Quarterly report pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d)

Basis of Presentation

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Basis of Presentation
3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2018
Accounting Policies [Abstract]  
Basis of Presentation
Basis of Presentation
The accompanying unaudited statements have been prepared in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles for interim financial information. Accordingly, they do not include all of the information and footnotes required by U.S. generally accepted accounting principles for complete financial statements. In the opinion of management, all adjustments, consisting of normal recurring accruals, considered necessary for a fair presentation have been included.
Operating Results
The results of operations for any interim period are not necessarily indicative of results for the full year. Operating results for the three months ended March 31, 2018 are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be expected for the year ending December 31, 2018.
The balance sheet at December 31, 2017 has been derived from the audited financial statements at that date, but does not include all of the information and footnotes required by U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”) for complete financial statements.
For further information, refer to the financial statements and footnotes thereto included in Astronics Corporation’s 2017 annual report on Form 10-K.
Description of the Business
Astronics Corporation (“Astronics” or the “Company”) is a leading provider of advanced technologies to the global aerospace, defense, electronics and semiconductor industries. Our products and services include advanced, high-performance electrical power generation, distribution and motion systems, lighting and safety systems, avionics products, systems and certification, aircraft structures and automated test systems.
We have operations in the United States (“U.S.”), Canada and France. We design and build our products through our wholly owned subsidiaries Astronics Advanced Electronic Systems Corp. (“AES”); Astronics AeroSat Corporation (“AeroSat”); Armstrong Aerospace, Inc. (“Armstrong”); Astronics Test Systems, Inc. (“ATS”); Ballard Technology, Inc. (“Ballard”); Astronics Connectivity Systems and Certification Corp. (“CSC”); Astronics Custom Control Concepts Inc. (“CCC”); Astronics DME LLC (“DME”); Luminescent Systems, Inc. (“LSI”); Luminescent Systems Canada, Inc. (“LSI Canada”); Max-Viz, Inc. (“Max-Viz”); Peco, Inc. (“Peco”); and PGA Electronic s.a. (“PGA”).
On April 3, 2017, Astronics Custom Control Concepts Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of the Company acquired substantially all the assets and certain liabilities of Custom Control Concepts LLC, located in Kent, Washington. CCC is a provider of cabin management and in-flight entertainment systems for a range of aircraft. CCC is included in our Aerospace segment.
On December 1, 2017, Astronics acquired substantially all of the assets of Telefonix Inc. and a related company, Product Development Technologies, LLC and its subsidiaries, to become CSC, primarily located in Waukegan and Lake Zurich, Illinois. CSC designs and manufactures advanced in-flight entertainment and connectivity equipment, and provides industry leading design consultancy services for the global aerospace industry. CSC is included in our Aerospace Segment.
For additional information regarding these acquisitions see Note 18.
Cost of Products Sold, Engineering and Development and Selling, General and Administrative Expenses
Cost of products sold includes the costs to manufacture products such as direct materials and labor and manufacturing overhead as well as all engineering and development costs. The Company is engaged in a variety of engineering and design activities as well as basic research and development activities directed to the substantial improvement or new application of the Company’s existing technologies. These costs are expensed when incurred and included in cost of products sold. Research and development, design and related engineering amounted to $28.9 million and $22.9 million for the three months ended March 31, 2018 and April 1, 2017, respectively. Selling, general and administrative expenses include costs primarily related to our sales and marketing departments and administrative departments. Interest expense is shown net of interest income. Interest income was insignificant for the three months ended March 31, 2018 and April 1, 2017.
Foreign Currency Translation
The aggregate transaction gain or loss included in operations was insignificant for the three months ended March 31, 2018 and April 1, 2017.
Precontract Costs
The Company may, from time to time, incur costs in excess of the amounts required for existing contracts. If it is determined the costs are probable of recovery from future orders, the precontract costs incurred are capitalized, excluding start-up costs which are expensed as incurred. Capitalized precontract costs are included in Inventories in the accompanying Consolidated Balance Sheets. Should future orders not materialize or it is determined the costs are no longer probable of recovery, the capitalized costs are written off.  Included in inventories at March 31, 2018 are capitalized precontract costs of $8.4 million.
Newly Adopted and Recent Accounting Pronouncements
In May 2014, the FASB issued Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) No. 2014-09, Revenue from Contracts with Customers (“ASU 2014-09”), that, together with several subsequent updates, outlines a single comprehensive model for entities to use in accounting for revenue arising from contracts with customers and supersedes most current revenue recognition guidance. ASU 2014-09 is based on the principle that an entity should recognize revenue to depict the transfer of goods or services to customers in an amount that reflects the consideration to which the entity expects to be entitled in exchange for those goods or services.  ASU 2014-09 also provides for enhanced disclosure requirements surrounding revenue recognition. 
Prior to the adoption of ASU 2014-09, revenue on a significant portion of our contracts had been recognized at the time of shipment of goods, transfer of title and customer acceptance, as required. Our revenue transactions generally consist of a single performance obligation to transfer promised goods and are not accounted for under industry-specific guidance. We have retained much of the same accounting treatment used to recognize revenue under the prior standard. However, the adoption of ASU 2014-09 required us to accelerate the recognition of revenue as compared to the prior standard, for certain customers, in cases where we produce products unique to those customers; and for which we would have an enforceable right of payment, inclusive of profit, for production completed to date.
We adopted ASU 2014-09 on January 1, 2018 using the modified retrospective method, which required the recognition of the cumulative effect of the transition as an adjustment to retained earnings. The Company elected to apply the standard only to open contracts as of January 1, 2018. Based on the application of the changes described above, we recognized a transition adjustment of $3.3 million, net of tax effects, which increased our January 1, 2018 retained earnings. Based on our existing operations, ASU 2014-09 is not expected to have a material impact to net earnings for the year ended December 31, 2018. Refer to Note 2 for additional information.
During the first quarter of 2018, the Company early-adopted ASU No. 2018-02, Reclassification of Certain Tax Effects from Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income, which allows for a reclassification from accumulated other comprehensive income (loss) to retained earnings for stranded tax effects resulting from the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. The Company applied the guidance as of the beginning of the period of adoption and reclassified approximately $1.4 million from accumulated other comprehensive loss to retained earnings due to the change in federal corporate tax rate.
In February 2016, the FASB issued ASU No. 2016 - 02, Leases. The new standard is effective for reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2018. Early adoption is permitted. The standard will require lessees to report most leases as assets and liabilities on the balance sheet, while lessor accounting will remain substantially unchanged. The standard requires a modified retrospective transition approach for existing leases, whereby the new rules will be applied to the earliest year presented. The Company is currently evaluating the impact of ASU 2016-02 on our financial statements.
In October 2016, the FASB issued ASU No. 2016-16, Income Taxes (Topic 740): Intra-Entity Transfer of Assets Other Than Inventory, which requires entities to recognize income tax consequences of intra-entity transfers of assets, other than inventory, when the transfer occurs rather than when the asset is sold to a third party as is the case under current GAAP. The Company adopted ASU 2016-16 effective January 1, 2018, and such adoption did not have a material impact on the consolidated financial statements.

