Quarterly report pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d)

Organization and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies (Policies)

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Organization and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies (Policies)
9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2016
Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]  
Description of Business
MaxLinear, Inc. was incorporated in Delaware in September 2003. MaxLinear, Inc., together with its wholly owned subsidiaries, collectively referred to as MaxLinear, or the Company, is a provider of radio-frequency and mixed-signal integrated circuits for cable and satellite broadband communications and the connected home, and wired and wireless infrastructure markets. MaxLinear's customers include module makers, original equipment manufacturers, or OEMs, and original design manufacturers, or ODMs, who incorporate the Company’s products in a wide range of electronic devices including Pay-TV operator set-top boxes, DOCSIS data and voice gateways, hybrid analog and digital televisions and consumer terrestrial set-top boxes, Direct Broadcast Satellite outdoor units, optical modules for data center, metro, and long-haul transport network applications, and RF transceivers and modem solutions for wireless carrier infrastructure applications. The Company is a fabless semiconductor company focusing its resources on the design, sale and marketing of its products.
Basis of Presentation and Principles of Consolidation
The accompanying unaudited consolidated financial statements include the accounts of MaxLinear, Inc. and its wholly owned subsidiaries and have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America, or GAAP, for interim financial information and with the instructions to Form 10-Q and Article 10 of Regulation S-X. Accordingly, they do not include all of the information and disclosures required by GAAP for complete financial statements. All intercompany transactions and investments have been eliminated in consolidation. In the opinion of management, the Company’s unaudited consolidated interim financial statements contain adjustments, including normal recurring accruals necessary to present fairly the Company’s consolidated financial position, results of operations, comprehensive income (loss) and cash flows.

The consolidated balance sheet as of December 31, 2015 was derived from the Company’s audited consolidated financial statements at that date. The accompanying unaudited consolidated interim financial statements should be read in conjunction with the audited consolidated financial statements and related notes thereto for the year ended December 31, 2015 included in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K filed by the Company with the Securities and Exchange Commission, or the SEC, on February 17, 2016, as amended by Amendment No. 1 filed with the SEC on April 28, 2016, or the Annual Report. Certain prior period amounts have been reclassified to conform with the current period presentation. Interim results for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2016 are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be expected for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2016.
Use of Estimates
The preparation of financial statements in conformity with GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the amounts reported in the unaudited consolidated financial statements and accompanying notes to unaudited consolidated financial statements. Actual results could differ from those estimates.
Significant Accounting Policies [Text Block]
Refer to the Company’s Annual Report for a summary of significant accounting policies. There have been no material changes to our significant accounting policies during the nine months ended September 30, 2016, other than the adoption of ASU No. 2016-09, Improvements to Share-Based Compensation during the second quarter of 2016, as discussed under Recent Accounting Pronouncements below.
New Accounting Pronouncements, Policy [Policy Text Block]
In May 2014, the Financial Accounting Standards Board, or FASB, issued new accounting guidance related to revenue recognition. This new standard will replace all current U.S. GAAP guidance on this topic and eliminate all industry-specific guidance. The new revenue recognition standard provides a unified model to determine when and how revenue is recognized. The core principle is that a company should recognize revenue to depict the transfer of promised goods or services to customers in an amount that reflects the consideration for which the entity expects to be entitled in exchange for those goods or services. This guidance will be effective for the Company beginning in the first quarter of fiscal year 2018 and can be applied either retrospectively to each period presented or as a cumulative-effect adjustment as of the date of adoption. Adoption of the amendments in this guidance is expected to accelerate the timing of the Company’s revenue recognition on products sold via distributors which will change from the sell-through method to the sell-in method. The Company is currently evaluating the impact of adopting this new accounting standard on its consolidated financial position and results of operations; however, the change could have a significant impact on the Company’s revenues for the year ending December 31, 2018 and comparative periods presented, depending on the volume and amount of distributor transactions for such periods.

In July 2015, the FASB issued ASU 2015-11, Simplifying the Measurement of Inventory, which requires inventory to be subsequently measured using the lower of cost and net realizable value. Net realizable value is the estimated selling prices in the ordinary course of business, less reasonably predictable costs of completion, disposal and transportation. The amendments in this Update are effective for the Company beginning in the first quarter of fiscal 2017 and should be applied prospectively. The adoption of the amendments in this Update are not expected to have a material impact on the Company's consolidated financial position and results of operations.

