stock Options
The following table summarizes the activity related to stock options during the six months ended July 2, 2022:
Weighted-
Number of
Average
Shares
Exercise
(in thousands)
Price
Outstanding as of January 1, 2022
5,899
$
0.88
Granted
—
—
Exercised
( 269 )
0.69
Expired or forfeited
( 474 )
0.73
Outstanding as of July 2, 2022
5,156
$
0.91
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Restricted Stock Units
The following table summarizes the activity related to RSUs during the six months ended July 2, 2022:
Weighted-
Average
Number of
Grant-Date
Shares
Fair Value
(in thousands)
per Share
Outstanding as of January 1, 2022
2,228
$
1.36
Granted
2,447
4.32
Vested
( 583 )
0.74
Forfeited
( 40 )
4.43
Outstanding as of July 2, 2022
4,052
$
3.21
Stock-Based Compensation
The following table summarizes the stock-based compensation expense by line item in the condensed consolidated statements of operations (in thousands):
Three Months Ended
Six Months Ended
July 2,
July 3,
July 2,
July 3,
2022
2021
2022
2021
Cost of sales
$
16
$
4
$
19
$
7
Research and development
215
168
391
278
Selling, general and administrative
559
207
1,062
432
Total
$
790
$
379
$
1,472
$
717
As of July 2, 2022, the Company had approximately $ 10.9 million, net of estimated forfeitures, of unearned stock-based compensation, which it expects to recognize over a weighted-average period of approximately 3.4 years.
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Text extracted from the filing as submitted to EDGAR. Formatting, tables and exhibits are simplified for reading; the original document is authoritative for anything you rely on.