In January 2017, the FASB issued ASU No. 2017-01, Clarifying the Definition of a Business, which narrows the existing definition of a business and provides a framework for evaluating whether a transaction should be accounted for as an acquisition (or disposal) of assets or a business. The ASU requires an entity to evaluate if substantially all of the fair value of the gross assets acquired is concentrated in a single identifiable asset or a group of similar identifiable assets; if so, the set of transferred assets and activities (collectively, the set) is not a business. To be considered a business, the set would need to include an input and a substantive process that together significantly contribute to the ability to create outputs. The standard also narrows the definition of outputs. The definition of a business affects areas of accounting such as acquisitions, disposals and goodwill. Under the new guidance, fewer acquired sets are expected to be considered businesses. The Company adopted ASU 2017-01 effective January 1, 2018. The Company will apply this guidance to applicable transactions after the adoption date on a prospective basis. No applicable transactions have occurred as of March 31, 2018.
In March 2017, the FASB issued ASU No. 2017-07, Improving the Presentation of Net Periodic Pension Cost and Net Periodic Postretirement Benefit Cost. This ASU changes how employers that sponsor defined benefit pension and/or other postretirement benefit plans present the net periodic benefit cost in the income statement. This ASU was adopted as of January 1, 2018 on a retrospective basis. Under the new standard, only the service cost component of net periodic benefit cost would be included in operating expenses. All other net periodic benefit costs components (such as interest cost, prior service cost amortization and actuarial gain/loss amortization) would be reported outside of operating income. These include components totaling $0.5 million and $0.4 million for the periods ended March 31, 2018 and April 1, 2017, respectively, that no longer are included within Selling, General and Administrative Expenses and instead are reported outside of income from operations, within Other Expense, Net of Other Income in our Consolidated Statements of Operations.
In May 2017, the FASB issued ASU No. 2017-09, Scope of Modification Accounting, that clarifies when changes to the terms or conditions of a share-based payment award must be accounted for as a modification. The general model for accounting for modifications of share-based payment awards is to record the incremental value arising from the changes as additional compensation cost. Under the new standard, fewer changes to the terms of an award would require accounting under this modification model. This ASU was adopted as of January 1, 2018. As the Company has not made changes to the terms or conditions of its issued share-based payment awards, this ASU had no impact on our consolidated results of operations and financial condition.