In February 2016, the FASB issued ASU No. 2016-02, Leases (Topic 842). The amendments in this Update require a lessee to recognize in the statement of financial position a liability to make lease payments (the lease liability) and a right-of-use asset representing its right to use the underlying asset for the lease term for all leases with terms greater than twelve months. For leases less than twelve months, an entity is permitted to make an accounting policy election by class of underlying asset not to recognize lease assets and lease liabilities. If a lessee makes this election, it should recognize lease expense for such leases generally on a straight-line basis over the lease term. The amendments in this Update are effective for the Company for fiscal years beginning with fiscal year 2019, including interim periods within those years, with early adoption permitted. The Company is currently in the process of evaluating the impact of adoption of the amendments in this Update on the Company’s consolidated financial position and results of operations; however, adoption of the amendments in this Update are expected to be material for most entities, including the Company, that have material leases greater than twelve months.

In March 2016, the FASB issued ASU No. 2016-08, Principal versus Agent Considerations (Reporting Revenue Gross versus Net) to clarify the revenue recognition implementation guidance on principal versus agent considerations. The amendments in this Update clarify that when another party is involved in providing goods or services to a customer, an entity that is the principal has obtained control of a good or service before it is transferred to a customer, and provides indicators to assist an entity in determining whether it controls a specified good or service prior to the transfer to the customer. An entity that is the principal recognizes revenue in the gross amount of consideration to which it expects to be entitled in exchange for the specified good or service transferred to the customer, whereas an agent recognizes revenue in the amount of any fee or commission to which it expects to be entitled in exchange for arranging for the specified good or service to be provided by the other party. The amendments in this Update are effective for the Company beginning in the first quarter of fiscal year 2018, concurrent with the new revenue recognition standard. The Company is currently evaluating the impact of adopting the new revenue recognition accounting standard, including this Update, on its consolidated financial position and results of operations.

In March 2016, the FASB issued ASU No. 2016-09, Improvements to Share-Based Compensation to simplify certain aspects of accounting for share-based payment transactions associated with income taxes, classification as equity or liabilities, and classification on the statement of cash flows. The amendments in this Update are effective for the Company for fiscal years beginning with fiscal year 2017, including interim periods within those years, with early adoption permitted. Early adoption, if elected, must be completed for all of the amendments in the same period. The new guidance requires, among other things, excess tax benefits and tax deficiencies to be recorded in the income statement in the provision for income taxes when awards vest or are settled. Also, because excess tax benefits are no longer recognized in additional paid-in capital, the assumed proceeds from applying the treasury stock method when computing earnings per share is amended to exclude the amount of excess tax benefits that would be recognized in additional paid-in capital. The Company adopted ASU No. 2016-09 during the quarter ended June 30, 2016, as previously described in the Company's Form 10-Q for the period ended June 30, 2016 filed with the Securities Exchange Commission on August 8, 2016. For the three and nine months ended September 30, 2016 the impact on the Company's results of operations was to reduce the provision for income taxes and increase net income by $0.9 million and $6.0 million, respectively, and increase basic net income per share by $0.01 and $0.09 for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2016, respectively, and increase diluted net income per share by $0.01 and $0.08 for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2016, respectively. The increase to diluted net income per share includes the effect of the reduction of the tax provision and an increase in the number of incremental shares used in computing diluted EPS by 833,000 shares and 856,000 shares for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2016, respectively (Note 2).

There was no cumulative effect on retained earnings in the consolidated balance sheet since the Company has a full valuation allowance against U.S. deferred tax assets. The Company elected to continue to estimate forfeitures of share-based awards resulting in no impact to stock-based compensation expense, and is also continuing to classify cash paid by the Company when directly withholding shares for tax withholding purposes in cash flows from financing activities.

In August 2016, the FASB issued ASU No. 2016-15, Classification of Certain Cash Receipts and Cash Payments to eliminate the diversity in practice regarding the presentation and classification of certain cash receipts and cash payments, including, among other things, contingent consideration payments made following a business combination and proceeds from the settlement of insurance claims in the statement of cash flows. Cash payments not made soon after the acquisition date up to the amount of the contingent consideration liability recognized at the acquisition date should be classified as financing activities, with any excess payments classified as operating activities, whereas cash payments made soon after the acquisition date to settle the contingent consideration should be classified as investing activities. Cash proceeds received from settlement of insurance claims should be classified on the basis of the nature of the related losses. The amendments in this Update are effective for fiscal years beginning with fiscal year 2017, including interim periods within those years, with early adoption permitted. The Company does not expect the adoption of this guidance to have a material impact on its consolidated statement of cash flows.