Flex Reports First Quarter Fiscal 2021 Results

GAAP

Non-GAAP

To supplement Flex’s unaudited selected financial data presented consistent with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (“GAAP”), the Company discloses certain non-GAAP financial measures that exclude certain charges and gains, including non-GAAP gross profit, non-GAAP operating income, non-GAAP net income and non-GAAP net income per diluted share. These supplemental measures exclude restructuring charges, customer-related asset impairments, stock-based compensation expense, intangible amortization, other discrete events as applicable and the related tax effects. These non-GAAP measures are not in accordance with or an alternative for GAAP and may be different from non-GAAP measures used by other companies. We believe that these non-GAAP measures have limitations in that they do not reflect all of the amounts associated with Flex’s results of operations as determined in accordance with GAAP and that these measures should only be used to evaluate Flex’s results of operations in conjunction with the corresponding GAAP measures. The presentation of this additional information is not meant to be considered in isolation or as a substitute for the most directly comparable GAAP measures. We compensate for the limitations of non-GAAP financial measures by relying upon GAAP results to gain a complete picture of the Company’s performance.

• the ability to make more meaningful period-to-period comparisons of the Company’s on-going operating results;
• the ability to better identify trends in the Company’s underlying business and perform related trend analyses;
• a better understanding of how management plans and measures the Company’s underlying business; and
• an easier way to compare the Company’s operating results against analyst financial models and operating results of competitors that supplement their GAAP results with non-GAAP financial measures.

The following are explanations of each of the adjustments that we incorporate into non-GAAP measures, as well as the reasons for excluding each of these individual items in the reconciliations of these non-GAAP financial measures:

Stock-based compensation expense consists of non-cash charges for the estimated fair value of stock options and unvested restricted share unit awards granted to employees and assumed in business acquisitions. The Company believes that the exclusion of these charges provides for more accurate comparisons of its operating results to peer companies due to the varying available valuation methodologies, subjective assumptions and the variety of award types. In addition, the Company believes it is useful to investors to understand the specific impact stock-based compensation expense has on its operating results.

Intangible amortization consists primarily of non-cash charges that can be impacted by, among other things, the timing and magnitude of acquisitions. The Company considers its operating results without these charges when evaluating its ongoing performance and forecasting its earnings trends, and therefore excludes such charges when presenting non-GAAP financial measures. The Company believes that the assessment of its operations excluding these costs is relevant to its assessment of internal operations and comparisons to the performance of its competitors.

Customer related asset impairments may consist of non-cash impairments of property and equipment to estimated fair value for customers we have disengaged or are in the process of disengaging as well as additional provisions for doubtful accounts receivable for customers that are experiencing financial difficulties and inventory that is considered non-recoverable that is written down to net realizable value. These costs are excluded by the Company’s management in assessing current operating performance and forecasting its earnings trends and are therefore excluded by the Company from its non-GAAP measures.

Restructuring charges include severance for rationalization at existing sites and corporate SG&A functions as well as asset impairment, and other charges related to the closures and consolidations of certain operating sites and targeted activities to restructure the business. These costs may vary in size based on the Company’s initiatives and are not directly related to ongoing or core business results, and do not reflect expected future operating expenses. These costs are excluded by the Company’s management in assessing current operating performance and forecasting its earnings trends and are therefore excluded by the Company from its non-GAAP measures.

In order to support the Company’s strategy and build a sustainable organization, and after considering that the economic recovery from the pandemic will be slower than anticipated, the Company has identified and is engaging in certain structural and portfolio changes. These restructuring actions will eliminate non-core activities primarily within the Company’s corporate function, align the Company’s cost structure with its reorganizing and optimizing of its operations model along its two reporting segments, and further sharpen its focus to winning business in end markets where it has competitive advantages and deep domain expertise. During the three-month period ended June 26, 2020, the Company recognized approximately $10 million of restructuring charges, most of which related to employee severance.

During the first quarter of fiscal year 2020 in connection with geopolitical developments and uncertainties at the time, primarily impacting one customer in China, the Company experienced a reduction in demand for products assembled for that customer. As a result, the Company accelerated its strategic decision to reduce its exposure to certain high-volatility products in both China and India. The Company also initiated targeted activities to restructure its business to further reduce and streamline its cost structure. During the three-month period ended June 28, 2019, the Company recognized $56 million of restructuring charges, comprised of approximately $31 million of cash charges predominantly for employee severance, and $25 million of non-cash charges related to impairment of equipment and inventory.

Legal and other consist primarily of costs not directly related to ongoing or core business results and may include various loss contingencies that arise that could involve matters relating to commercial disputes, government regulatory and compliance, intellectual property, antitrust, tax, employment or shareholder issues, product liability claims and other issues on a global basis. During the first quarter of fiscal 2021, the Company accrued for certain loss contingencies where losses are considered probable and estimable. These costs are excluded by the Company’s management in assessing current operating performance and forecasting its earnings trends and are therefore excluded by the Company from its non-GAAP measures.

Other charges (income), interest and other, net consists of various other types of items that are not directly related to ongoing or core business results, such as the gain or losses related certain divestitures, debt extinguishment costs and impairment charges or gains associated with certain non-core investments. We exclude these items because they are not related to the Company’s ongoing operating performance or do not affect core operations. Excluding these amounts provides investors with a basis to compare company performance against the performance of other companies without this variability.

Adjustment for taxes relates to the tax effects of the various adjustments that we incorporate into non-GAAP measures in order to provide a more meaningful measure on non-GAAP net income and certain adjustments related to non-recurring settlements of tax contingencies or other non-recurring tax charges, when applicable.

Adjustments for free cash flow.

Prior to fiscal 2021, the Company utilized net cash flow from its various A/R sales programs as a low-cost financing source to fund operations and as a critical net working capital management tool. The Company viewed and managed all collections under the programs similarly without bifurcation and accordingly provided the adjustment to reflect adjusted free cash flow inclusive of all collections of receivables sold through the programs described above as well as collections on the repurchased receivables as part of the ABS program amendment. In the first quarter of fiscal year 2021, we proactively and strategically utilized the proceeds of our debt issuance during the quarter to reduce the outstanding balance of our ABS programs. We reduced the balance on this short-term financing product by $655 million sequentially, which has the accounting effect of reducing our cash flow from operations and is excluded from the calculation of adjusted free cash flow.

We define our adjusted free cash flow metric to be operating cash flows plus the impacts described above less purchases of property and equipment net of proceeds from dispositions and present cash flows on a consistent basis for investor transparency. We believe adjusted free cash flow is an important liquidity metric because it measures, during a given period, the amount of cash generated that is available to repay debt obligations, make investments, fund acquisitions and for certain other activities. Since adjusted free cash flow includes investments in operating assets, we believe this non-GAAP liquidity measure is useful in addition to the most directly comparable GAAP measure – “net cash provided by operating activities.” See below for the three-month periods ended June 26, 2020, and June 28, 2019 reconciliation of GAAP to Non-GAAP measures: