Vicor Corp: Form 10-K for the period ended Dec 31, 2023

Overview

We design, develop, manufacture, and market modular power components and power systems for converting electrical power (expressed as “watts,” and represented by the symbol “W”, with wattage being the product of voltage, expressed as “volts,” and represented by the symbol “V,” and current, expressed as “amperes,” and represented by the symbol “I”). In electrically-powered devices utilizing alternating current (“AC”) voltage from a primary AC source (for example, a wall outlet), a power system converts AC voltage into the stable direct current (“DC”) voltage necessary to power subsystems and/or individual applications and devices (known as “loads”). In many electronic devices, this DC voltage may be further converted to one or more voltages and currents required by a range of loads. In equipment utilizing DC voltage from a primary DC source (for example, a battery) or a secondary source (such as an AC-DC converter), the initial DC voltage similarly may require further conversion. A power system most commonly incorporates four voltage conversion functions: transformation, isolation, rectification, and regulation.

Transformation refers to the process of increasing or decreasing an AC voltage; isolation refers to the electrical separation, for safety, of primary and secondary voltages in a transformer; rectification refers to the process of converting a voltage from AC to DC and/or from DC to AC; and regulation refers to the process of providing a near constant voltage under a range of line and load conditions. Because numerous applications requiring different voltages, currents, and varied power ratings may exist within an electronically-powered device, and system power architectures themselves vary, we offer an extensive range of products and accessories in numerous application-specific configurations. We believe our product offering is among the most comprehensive in the market segments we serve.

Our strategy, competitive positioning, and product offerings are all based on highly differentiated product performance, reflecting our anticipation of the evolution of system power architectures and customer performance requirements. Since the Company was founded, we have pursued continuous innovations in product design and achievements in product performance, largely enabled by our focus on the research and development of advanced technologies and processes, often implemented in proprietary semiconductor circuitry, materials, and packaging. Reflecting this strategy, we categorize our offerings as either “Advanced Products” or “Brick Products,” generally based on design, performance, and form factor considerations, as well as the range of evolving applications for which the products are appropriate.

Our competition varies, depending on the market segment and application. Generally, we compete with developers and manufacturers of integrated circuits and semiconductor-based modules when addressing the needs of customers in enterprise computing and other market segments with implementations of our proprietary Factorized Power ArchitectureTM (“FPA”) using Advanced Products. In contrast, we generally compete with manufacturers of integrated power supplies when addressing the needs of customers, across a wide range of market segments, implementing conventional power systems architectures (e.g., Centralized Power Architecture (“CPA”), Distributed Power Architecture (“DPA”), and Intermediate Bus Architecture (“IBA”)) using Brick Products.

Our website, www.vicorpower.com (http://www.vicorpower.com), sets forth detailed information describing our products, the applications for which they may be used, and our suite of design tools. The information contained on our website is not a part of, nor incorporated by reference into, this Annual Report on Form 10-K and shall not be deemed “filed” under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”).

We are headquartered in Andover, Massachusetts, where our manufacturing facility is located. Our wholly-owned subsidiary, VICR Securities Corporation, also is located in Andover, Massachusetts. Our other domestic offices are located in Santa Clara, California, Lombard, Illinois, and Lincoln, Rhode Island. Our two Vicor Custom Powertm subsidiaries, Freedom Power Systems, Inc. and Northwest Power, Inc., are located in Cedar Park, Texas, and Milwaukie, Oregon, respectively.

We have established individual subsidiaries or unincorporated branch offices outside of the United States, which we call Technical Support Centers (“TSCs”), to conduct preparatory and auxiliary services in support of the Company. Vicor Japan Company, Ltd. (“VJCL”), our 92.5%-owned Japanese subsidiary, which is engaged in sales and customer support activities exclusively for the sale of certain products customized by VJCL for the Japanese market, is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan.

Our remaining subsidiaries and their legal domicile are set forth in Exhibit 21.1 to this Annual Report on Form 10-K. The activities of all of the entities referred to above are consolidated in the financial statements presented herein.

Vicor was incorporated in Delaware in 1981, and we completed an initial public offering in May 1991. The Company has two classes of common stock outstanding: shares of our “Common Stock,” listed on The NASDAQ Stock Market under the ticker symbol VICR, and shares of our Class B common stock, which are not subject to registration pursuant to the Exchange Act and are not listed on any exchange.

Our Strategy

Our strategy emphasizes demonstrable product differentiation and a value proposition based on competitively superior solution performance, advantageous design flexibility, and a compelling total cost of ownership (“TCO”). Since the Company was founded, our competitive position has been maintained by continuous innovations in product design and achievements in product performance, largely enabled by our focus on the research and development of advanced technologies and processes, often implemented in proprietary semiconductor circuitry, materials, and packaging. Many of our products incorporate patented or proprietary implementations of high-frequency switching topologies, which enable the design of power system solutions more efficient and much smaller than conventional alternatives. This efficiency and small size is enabled by our proprietary switching circuitry and magnetic structures, as well as our use of highly differentiated packaging.

Power system performance is based primarily on conversion efficiency (i.e., the ratio of output power (i.e., watts) to input power) and power density (i.e., the amount of output power divided by the volume of the power system). Higher efficiency and density contribute to superior thermal performance, as the by-product of power conversion and distribution is heat, which must be dissipated in order to assure the performance of the power system solution itself and the overall system to which it is delivering power. Power system performance also is based on the electrical characteristics of the power system (and their effect on and compatibility with the customer’s application). Important electrical characteristics include transient responsiveness (i.e., the reaction of a power system to a sudden change in voltage or current levels) and noise profile (i.e., the level of electromagnetic interference created by power conversion). We believe the superior performance of our power systems is the most important element of our differentiation strategy.

Our strategy complements performance superiority with design flexibility (i.e., ease of use), as our products can be utilized individually or combined, given their level of integration, to create power system solutions specific to a customer’s precise needs. We articulate this positioning through our “Power Component Design Methodology,” an element of our differentiation strategy, which is our approach to providing our customers the modular products, design tools, and engineering support to enable the rapid design of advanced power system solutions by customers and, thereby, accelerate their own product development cycles. Our value proposition is supported by a compelling TCO, representing the cost of acquiring and operating a power system over its useful life, driven by competitive product pricing, high reliability, and demonstrably lower electricity costs.

Our earliest market focus was on telecommunications infrastructure, which uses a standard DC distribution voltage of 48V (nominally 48V to 54V), the highest distribution voltage that meets Safety Extra-Low Voltage (“SELV”) standard requirements, while leaving sufficient margin for over-voltage protection circuits. While we offer products addressing other DC voltage standards (e.g., 380V for power distribution in data centers, 110V for rail applications, 28V for military and avionics applications, and 24V for industrial automation) and a broad range of customer requirements, we consider our core competencies to be associated with 48V distribution, which offers numerous inherent cost and performance advantages over lower distribution voltages, while remaining within the 60V SELV safety limit.

Our product portfolio also includes families of “front-end” devices, which address applications requiring the transformation of AC voltages to regulated DC voltages. Examples of such applications include powering data center server racks, large-scale LED lighting, specialized laboratory, diagnostic, and test equipment, small-cell wireless base stations, and higher power equipment for defense and industrial use.

Reflecting our strategy, we categorize our offerings as either Advanced Products or Brick Products, generally based on design, performance, and form factor considerations, as well as the range of evolving applications for which the respective categories are appropriate. The Advanced Products category consists of our most innovative products, which are used to implement our proprietary distribution architecture, FPA, a highly differentiated approach to power distribution that enables flexible, rapid power system design using individual components optimized to perform a specific function. The Brick Products category largely consists of integrated power converters (i.e., “bricks”), incorporating multiple conversion stages, used in conventional power systems architectures including CPA, DPA, and IBA.

Given the growth profiles and performance requirements of the market segments served with Advanced Products and Brick Products, our strategy involves a transition in organizational focus, emphasizing investment in Advanced Products design and manufacturing, targeting high growth market segments with a low-mix, high-volume operational model, while maintaining a profitable business in mature market segments we serve with Brick Products with a high-mix, low-volume operational model.

Our Products

Reflecting our Power Component Design Methodology, we offer a comprehensive range of modular building blocks enabling rapid design of a power system specific to a customer’s precise needs. Based on design, performance, and form factor considerations, as well as the range of evolving applications for which the products are appropriate, we categorize our product portfolios as either Advanced Products or Brick Products. We also sell a range of electrical and mechanical accessories for use with our products.

Advanced Products

We continue to invest in the research and development of power system technologies and product concepts addressing two accelerating trends, the first toward higher required conversion efficiencies, and the second toward more and diverse on-board voltages, higher performance demands of complex loads, and, in particular, higher current requirements of those loads. These trends are most visible in the microprocessor-based applications we target with Advanced Products, for which energy consumption, energy efficiency, processor performance, and computing density are critical priorities. Recognizing the performance and scale limitations of conventional power distribution architectures and products, we introduced FPA and a range of enabling products incorporating our latest advances in power distribution concepts, switching topologies, materials, and packaging.

FPA, which is focused on, but not limited to, 48V DC distribution solutions, increases power system conversion efficiency, density, and power delivery performance by “factorizing” (i.e., separating) the power conversion process into individual components, reducing the design limitations and thermal management challenges, and scaling trade-offs associated with conventional architectures for DC voltage distribution. All such architectures follow a sequence whereby a DC voltage is first transformed, or reduced, and that lower voltage subsequently conducted (i.e., “bussed”) across the circuit to the “load” (i.e., the point of use), where the voltage is regulated and lowered once more, to the required operating voltage of the load. In a FPA implementation, the sequence is reversed. Regulation occurs first, and the regulation module can be placed in the optimal position for space utilization and thermal management. A regulated voltage approaching 48V is bussed across the circuit to the transformation module, which performs what we refer to as current multiplication, adjacent to the load. Bussing high voltage minimizes the current levels across the circuit, thereby minimizing the potential for distribution losses and reducing the volume of the conduit (e.g., the copper wire). Placing the relatively low noise, low heat current multiplication module adjacent to the load further minimizes the potential for distribution losses associated with bussing a low operating voltage to the load and reduces the potential influence of the power system on the performance of the load.

A typical FPA implementation for delivering 48V DC from a server backplane to a 1.0V microprocessor would consist of three modules: a PRM™ (Pre-Regulator Module) regulator, a VTM™ (Voltage Transformation Module) current multiplier, and a proprietary communications controller. In contrast, a commodity IBA design for delivering 48V DC from a server backplane to a 1.0V microprocessor requires an additional conversion stage, to reduce 48V to 12V, and, at the point of load, a voltage regulation module (i.e., a “VRM” consisting of multiple switching regulators, each representing a phase and consisting of two switching transistors, one or more capacitors, and an inductor, with the transistors switched by pulse width modulation controller). For a 200W two stage, multiphase application, a 12V commodity IBA implementation would require an intermediate bus converter, to reduce 48V to 12V, and a VRM solution consisting of parallel phases (i.e., multiple switching regulators) to reduce and regulate the current for use at 1.0V by the microprocessor. Such a commodity IBA implementation requires a significantly higher component count, consumes more motherboard area, requires more copper conduit, generates more heat due to switching and distribution losses, offers inferior dynamic response, and can be meaningfully less efficient than a 48V FPA implementation.

The advantages of FPA over legacy power distribution architectures are most evident in high performance computing applications. Our “Power-on-Package” power system solutions meet the computational performance requirements of artificial intelligence (“AI”). The microprocessors typically used in AI, particularly in more computationally demanding “machine learning” or “training” applications, are graphics processing units (“GPUs”) and custom application-specific integrated circuits (“ASICs”). Unlike central processing units (“CPUs”), which are designed for serial execution of complex and broad instruction sets, GPUs and AI ASICs are designed for massively parallel (i.e., concurrent) processing of repetitive transactions or calculations. As such, GPUs and AI ASICs generally operate at processing frequencies requiring the higher levels of average and peak current delivered by our FPA-based solutions. Our most popular Power-on-Package solution, consists of one MCD© (Modular Current Driver) unit, providing high-bandwidth, low-noise regulation, and two MCM© (Modular Current Multiplier) units, providing high performance current multiplication. Power-on-Package delivers unprecedented current levels to GPUs and AI ASICs, in part due to the placement of the MCMs directly on the substrate onto which the processor is mounted, thereby minimizing distribution losses associated with high current levels. Placement of MCM units on the substrate also reduces the number of GPU or ASIC processor substrate pins required for power, allowing for their use by other functions (e.g., memory input/output (“I/O”)). This three-module laterally-mounted Power-on-Package configuration, powering an AI accelerator card requiring 350W, delivers 0.7V, 650A average current, and up to 1,200A peak current to the GPU or AI ASIC.

We are unaware of any competitive solution for AI acceleration offering the power system performance and density of Power-on-Package, as IBA-based solutions must increase the number of conversion phases to reach high current levels, thereby increasing component count and motherboard area used, which contributes to higher switching and distribution losses, inferior dynamic response, and associated heat generation.

Our latest innovation for powering processors is vertical power delivery, which involves mounting our highest-performance solutions on the underside of the motherboard, opposite the GPU or AI ASIC, thereby enabling a further reduction in distribution losses at the load, yielding higher efficiency and unprecedented power density. Vertically-mounting the solution allows unrestricted access to microprocessor input/output I/O pins on the top side of the motherboard, thereby improving I/O speed and memory access, which are a priority for GPUs and AI ASICs in AI applications. We continue the development of our vertical power delivery solutions and shipped prototype products to a certain customer in 2022.

Our proprietary technologies enable us to offer a range of Advanced Products, in various package formats across functional families, applicable to other market segments and power distribution architectures other than FPA. Within computing, these market segments include AC to DC voltage conversion and DC voltage distribution in server racks and high voltage conversion across datacenter infrastructure. We also offer Advanced Product power system solutions for aerospace and aviation (e.g., for use in satellites, unmanned aerial vehicles, and various airframes, including battery-powered aircraft, for which small size, light weight, and design flexibility are advantageous); defense electronics (e.g., for use in airborne, seaborne, or field communications and radar, for which reliability in harsh environments is a priority); factory automation, instrumentation, and test equipment (e.g., for use in robotics and semiconductor testing, for which high power levels and precision performance are required); telecommunications and networking infrastructure (e.g., for use in high-throughput data distribution and pole-mounted small-cell base stations); and vehicles (e.g., in autonomous driving applications, electric vehicles, and hybrid electric vehicles).

Annual revenue associated with the sale of Advanced Products was approximately 55.3%, 61.0%, and 47.4% of the Company’s consolidated revenue for the years ended December 31, 2023, 2022, and 2021, respectively.

We anticipate the percentage of periodic revenue associated with the sale of Advanced Products will increase in the future, given our strategic and organizational focus and the relatively higher expected growth of the market segments we serve.

Brick Products

Brick-format converters provide the integrated transformation, rectification, isolation, regulation, filtering, and/or input protection necessary to power and protect loads, across a range of conventional power architectures. We offer a wide range of brick-format DC-DC converters, as well as complementary components providing AC line rectification, input filtering, power factor correction, and transient protection. Wide ranges of input voltages, output voltages, and output power are offered, allowing end users to select components appropriate to their individual applications. The products differ in dimensions, temperature grades, maximum power ratings, performance characteristics, pin configuration, and, in certain cases, characteristics specific to the targeted market.

We also integrate these converters and components into complete power systems representing standard or custom AC-DC and DC-DC solutions for our customers' power needs. We refer to such standard products as our “Configurable” product line, while our two Vicor Custom Power subsidiaries design, sell, and service custom power system solutions.

We market our standard Brick Products emphasizing “mass customization,” using highly automated, efficient, domestic manufacturing to serve customers with product design and performance requirements, across a wide range of worldwide market segments, which could not be met by high-volume oriented competitors. We focus on distributed power implementations, for which our brick-format products are well-suited, in market segments such as aerospace and defense electronics, industrial equipment, instrumentation and test equipment, and transportation (e.g., rail and heavy equipment applications). Our customers range from independent manufacturers of highly specialized electronic devices to larger original equipment manufacturers (“OEMs”) and their contract manufacturers. Some of our Brick Product lines have been in production for over a decade, reflecting the maturity of the markets we serve, the long-established relationships we have with many customers, and the long-standing suitability of our products to demanding applications.

Annual revenue associated with the sale of Brick Products, inclusive of such sales of our Vicor Custom Power and VJCL subsidiaries, was approximately 44.7%, 39.0%, and 52.6% of the Company’s consolidated revenue for the years ended December 31, 2023, 2022, and 2021, respectively.

Customers and Backlog

The applications in which our Advanced Products and Brick Products are used are typically in the higher-performance, higher-power segments of the market segments we serve. With our Advanced Product lines, our customers are concentrated in the data center and hyperscaler segments of enterprise computing, in which our products are used for power delivery on server motherboards, in server racks, and across datacenter infrastructure, although we also serve applications in aerospace and aviation, defense electronics, satellites, factory automation, instrumentation, test equipment, transportation, telecommunications and networking infrastructure, and vehicles (notably in the autonomous driving, electric vehicle, and hybrid vehicle niches of the vehicle segment). With our Brick Product lines, we serve customers concentrated in aerospace and defense electronics, industrial equipment, instrumentation and test equipment, and transportation (notably in rail and heavy equipment applications). With our strategic emphasis on larger, high-volume customers, we expect to experience a greater concentration of sales among relatively fewer customers.

As of December 31, 2023, the Company’s order backlog was approximately $160,805,000, compared to $304,392,000 as of December 31, 2022. Backlog, as presented here, consists of orders for products for which shipment is scheduled within the following 12 months, subject to our scheduling and cancellation policies.

Over the course of 2023, the supply picture for the global semiconductor industry generally improved and as a result we were able to increase raw material inventory. We generally maintained quoted lead time for delivery to customers at 26 – 32 weeks depending on product family. In the first quarter of 2023, we increased prices for most products as part of our portfolio management process.

A portion of our revenue in any quarter is, and will continue to be, derived from “turns” volume, representing either orders booked and shipped in the same quarter or orders for which customers have requested accelerated delivery from a later quarter to the current quarter. This volume generally has been associated with orders for Brick Products. In 2023, our order backlog declined as a result of working down both current and overdue backlog while the book to bill ratio stayed below 1.0. An additional influence on turns volume has been our transition to larger OEM customers, which typically schedule large volumes for delivery over multiple quarters and frequently reschedule deliveries for either earlier or later shipment. Average quarterly turns volume was approximately 18% of 2023 revenue, approximately 11% of 2022 revenue, and approximately 19% of 2021 revenue.

Competition and Market Characteristics

The competitive characteristics of the markets we serve with Advanced Products and Brick Products can differ significantly. For example, in the higher-performance segments of computing we serve, our Advanced Products most often compete with solutions offered by large integrated device manufacturers (“IDMs”), which offer integrated circuits (“ICs”) and semiconductor-based modules. These IDMs generally offer far broader product portfolios, possess far greater global manufacturing and support resources, and have the ability to aggressively price their products to defend market share. Accordingly, Advanced Products are positioned as highly differentiated alternatives to commodity solutions for customers seeking high levels of performance. The customers we serve with Advanced Products are in market segments generally characterized by an emphasis on product performance differentiation, a compelling TCO, relatively extended and highly competitive design cycles, and product life cycles of generally less than three years. In contrast, the Brick Products competitive landscape is relatively fragmented, with large-scale, low-cost global suppliers of commodity solutions and many smaller manufacturers focused on specialized products or narrowly defined market segments or geographies. The market segments we serve with Brick Products, typically through sales representatives and distribution partners, generally are characterized by relatively short design cycles, relatively long (i.e., greater than three years) product life cycles, and, given the maturity of many market segments and applications, degrees of commoditization and price competition. As such, Brick Products are positioned with an emphasis on mass customization, through which we offer products with specific features and performance profiles typically not available from catalog-oriented competitors.

The size and growth characteristics of the markets we serve with Advanced Products and Brick Products also can differ significantly, and the range and quality of market data is problematic, making summary statements about these markets challenging. We believe our Advanced Products generally compete with power modules and power ICs developed and manufactured by IDMs and other fabless vendors of power semiconductors. We believe our Brick Products generally compete with similarly integrated switching power supply products developed and manufactured by large global competitors and a fragmented group of small regional competitors. The switching power supply market can be segmented by product type (i.e., DC-DC converters, AC-DC converters, and DC-AC inverters), by output power levels, and by numerous vertical markets (i.e., industry-specific applications).

For 2023, exports to China and Hong Kong were approximately $71,554,000, representing approximately 17.7% of total revenue and an approximately 4.8% decrease over the 2022 total of approximately $75,194,000. We believe this decreased volume was primarily associated with a softer market in this region driving lower demand for our products. Current exports to China and Hong Kong are heavily oriented toward Brick Products for industrial and rail applications, as well as certain aerospace and defense electronics applications permitted under U.S. export control regulations (our products are designated EAR99 commodities under the Export Administration Regulations of the U.S. Department of Commerce and are not subject to export licenses).

For 2023, exports to Taiwan were approximately $59,005,000, representing approximately 14.6% of total revenue and an approximately 43.9% decrease over the 2022 total of approximately $105,226,000. The decreased volume related to lower demand in Taiwan which is a contract manufacturing site for certain high performance compute OEMs.

Despite our minor share in the overall merchant market and the competitive presence of numerous, far larger vendors in the market segments we serve with both Advanced Products and Brick Products, we believe we maintain an advantageous competitive position in those market segments based on our differentiated technology. However, there are numerous competitors across these market segments that have significantly greater engineering, financial, manufacturing, and marketing and sales resources, as well as longer operating histories and longer customer relationships than we do.

Marketing and Sales

We reach and serve customers through several sales channels: a direct sales force; independent, authorized non-stocking distributors in Europe and Asia; and four authorized stocking distributors world-wide: Arrow Electronics, Inc., Digi-Key Corporation, Avnet Electronics, and Mouser Electronics, Inc. In order to provide greater focus to our account base in 2023, we discontinued use of independent sales representatives in North America. All sales channels are supported by regional TSCs, each offering application engineering and sales support for our channel partners. Domestic TSCs are located in: Andover, Massachusetts; Lombard, Illinois; and Santa Clara, California. International TSCs are located in: Beijing, China; Hong Kong, China; Shanghai, China; Shenzhen, China; Munich, Germany; Bangalore, India; Milan, Italy; Tokyo, Japan; Seoul, South Korea; Taipei, Taiwan (Republic of China); and Camberley, United Kingdom. Customers do not place purchase orders with TSCs, but do so directly with the Company or with our channel partners. In Japan, customers place purchase orders with authorized distributors or, for certain custom products, VJCL.

We generally sell our products on the basis of our standard terms and conditions, and we most commonly warrant our products for a period of two years. The warranty period is three years for a range of H Grade, M Grade, and MI Family DC-DC products.

Because of the technically complex nature of our products and the applications they address, we maintain an extensive staff of Field Applications Engineers to support our own sales and customer support activities, as well as those of our channel partners. Field Application Engineers, based in our TSCs, provide direct technical support worldwide by reviewing new applications and technical matters with our channel partners in support of existing and potential customers. Product Development Engineering is located in our Andover headquarters, where our Product Development Engineers support the Field Application Engineers assigned to all of our TSCs.

Our direct sales force focuses on higher-volume opportunities involving Advanced Products with global OEMs (and the Original Design Manufacturers (“ODMs”) and contract manufacturers serving these OEMs). Because of the high level of product differentiation and the increasing complexity and challenges of customer requirements, we have experienced, and may continue to experience, extended design cycles before production orders are received.

Our web-based resources are an important element of our efforts to interact with and support customers. Within our website, the Power System Designer workspace of tools and references allow engineers to select, architect, and implement power systems using our products. Our highly differentiated WhiteboardTM tool allows users to configure and analyze their own power system designs or those from an extensive library of designs addressing a wide range of applications. Users can modify the operating condition for each component of their design to match the intended application and perform efficiency and loss analysis of individual components and the full power system. We continue to enhance and expand the range and capabilities of engineering tools we make available online to customers and prospective customers.

As stated, our strategy involves maintaining high levels of customer engagement and support for design and engineering. We incurred approximately $52,938,000, $49,708,000, and $46,602,000 in marketing and sales expenses in 2023, 2022, and 2021, respectively, representing approximately 13.1%, 12.5%, and 13.0% of revenues in 2023, 2022, and 2021, respectively.

Manufacturing, Quality Assurance, and Supply Chain Management

Our manufacturing facility, consisting of approximately 320,000 square feet, is located in Andover, Massachusetts, where we are headquartered. In this facility, we manufacture Brick Products, with the exception of custom products produced by our Vicor Custom Power and VJCL subsidiaries, and Advanced Products, with the exception of certain products manufactured, packaged, and tested by third party wafer foundries and packaging contractors in the United States and Asia.

Our primary manufacturing processes involve steps common to automated assembly of electronics devices. We also have developed and employ proprietary manufacturing processes that contribute to the differentiated performance of our devices, including the innovative electroplating of our SM-ChiP© modules discussed below. During the third quarter of 2020, we began construction of an addition of approximately 90,000 square feet to our existing manufacturing facility. We initially planned on taking occupancy of the addition in the first half of 2021, but due to a variety of factors including the effect of the global pandemic, we took occupancy of this addition during the first half of 2022. In 2023, we completed the installation of our advanced plating equipment and our advanced plating operation began production.

We partnered with a highly-specialized third-party developer of electroplating processes and equipment, which performed certain elements of our proprietary manufacturing process using equipment designed by the developer. In 2019 and 2020, we entered into service and equipment purchase agreements with this partner. While commodity electroplating services are available from numerous alternate providers, we entered into these agreements due to the level of our collaboration with the partner in the refinement of certain proprietary processes we employ and our joint commitment to environmentally sound manufacturing minimizing toxic waste. We relied on this partner’s services to meet our requirements for SM-ChiP production until 2023, when we completed the plating line and brought the production process in-house. The initial planned installation dates for this equipment in 2021 were, in some cases, delayed due to a variety of factors including the effect of the global pandemic.

Product quality and reliability are critical to our success and, as such, we emphasize quality and reliability in our design and manufacturing activities. We follow industry best practices in manufacturing and are compliant with ISO 9001 certification standards (as set forth by the International Organization for Standardization). Our quality assurance practices include rigorous testing and, as necessary, burn-in and temperature cycling (i.e., extended operation of a product to confirm performance) of our products using automated equipment. Incoming components, assemblies, and other parts are subjected to several levels of inspection procedures, and we maintain robust data on our raw material inventories in order to support our quality assurance procedures.

Components and materials used in our products are purchased from a variety of domestic and international vendors. In 2023, there was a general loosening of the semiconductor supply chain, even as the supply of some components remained constrained.

Certain Advanced Products and semiconductor devices used in our production are manufactured by a limited number of wafer foundries, with packaging and test services provided by a limited number of third parties. We rely on these wafer foundries and packaging and test providers for supply continuity of these critical semiconductor devices. While prior to 2023 there had been supply constraints across a number of these suppliers, in 2023 we were generally able, with the exception of a limited number of constraints on certain components, to drive sufficient supply so as to reduce overdue backlog during the year.

To date, we have not experienced material delays or reduced raw material availability as a result of trade disputes between the U.S. and China, including the imposition in 2018 of import tariffs under the provisions of Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. § 2411) (“Section 301 Tariffs”) on certain Chinese goods imported into the United States. For the year ended December 31, 2023, costs associated with tariffs totaled approximately $7,985,000, a decrease of 21.7% over the $10,201,000 in costs incurred for the year ended December 31, 2022. For the year ended December 31, 2021, costs associated with tariffs totaled approximately $6,678,000. We continue to assess the impact of these costs and are actively evaluating alternative sources of raw materials. We also have filed “duty drawback” applications with U.S. Customs and Border Protection for the recovery of tariffs paid on raw materials used to produce products we subsequently exported. We recovered $6,954,000, $229,000 and $10,000 for the years ended December 31, 2023, 2022 and 2021, respectively, however, we are not able to estimate the amount or timing of any additional recoveries, and there can be no assurance that there will be any additional recoveries.

Intellectual Property

Our competitive positioning has been, and will continue to be, supported by our long-standing commitment to research and development of power distribution architectures, power conversion technologies, advanced packaging and manufacturing, and innovative approaches to solving customer problems. Our research and development activities have resulted in important patents protecting our products and enabling technologies, as well as proprietary trade secrets associated with our use of certain components and materials of our own design and proprietary manufacturing, packaging, and testing processes. We incurred approximately $67,857,000, $60,594,000, and $53,114,000 in research and development expenses in 2023, 2022, and 2021, respectively, representing approximately 16.8%, 15.2%, and 14.8% of revenues in 2023, 2022, and 2021, respectively.

We believe our intellectual property affords advantages by building fundamental and multilayered barriers to competitive encroachment upon key features and performance benefits of our principal product families. Our patents cover the fundamental switching topologies used to achieve the performance attributes of our converter product lines; converter array architectures; product packaging design; product construction; high frequency magnetic structures; and automated equipment and methods for circuit and product assembly.

As of December 31, 2023, in the United States, we have been issued 128 patents having expirations scheduled between 2024 and 2040 and have filed a number of patent applications which are still pending, many of which are expected to issue as patents in 2024. We have vigorously protected our rights under these patents and will continue to do so. Although we believe patents are an effective way of protecting our technology, there can be no assurances our patents will prove to be enforceable in any given jurisdiction.

In addition to generating revenue from product sales, we seek to license our intellectual property. In granting licenses, we generally retain the right to use our patented technologies and manufacture and sell our products in all licensed geographic areas and fields of use. Revenues from licensing arrangements have not exceeded 10% of our consolidated revenues in any of the last three fiscal years.

Human Capital Management

High-caliber employees are important to achieving Vicor’s mission of providing the highest performance power solutions to meet the requirements of the most demanding applications. In order to maintain leadership in power systems design in a highly competitive employment market, attracting and retaining the best team worldwide is critical. Accordingly, we offer compelling compensation and benefits, foster a culture of innovation in which employees are empowered to do (and are rewarded for) their best work, and seek to establish Vicor as a meaningful contributor to the communities in which we operate, further strengthening the bonds between employees and the Company.

As of December 31, 2023, we had 1,063 full-time employees, of which 968 were in the U.S. and 95 were in our international locations. As of December 31, 2023, we also had 25 part-time temporary employees. None of our employees are represented by a labor union or covered by a collective bargaining agreement.

We recruit from colleges and universities, with a focus on specific engineering disciplines. In collaboration with certain universities, we maintain a student “Co-Op” program, whereby qualifying undergraduate and graduate students work at our Andover facilities for one or two semesters, receiving course credit towards their graduation. In recent years, we have had as many as approximately two dozen participants per semester, with a number of participants receiving offers of full-time employment.

Our compensation program is designed to attract and reward talented individuals who possess the skills necessary to support our business objectives, assist in the achievement of our strategic goals, and create long-term value for our stockholders. We provide employees with compensation packages that include a competitive base salary or wage rate and benefits such as life and health (medical, dental, and vision) insurance, supplemental insurance, paid time off, paid parental leave, and a 401(k) plan (with Company match). Generally (and subject to local laws), new employees are awarded non-qualified options for the purchase of the Company’s common stock. Depending on an employee’s role, he or she may be eligible for annual incentive bonuses and periodic awards of non-qualified options based on the performance of the Company and that of the employee. We believe a compensation program with appropriate long-term incentives aligns employee and stockholder interests in increasing the value of the Company.

We emphasize and encourage employee development and training. To empower employees to reach their potential, we provide a range of development programs and opportunities, including in-house training programs and tuition reimbursement for those pursuing outside certification or degrees.

We seek to support the communities in which we operate and believe this commitment contributes to our efforts to attract and retain employees. We also partner with a range of non-profit organizations and have had notable success in our collaboration for over two decades with the Crest Collaborative of Andover, MA, a local advocacy agency, in providing enriching employment opportunities for individuals with disabilities.

For more information on our employee and community initiatives, please see our Corporate Social Responsibility webpage at www.vicorpower.com/about-the-company/corporate-social-responsibility (http://www.vicorpower.com/about-the-company/corporate-social-responsibility).

Available Information

We maintain a website with the address www.vicorpower.com (http://www.vicorpower.com) and make available free of charge through this website our Annual Reports on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, Current Reports on Form 8-K, and amendments to these reports filed or furnished pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Exchange Act, as soon as reasonably practicable after we electronically file such material with, or furnish such material to, the SEC. We also make available on our website our Code of Business Conduct, as well as the charters for the Audit and Compensation Committees of our Board of Directors.

While our website sets forth extensive information, including information regarding our products and the applications in which they may be used, such information is not a part of, nor incorporated by reference into, this Annual Report on Form 10-K and shall not be deemed “filed” under the Exchange Act.

This Annual Report on Form 10-K contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Exchange Act. Actual results could differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements as a result of, among other factors, the risk factors set forth below.

Operational Risks

Our future operating results are difficult to predict and are subject to fluctuations.

Our operating results, including revenues, gross margins, operating expenses, and net income (loss), have fluctuated on a quarterly and annual basis. Our strategic focus on higher volume opportunities with OEMs, ODMs, and contract manufacturers has caused the actions of a relative few such customers to disproportionately influence our operating results. Unanticipated delays in purchase orders from, and shipments to, certain large customers have resulted in lower than expected revenue. Similarly, our strategic focus on the development of market-leading technologies and manufacturing processes, often implemented in proprietary semiconductor circuitry, materials, and packaging, has exposed the Company to the risks and costs of delays in such development and the use of a relatively few number of suppliers of proprietary circuits and materials or providers of proprietary services.

Despite recent profitability trends, we cannot predict if we will maintain sustained profitability. Our future operating results may be materially influenced by a number of factors, many of which are beyond our control, including:

• changes in demand for our products and for our customers’ end-products incorporating our products, as well as our ability to respond efficiently to such changes in demand, including changes in delivery lead times and the volume of product for which orders are accepted and the product shipped within an individual quarter;
• our ability to manage our supply chain, inventory levels, and our own manufacturing capacity or that of third-party partners, particularly in the event of delays or cancellation of significant customer orders or in the event of delays or cost increases associated with our supply chain;
• our ability to effectively coordinate changes in the mix of products we manufacture and sell, while managing our ongoing transition in organizational focus and manufacturing infrastructure to Advanced Products from Brick Products;
• our ability to provide and maintain a high level of sales and engineering support to an increasing number of demanding, high volume customers;
• the ability of our third party suppliers and service subcontractors to provide us sufficient quantities of high quality products, components, and/or services on a timely and cost-effective basis;
• the effectiveness of our ongoing efforts to continuously reduce manufacturing costs per unit and manage operating expenses;
• our ability to absorb and mitigate the impact of inflation on our operating results;
• our ability to utilize our manufacturing facilities and personnel at efficient levels, maintaining sufficient production capacity and necessary manufacturing yields;
• the timing of our new product introductions and our ability to meet customer expectations for timely delivery of fully qualified products;
• the timing of new product introductions or other competitive actions (e.g., product price reductions) by our competitors;
• the ability to hire, retain, and motivate qualified employees to meet the demands of our customers;
• intellectual property disputes;
• litigation-related costs, which may be significant;
• adverse economic conditions in the U.S. and those foreign countries in which we operate, as well as our ability to respond to unanticipated developments, such as the imposition of tariffs or trade restrictions;
• adverse budgetary conditions within the U.S. government, particularly the Department of Defense, which continue to influence spending on current and anticipated programs into which we sell or anticipate to sell our products;
• costs related to compliance with increasing worldwide governance, quality, environmental, and other regulations;
• costs and consequences of disruption by third-parties of our global computer network and related resources; and
• the effects of events outside of our control, including public health emergencies, natural disasters, terrorist activities, political risks, international conflicts, information security breaches, communication interruptions, and other force majeure.

As a result of these and other factors, we cannot assure you we will not experience significant fluctuations in future operating results on a quarterly or annual basis. In addition, if our operating results do not meet the expectations of investors, the market price of our Common Stock may decline.

Global economic and political uncertainties, notably those associated with trade policy, could materially and adversely affect our business and consolidated operating results.

For the years ended December 31, 2023, 2022, and 2021, revenues from sales outside the United States were 63.1%, 67.6%, and 67.0%, respectively, of our total revenues. Net revenues from customers in China and Hong Kong, accounted for approximately 17.7% in 2023, approximately 18.8% in 2022, and approximately 27.5% in 2021 of total net revenues. We expect international sales, notably in Asia, will continue to be a significant component of total sales, since many of the OEMs and ODMs we target as customers are domiciled offshore, and such customers increasingly utilize offshore contract manufacturers, and rely upon those contract manufacturers to place orders directly with us. We also expect international revenue from our distributors to continue to increase.

To date, we have not experienced material delays or reduced raw material availability as a result of trade disputes between the U.S. and China, including the imposition in 2018 of import tariffs under the provisions of Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. § 2411) (“Section 301 Tariffs”) on certain Chinese goods imported into the United States. However, the costs of Section 301 Tariffs have had a material impact on our profitability. For the year ended December 31, 2023, Section 301 Tariffs totaled approximately $7,985,000, a decrease of 21.7% over the $10,201,000 incurred for 2022. For the year ended December 31, 2021, costs associated with tariffs totaled approximately $6,678,000. For 2023, 2022 and 2021, Section 301 Tariffs totaled approximately 2.0%, 2.6% and 1.9%, respectively, of annual revenue, representing a material reduction in our gross profit margin as a percentage of annual revenue.

We continue to evaluate alternative sources of raw materials, and in 2021, 2022, and 2023 we qualified non-Chinese vendors for certain high-volume raw materials and components. We anticipate a reduction in Section 301 Tariffs we incur during 2024, given the ongoing transition to non-Chinese vendors, but we are not able to estimate the amount of such reduction, if any. Similarly, we cannot predict if or when the U.S. government may reduce or eliminate Section 301 Tariffs.

We also have filed “duty drawback” applications with U.S. Customs and Border Protection for the recovery of Section 301 Tariffs paid on raw materials and components used to produce products we subsequently exported. We recovered $6,954,000 for the year ended December 31, 2023, however, we are not able to estimate the amount or timing of any additional recoveries, and there can be no assurance that there will be any additional recoveries.

In 2019, China implemented reciprocal inbound tariffs of up to 25% on products exported from the U.S., including all of our products. We do not believe these tariffs, incurred by our Chinese and Hong Kong distributors, have had a material impact on the unit volume or dollar value of our exports to China, which we attribute to the differentiated performance of our products in market segments in which we have an established presence. However, we cannot predict the long-term influence of these tariffs on our competitive position in China, especially in light of the increased pressure by the Chinese government on Chinese manufacturers to meet the “China 2025” mandate for targeted development of Chinese technology sectors. Under this mandate, domestic technology vendors are explicitly favored over foreign vendors such as Vicor. We believe we experienced reduced demand in certain segments (e.g., rail), notably in 2019, reflecting the significant role of state-owned enterprises in those segments. We regularly assess the competitive position and profitability of certain product lines sold in China and Hong Kong, and may choose to reduce our product offerings if competitive conditions and reduced profitability so warrant.

Uncertain macroeconomic conditions, extended trade disputes, and the relative strength of the U.S. Dollar may reduce end-demand for our customers’ products and, in turn, their purchases of our products, thereby reducing our revenues and earnings. In addition, such adverse conditions may, among other things, result in increased price competition for our products, notably in Brick Product categories, increased risk of excess and obsolete inventories, increased risk in the collectability of our accounts receivable from our customers, increased risk in potential reserves for doubtful accounts and write-offs of accounts receivable, and higher operating costs as a percentage of revenues.

In October 2022, the U.S. Government instituted export controls of certain semiconductor technologies to China, and subsequent to that action, the U.S. Department of Commerce added certain China-based companies to its entity list, which precludes shipment of semiconductor products to these companies without a license. These restrictions could cause a reduction in demand for our products from contract manufacturing customers that manufacture for high performance compute OEMs, as well as a reduction in exports to customers on the entity list. We cannot be certain what the ultimate impact of these export controls will be on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

Our operating results recently have been influenced by a limited number of customers, and our future results may be similarly influenced.

Since the introduction of our Advanced Products, the Company has derived the majority of its revenue from Advanced Products in any given year from either one customer or a limited number of customers, whether through sales directly to the customer(s) or indirectly to the customers’ contract manufacturers. This concentration of revenue is a reflection of the relatively early stage of adoption of the Advanced Products and the associated technologies and power system architectures, and our targeting of market leading innovators as initial customers.

Our current sales and marketing efforts are focused primarily on accelerating the adoption of Advanced Products by a diversified customer base, across a number of identified market segments. While we believe we have been successful to date in diversifying our Advanced Products customer base beyond early adopters, we cannot assure you our strategy will be successful and further diversification of customers will be achieved, nor can we assure you that customers using one generation of our Advanced Products will adopt the next generation.

We may not be able to procure necessary key components or raw materials, or we may purchase excess raw material inventory or unusable inventory, which increases the risk of reserve charges to reduce the value of any inventory deemed excess or obsolete, thereby reducing our profitability.

The power systems industry, and the electronics industry as a whole, can be subject to pronounced, lengthy business cycles and otherwise subject to sudden and sharp changes in demand. Our success, in part, is dependent on our ability to forecast and procure inventories of components and materials to match production schedules and customer delivery requirements. Many of our products require raw materials supplied by a limited number of vendors and, in some instances, a single vendor. During certain periods, key components or materials required to build our products may become unavailable in the timeframe required for us to meet our customers’ needs. Our inability to secure sufficient raw materials to manufacture products for our customers has reduced, in the past, our revenue and profitability and could do so again. Over the course of the last few years, there have been circumstances where supply disruptions have impacted our results.

We may choose, and have chosen, to mitigate our inventory risks by increasing the levels of inventory for certain components and materials. Such increased inventory levels may increase the potential risk for excess or obsolete inventories, should our forecasts fail to materialize or if there are negative factors impacting our customers’ end markets, leading to order cancellation. If we identify excess inventory or determine certain inventory is obsolete (i.e., unusable), we likely will record additional inventory reserves (i.e., expenses representing the write-off of the excess or obsolete inventory), which could have an adverse effect on our gross margins and on our operating results.

We rely on third-party vendors and subcontractors for supply of components, assemblies, and services and, therefore, cannot control the availability or quality of such components, assemblies, and services.

We depend on third-party vendors and subcontractors to supply components, assemblies, and services used to manufacture our products, some of which are supplied by a single vendor. We have experienced shortages of certain semiconductor components and delays in service delivery, have incurred additional and unexpected costs to address the shortages and delays, and have experienced our own delays in production and shipping.

If suppliers or subcontractors cannot provide their products or services on time or to our specifications, we may not be able to meet the demand for our products and our delivery times may be negatively affected. In addition, we cannot directly control the quality of the products and services provided by third parties. In order to expand revenue, we likely will need to identify and qualify new suppliers and subcontractors to supplant or replace existing suppliers and subcontractors, which may be a time-consuming and expensive process. In addition, any qualification of new suppliers may require customers of our products utilizing products and services from new suppliers and service providers to undergo a re-qualification process. Such circumstances likely would lead to disruptions in our production, increased manufacturing costs, delays in shipping to our customers, and/or increases in prices paid to third parties for products and services.

Extended interruption of production at our manufacturing facility in Andover, Massachusetts, or a failure to achieve anticipated efficiencies could materially reduce our revenue, increase our costs, and, potentially, negatively impact our customers.

The majority of our power components and power systems, whether for direct sale to customers or for sale to our subsidiaries for incorporation into their respective products, are manufactured in our Andover facility.

Substantial damage to our manufacturing facility due to fire, natural disaster, power loss, or other events, could interrupt manufacturing, contributing to lengthy shipment delays that could have a negative impact on customers and, in turn, our customer relationships. While we have never experienced any meaningful interruption of manufacturing in our history, any prolonged inability to utilize all or a significant portion of our Andover facility could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations.

We have been making and will continue to make capital investments for the expansion of manufacturing capacity for the production of Advanced Products at our Andover facility. In 2023, as part of the expansion of our Andover facility, we brought in-house the complex electroplating operation previously outsourced to a third-party partner. In addition, work is underway to bring in-house an additional final step associated with the manufacture of power modules, which step is now conducted by a subcontractor at the subcontractor’s facilities. Once this additional manufacturing step has been completed, we may not achieve the anticipated production volumes and operating efficiencies. As we qualify equipment and bring production online, any delay in achieving anticipated operating efficiencies associated with added capacity may cause manufacturing costs to be higher than expected for some period of time, thereby potentially negatively influencing our operating and financial results.

Disruption of our information technology infrastructure could adversely affect our business.

We depend heavily on our computing and communications infrastructure to achieve our business objectives, particularly for our financial and operational record keeping, our computer-integrated manufacturing processes controlling all aspects of our operations in our manufacturing facility in Andover, Massachusetts, our public website, and our email communications. We also rely on trusted third parties to provide certain infrastructure support services to us. If we or a third party service provider encounter a problem that impairs this infrastructure, the resulting disruption could impede the accuracy and timeliness of our financial reporting processes, and our ability to record or process customer orders, manufacture, and ship in a timely manner, or otherwise carry on business in the normal course. Our image and reputation also could be negatively affected by such circumstances. Additionally, we could incur material liabilities associated with the harm such impairment and disruption of our infrastructure may have on third parties including those associated with the unintentional release of confidential information and or sensitive data. While we carry business interruption insurance to offset financial losses from such an interruption, and cyber-risk insurance to address potential liabilities from such circumstances, such insurance may be insufficient to compensate us for the potentially significant costs or liabilities incurred. Any such events, if prolonged, could have a material and adverse effect on our operating results and financial condition.

On December 24, 2019, elements of our network were compromised by a form of malware referred to as “ransomware.” In close collaboration with our service provider, we had restored computing and network functions to full operational status by the afternoon of December 27, 2019. Subsequent analysis by management and the forensic specialists we retained allowed us to conclude the incident had no material impact on our operations, financial condition and performance, or the integrity of our financial reporting systems.

Our systems are designed to protect us from network security incidents and associated disruptions. However, as evidenced by the ransomware incident described above, we remain vulnerable to computer viruses and related software-based challenges to the integrity of our systems, unauthorized or illegal break-ins, or malicious network hacking, equipment or software sabotage, acts of vandalism to our systems by third parties, and, in the extreme, forms of cyber-terrorism. Our security measures or those of our third party service provider detected, but did not prevent, the network security incident and the associated disruptions described above and may not detect or prevent such incidents and disruptions in the future.

The Company provides confidential information to third party business partners and/or receives confidential information from third party business partners in certain circumstances, when doing so is necessary to conduct business, particularly with departments of agencies of the U.S. Government. While we employ confidentiality agreements to protect other sensitive information (i.e., information not considered controlled unclassified information), our own security measures or those of our third party service providers may not be sufficient to protect such information in the event the computing infrastructure of these third party business partners is compromised. Security incidents involving our computing and communications infrastructure or that of a third party business partner or service provider could result in the misappropriation or unauthorized release of confidential information belonging to us or to our employees, partners, customers or suppliers, which could result in an interruption to our operations, result in a violation of privacy or other laws, expose us to a risk of litigation, or damage our reputation, any of which could have a material and adverse effect on our operating results and financial condition. Our network segmented NIST 800-171 environment was not impacted by the December 2019 ransomware incident, but there can be no assurance that it will not be impacted by similar incidents in the future, which could have a material and adverse effect on our operating results and financial condition for the reasons described above.

We may face legal claims and litigation from product warranty or other claims that could be costly to resolve and could impact our business.

We have in the past and may in the future encounter legal action from customers, vendors, or others concerning product warranty or other claims. We generally offer a two-year warranty from the date title passes from us for all of our standard products. The warranty period is three years for a range of H Grade, M Grade and MI Family DC-DC legacy products.

We invest significant resources in the testing of our products; however, if any of our products contain defects, we may be required to incur additional development and remediation costs, pursuant to our warranty policies. These issues may divert our technical and other resources from other product development efforts and could result in claims against us by our customers or others, including liability for costs associated with product returns, which may adversely influence our operating results. If any of our products contain defects, or have reliability, quality, or compatibility problems, the Company’s reputation may be damaged, which could make it more difficult for us to sell our products to existing and prospective customers and could adversely affect our operating results.

Our ability to successfully implement our business strategy may be limited if we do not retain our key personnel and attract and retain skilled and experienced personnel.

Our success depends on our ability to retain the services of our executive officers. The loss of one or more members of senior management could materially adversely influence our business and financial results. In particular, we are dependent on the services of Dr. Vinciarelli, our founder, Chairman of the Board, Chief Executive Officer, and President. The loss of the services of Dr. Vinciarelli could have a material adverse effect on our development of new products and on our business and results of operations. In addition, our research and development and marketing and sales activities depend on highly skilled engineers and other personnel with technical skills, who are in high demand and are difficult to replace. Our continued operations and growth depend on our ability to attract and retain skilled and experienced personnel in a very competitive employment market. If we are unable to attract and retain such employees, our ability to successfully implement our business strategy may be harmed. The labor market for skilled and unskilled workers has been very tight over the past year, and at times we have experienced longer than normal times in recruiting necessary resources, and have had to increase compensation to attract and retain employees.

Our operations could be affected by the complex laws, rules and regulations to which our business is subject, and political and other actions may adversely impact our business.

We are subject to laws and regulations domestically and worldwide, affecting our operations in areas including, but not limited to, intellectual property ownership and infringement; taxes; import and export requirements and tariffs; anti-corruption; business acquisitions; foreign exchange controls and cash repatriation restrictions; data privacy requirements; employment; product regulations; cybersecurity; environmental, health, and safety requirements; and climate change. Compliance with such requirements can be onerous and expensive and may impact our business operations negatively. Should any of these laws, rules and regulations be amended or expanded, or new ones enacted, we could incur materially greater compliance costs and/or restrictions on our ability to manufacture our products and operate our business.

Government actions, including trade protection and national security policies of U.S. and foreign government bodies, such as tariffs, import or export regulations, including deemed export restrictions, trade and economic sanctions, decrees, quotas or other trade barriers and restrictions could affect our ability or the ability of our customers and end users to sell products in certain countries and thereby have a material adverse effect on our business, revenue and results of operations. For example, in 2022, the U.S. government imposed additional export controls on certain advanced computing semiconductor chips (chips, advanced computing chips, integrated circuits (“ICs”)), certain semiconductor manufacturing items and transactions for certain IC end use, including supercomputer end uses. Furthermore, the U.S. government has continued to expand, the number of foreign entities on the Entity List (a restricted party list that imposes additional licensing requirements on shipments to listed parties). These recent export controls are, in part, intended to restrict the ability of the People’s Republic of China to obtain advanced computing chips, develop and maintain supercomputers, and manufacture advanced semiconductors. The implementation, interpretation and impact on our business of these rules and other regulatory actions taken by the U.S. government is uncertain and evolving, and these rules, other regulatory actions or changes, and other actions taken by the governments of either the U.S. or China, or both, that have occurred and may occur in the future could materially and adversely affect our business, revenue and results of operations.

While we have policies and procedures in place to ensure compliance with sanctions and trade restrictions and other applicable laws, our employees, contractors, partners, and agents may take actions in violation of such policies and applicable law, for which we may be ultimately held responsible. Intentional and unintentional violations of these laws can result in fines and penalties; criminal sanctions against us, our officers, or our employees; prohibitions on the conduct of our business; and damage to our reputation, any of which could have a material and adverse impact on our business, operating results and financial condition.

Global economic uncertainty associated with the COVID-19 pandemic could materially and adversely affect our business and consolidated operating results.

While the COVID-19 pandemic is for the most part behind us, with limited incidents at Vicor in 2023, there is a continued risk that the virus will return and we are not able to predict the impact a further outbreak could have on our business, financial condition or results of operations.

Trading conditions in China (inclusive of Hong Kong) had deteriorated through 2019 due to macroeconomic and trade-related uncertainties. At the beginning of 2020, trading conditions were significantly further affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, with much of the country’s manufacturing disrupted for January and February 2020. By late March 2020, after aggressive measures to contain the coronavirus, the Chinese government quickly implemented economic stimulus measures, and we experienced a rapid recovery of demand from China and Hong Kong. This demand was sustained through the first part of 2021 before subsiding in late 2021. As addressed in our discussion herein of market characteristics, exports to China and Hong Kong for 2023 totaled approximately $71,554,000, representing approximately 17.7% of total revenue for the year, and a reduction from the prior year. It is not possible for us to predict whether this market will rebound as the Chinese government has eliminated their zero-COVID policy.

Our customers, business partners, and suppliers have been and may continue to be adversely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, which also may contribute to a negative influence on our future financial and operational performance.

Competitive Risks

We compete with many companies possessing far greater resources.

Some of our competitors have far greater financial, manufacturing, technical, and sales and marketing resources than we possess or have access to. Our Brick Products compete with those products offered by domestic and foreign manufacturers of integrated power supplies and related power conversion components. With our Advanced Product lines, we compete with global IDMs and fabless developers of semiconductor-based power management modules and power management ICs. These competitors have far larger organizations and broader semiconductor-based product lines. Competition is generally based on product performance, design flexibility (i.e., ease of use), product price, and product availability, but with the relative importance of these factors varying among products, markets, and customers.

Existing or new competitors may develop products or technologies that more effectively address the demands of our customers and markets with enhanced performance, features and functionality, or lower cost. Larger competitors frequently seek to maintain market share and protect customer relationships through heavily-discounted pricing, which we may not be able to match. If we fail to develop and commercialize leading-edge technologies and products that are cost effective and maintain high standards of quality, and introduce them to the market on a timely basis, our competitive position and results of operations could be materially adversely affected.

Our future success depends upon our ability to develop and market differentiated, leading-edge power conversion products for larger customers, potentially contributing to lengthy product development and sales cycles that may result in significant expenditures before revenues are generated. Our future operating results are dependent on the growth in such customers’ businesses and on our ability to profitably develop and deliver products meeting customer requirements.

The power system industry and the industries in which many of our customers operate are characterized by intense competition, rapid technological change, quickened product obsolescence, and price erosion for mature products, each of which could have an adverse effect on our results of operations. We are following a strategy based on the development of differentiated Advanced Products addressing what we believe to be the long-term limitations of traditional power architectures, while at the same time sustaining sales and profitability of our well-established Brick Products. The development of new, innovative products is often a complex, time-consuming, and costly process involving significant investment in research and development, with no assurance of return on investment. Although we have introduced many Advanced Products over recent years, there can be no assurance we will be able to continue to develop and introduce new and improved products and power system concepts in a timely or efficient manner. Similarly, there can be no assurance recently introduced or to be developed products will achieve customer acceptance.

Our future success depends substantially upon further customer acceptance of our innovative Advanced Products including our Power-on-Package concept for the computing market and Advanced Products supporting the electrification of automobiles. As we have been in the early stages of market penetration for these and other Advanced Products, we have experienced lengthy periods during which we have focused our product development efforts on the specific requirements of a limited number of large customers, followed by further periods of delay before meaningful purchase orders are received. These lengthy development and sales cycle times increase the possibility a customer may decide to cancel or change product plans, which could reduce or eliminate our sales to that customer. As a result, we may incur significant product development expenses, as well as significant sales and marketing expenses, before we generate the related revenues for these products. Furthermore, we may never generate the anticipated revenues from a product after incurring such expenses if our customer cancels or changes its product plans.

In 2023, we continued our expansion of a dedicated sales effort to penetrate the automotive market with our Advanced Products, notably in the electrification of passenger automobiles. Our Power Component Design Methodology provides conversion solutions for 800V, 400V, and 48V within advanced electric vehicles. The automotive market is dominated by relatively few global OEMs and “tiers” of well-established suppliers. Penetrating this market will be challenging and we may not be successful in doing so.

We continue to focus our go-to-market strategy on larger opportunities with global OEMs, ODMs, and contract manufacturers. Our growth is therefore dependent on: the pace at which these OEMs and ODMs develop their own new products; the acceptance of our Advanced Products by these OEMs and ODMs; and the success of the customers’ products incorporating our Advanced Products. If we fail to anticipate changes in our customers’ businesses and their changing product needs or do not successfully identify and enter new markets, our results of operations and financial position could be negatively impacted.

We cannot offer any assurance the markets we currently serve will grow in the future, our Advanced Products or Brick Products will meet respective market requirements, or we can maintain adequate gross margins or operating profits in these markets.

Intellectual Property Risks

We may be unable to adequately protect our proprietary rights, which may limit our ability to compete effectively.

We operate in an industry in which the ability to compete depends on the development or acquisition of proprietary technologies that must be protected to preserve the exclusive use of such technologies. We devote substantial resources to establish and protect our patents and proprietary rights, and we rely on patent and intellectual property law to protect such rights. This protection, however, may not prevent competitors from independently developing products similar or superior to our products. We may be unable to protect or enforce current patents, may rely on unpatented technology that competitors could restrict or replicate, or may be unable to acquire patents in the future, all of which may have a material adverse effect on our competitive position. In addition, the intellectual property laws of foreign countries may not protect our rights to the same extent as those of the United States. We have been defending and may need to continue to defend or challenge patents. We have incurred and expect to incur significant financial costs in the defense of our patented technologies and have devoted and expect to devote significant resources to these efforts which, if unsuccessful, may have a material adverse effect on our operating results and financial position.

We face intellectual property infringement claims that could be disruptive to operations and costly to resolve and may encounter similar infringement claims in the future.

The power supply industry is characterized by vigorous protection and pursuit of intellectual property rights. We have in the past received and may in the future receive communications from third parties asserting that our products or manufacturing processes infringe on a third party’s patent or other intellectual property rights. Such assertions, if publicly disclosed, have in the past inhibited and may in the future inhibit the willingness of potential customers to purchase certain of our products. In the event a third party makes a valid intellectual property claim against us and a license is not available to us on commercially reasonable terms, or at all, we could be forced to either redesign or stop production of products incorporating that technology, and our business, financial condition and operating results could be materially and adversely affected. In addition, litigation may be necessary to defend us against claims of infringement, and this litigation could be costly, extend over a lengthy period of time, and divert the attention of key personnel. An adverse outcome in these types of matters could have a material adverse impact on our business, operating results and financial condition.

Please see Note 15 – Commitments and Contingencies, to the Consolidated Financial Statements for information regarding current litigation related to our intellectual property.

Any expenses or liability resulting from the outcome of litigation could adversely influence our operating results and financial condition.

From time to time, we may be subject to claims or litigation, including intellectual property litigation as described elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. Any such claims or litigation may be time-consuming and costly, divert management resources, require us to change our products, or have other adverse effects on our business. Any of the foregoing could have a material adverse effect on our operating results and could require us to pay significant monetary damages.

The outcomes of legal proceedings and claims brought against us are subject to significant uncertainty. An estimated loss from a loss contingency such as a legal proceeding or claim is accrued by a charge to income if it is considered probable an asset has been impaired or a liability has been incurred and the amount of the loss can be reasonably estimated. Disclosure of a contingency is required if there is at least a reasonable possibility that a loss has been incurred. In determining whether a loss should be accrued, we evaluate, among other factors, the degree of probability of an unfavorable outcome and the ability to make a reasonable estimate of the amount of loss. Changes in these factors could materially impact our financial statements.

Please see Note 15 – Commitments and Contingencies, to the Consolidated Financial Statements for information regarding current litigation related to our intellectual property.

Regulatory Risks

If we fail to maintain an effective system of internal controls over financial reporting or discover material weaknesses in our internal controls over financial reporting, we may not be able to report our financial results accurately or timely or detect fraud, which could have a material adverse effect on our business.

An effective internal control environment is necessary for us to produce reliable financial reports and is an important part of our effort to prevent financial fraud. Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (“SOX”) requires our management to report on, and our independent registered public accounting firm to attest to, the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting.

We have an ongoing program to perform the system and process evaluation and testing necessary to comply with the requirements of SOX and to continuously improve and, when necessary, remediate internal controls over financial reporting.

While management evaluates the effectiveness of our internal controls on a regular basis, these controls may not always be effective. There are inherent limitations on the effectiveness of internal controls, including collusion, management override, and failure in human judgment. In addition, control procedures are designed to reduce rather than eliminate business risks. In the event our Chief Executive Officer or Chief Financial Officer, our certifying officers under SOX, or our independent registered public accounting firm determines our internal controls over financial reporting are not effective as defined under Section 404, we may be unable to produce reliable financial reports or prevent fraud, which could materially harm our business. In addition, we may be subject to sanctions or investigation by government authorities or self-regulatory organizations, such as the SEC, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, or The NASDAQ Stock Market LLC. Any such actions could affect investor perceptions of the Company and result in an adverse reaction in the financial markets due to a loss of confidence in the reliability of our financial statements, which could cause the market price of our Common Stock to decline or limit our access to capital.

Risks Related to Share Value

The price of our Common Stock has been volatile and may fluctuate in the future.

Because of the factors set forth above and below, among others, the trading price of our Common Stock has fluctuated and may continue to fluctuate significantly:

• volatility of the financial markets, notably the equity markets in the U.S.;
• uncertainty regarding the prospects of domestic and foreign economies, including the impact of volatile currency exchange rates;
• uncertainty regarding domestic and international political conditions, including tax, trade, and tariff policies;
• actual or anticipated fluctuations in our operating performance or that of our competitors;
• the performance and prospects of our major customers, including their adoption of technologies or standards other than those in which we specialize;
• announcements by us or our competitors of significant new products, technical innovations, or litigation;
• investor perception of the Company and the industry in which we operate;
• the liquidity of the market for our Common Stock, reflecting a relatively low trading float and relatively low average trading volumes;
• the uncertainty of the declaration and payment of future cash dividends on our Common Stock; and
• the concentration of ownership of our Common Stock by Dr. Vinciarelli, our Chairman of the Board, Chief Executive Officer, and President.

In the past, we have declared and paid cash dividends on our Common Stock. The payment of dividends is based on the periodic determination by our Board of Directors that we have adequate capital to fund anticipated operating requirements and that excess cash is available for distribution to stockholders via a dividend. We have no formal policy regarding dividends and, as such, investors cannot make assumptions regarding the possibility of future dividend payments nor the amounts and timing thereof. As of December 31, 2023, we have no plans to declare or pay a cash dividend.

The ownership of our Common Stock is concentrated between Dr. Vinciarelli and a limited number of institutional investors. As of December 31, 2023, Dr. Vinciarelli was the beneficial owner of 9,592,017 shares of our Common Stock, plus 430,743 shares which Dr. Vinciarelli has the right to acquire upon exercise of options to purchase Common Stock within 60 days of December 31, 2023. He also holds 11,023,648 shares of our unregistered Class B Common Stock (which may only be sold or transferred after required conversion, on a one-for-one basis, into registered shares of Common Stock), which together with his ownership of Common Stock, represents 47.6% of our total issued and outstanding shares of capital stock. Accordingly, the market float for our Common Stock and average daily trading volumes are relatively small, which may negatively impact investors’ ability to buy or sell shares of our Common Stock in a timely manner.

Dr. Vinciarelli owns 93.8% of the issued and outstanding shares of our Class B Common Stock, which possess 10 votes per share. Dr. Estia J. Eichten, a member of our Board of Directors, owns the majority of the balance of the Class B Common Stock issued and outstanding. As such, Dr. Vinciarelli, controlling in aggregate 79.8% of our outstanding voting securities, has effective control of our governance.

Our Company has a dedicated team of technology professionals who consistently monitor risks related to cybersecurity. Our Corporate Vice President and Chief Information Officer, as well as our Chief Information Security Officer (“CISO”) are responsible for managing our information technology (“IT”) security program. Our CISO is a Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP), holds a Masters Degree in Computer Information Systems, and has over 20 years of relevant expertise in assessing and managing cybersecurity risks. Their teams are responsible for leading an enterprise-wide cyber resilience strategy, policy, standards, architecture, and processes. To identify and address potential information security risks, we use a defense-in-depth methodology that employs multiple, redundant defensive measures and outlines actions to take in the event of a security control failure or vulnerability exploitation. To protect the Company from cybersecurity threats, we utilize a combination of internal resources and external consultants and providers. These consultants and providers provide services such as penetration testing, incident response, and third-party assessments. In addition, we use a combination of both proprietary and commercial solutions to proactively manage and mitigate threats to our IT environment and these processes have been integrated into the Company’s overall risk management system.

Our CISO oversees security, including the corporate IT environment, our public cloud presence, and security standards that are used as a framework for managing security across our Company. Our CISO is also responsible for security awareness, administering our corporate security training, and sponsoring our cybersecurity policy and standards. Our cybersecurity plan is reviewed annually, and our Audit Committee has delegated to the Executive Security Incident Response Team which is made up of our Chief Financial Officer, a Board member and senior management representatives in the legal, IT and finance functions, oversight of our cybersecurity program. The Executive Security Incident Response Team receives regular updates directly from our CISO and Vicor product security experts from various business and operational areas. We maintain various security certifications across the Company, and part of our compliance program includes processes to oversee and identify material risks from cybersecurity threats and include the use of third-party service providers to perform regular audits to ensure our security management program remains current.

Our objective for managing information security and cybersecurity risk is to avoid or minimize the impacts of both internal and external threat events and other efforts to penetrate or otherwise compromise the confidentiality, integrity, or availability of our systems. We work to achieve this objective by hardening networks and systems against attack, and by diligently managing visibility and monitoring controls within our data and communications environment to recognize events and respond appropriately.

To keep the Executive Security Incident Response Team apprised of the continually shifting landscape, the CISO typically provides quarterly updates to the Executive Security Incident Response Team on information security and cybersecurity matters. The Executive Security Incident Response Team maintains oversight of the efforts made to maximize information security and cybersecurity efforts. Potential concerns related to information security and cybersecurity will be escalated to the Board of Directors and Audit Committee, as appropriate.

Our cybersecurity infrastructure undergoes external audits. These efforts demonstrate our commitment to maintaining the highest level of cybersecurity protection. Our external third-party providers also evaluate and rank our cybersecurity maturity and coverage as part of their services. To stay informed about emerging threats, we regularly consult with external providers and other sources such as government publications and notices.

Cybersecurity threats, including as a result of any previous cybersecurity incidents, have not materially affected and are not reasonably likely to materially affect the Company, including its business strategy, results of operations or financial condition. Notwithstanding the extensive approach we take to cybersecurity, we may not be successful in preventing or mitigating a cybersecurity incident that could have a material adverse effect on us. While Vicor Corporation maintains cybersecurity insurance, the costs related to cybersecurity threats or disruptions may not be fully insured. See Item 1A. “Risk Factors” for a discussion of cybersecurity risks.

Our corporate headquarters building in Andover, Massachusetts, which we own, provides approximately 90,000 square feet of office space for our sales, marketing, engineering, and administrative personnel. We also own a building of approximately 320,000 square feet (which includes the 90,000 square foot expansion described below) in Andover, Massachusetts, which houses all Massachusetts manufacturing activities.

Current capital investments are focused on the expansion of manufacturing capacity for the production of Advanced Products at our Andover facility. During 2020, we began construction of a two-story addition to our Andover manufacturing facility to expand the Advanced Products production area by approximately 90,000 square feet. Completion of the construction and production had been delayed from 2021 to 2023. We took occupancy of this addition during the first half of 2022 and the completion of the installation of advanced plating operations was completed in 2023.

We own a single-story industrial building of approximately 31,000 square feet in Sunnyvale, California, which we have leased on a long-term basis to a corporate tenant, which has occupied the building since June 2016. We are currently negotiating with such corporate tenant regarding the renewal of this lease.

All other domestic and foreign facilities are leased from third-party lessors on arms’ length terms. We believe our owned and leased facilities are adequate for our foreseeable needs.

See Note 15 – Commitments and Contingencies, to the Consolidated Financial Statements for a complete description of the Company’s legal proceedings.

Overview

A discussion regarding our results of operations for the year ended December 31, 2022, compared to the year ended December 31, 2021, was included in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2022, on pages 32-35 under Part II, Item 7, “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations”, which was filed with the SEC on February 28, 2023.

We design, develop, manufacture, and market modular power components and power systems for converting electrical power for use in electrically-powered devices. Our competitive position is supported by innovations in product design and achievements in product performance, largely enabled by our focus on the research and development of advanced technologies and processes, often implemented in proprietary semiconductor circuitry, materials, and packaging. Many of our products incorporate patented or proprietary implementations of high-frequency switching topologies enabling power system solutions that are more efficient and much smaller than conventional alternatives. Our strategy emphasizes demonstrable product differentiation and a value proposition based on competitively superior solution performance, advantageous design flexibility, and a compelling total cost of ownership. While we offer a wide range of alternating current (“AC”) and direct current (“DC”) power conversion products, we consider our core competencies to be associated with 48V DC distribution, which offers numerous inherent cost and performance advantages over lower distribution voltages. However, we also offer products addressing other DC voltage standards (e.g., 380V for power distribution in data centers, 110V for rail applications, 28V for military and avionics applications, and 24V for industrial automation).

Based on design, performance, and form factor considerations, as well as the range of evolving applications for which our products are appropriate, we categorize our product portfolios as either “Advanced Products” or “Brick Products.” The Advanced Products category consists of our more recently introduced products, which are largely used to implement our proprietary Factorized Power Architecture™ (“FPA”), an innovative power distribution architecture enabling flexible, rapid power system design using individual components optimized to perform a specific conversion function.

The Brick Products category largely consists of our broad and well-established families of integrated power converters, incorporating multiple conversion stages, used in conventional power systems architectures. Given the growth profiles of the markets we serve with our Advanced Products line and our Brick Products line, our strategy involves a transition in organizational focus, emphasizing investment in our Advanced Products line and targeting high growth market segments with a low-mix, high-volume operational model, while maintaining a profitable business in the mature market segments we serve with our Brick Products line with a high-mix, low-volume operational model.

The applications in which our Advanced Products and Brick Products are used are typically in the higher-performance, higher-power segments of the market segments we serve. With our Advanced Products, we generally serve large Original Equipment Manufacturers (“OEMs”), Original Design Manufacturers (“ODMs”), and their contract manufacturers, with sales currently concentrated in the data center and hyperscaler segments of enterprise computing, in which our products are used for power delivery on server motherboards, in server racks, and across datacenter infrastructure. We have established a leadership position in the emerging market segment for powering high-performance processors used for acceleration of applications associated with artificial intelligence (“AI”). Our customers in the AI market segment include the leading innovators in processor and accelerator design, as well as early adopters in cloud computing and high performance computing. We also serve applications in aerospace and aviation, defense electronics, satellites, factory automation, instrumentation, test equipment, transportation, telecommunications and networking infrastructure, and vehicles (notably in the autonomous driving, electric vehicle, and hybrid vehicle niches of the vehicle segment). With our Brick Products, we generally serve a fragmented base of large and small customers, concentrated in aerospace and defense electronics, industrial equipment, instrumentation and test equipment, and transportation (notably in rail and heavy equipment applications). With our strategic emphasis on larger, high-volume customers, we expect to experience over time a greater concentration of sales among relatively fewer customers.

Our quarterly consolidated operating results can be difficult to forecast and have been subject to significant fluctuations. We plan our production and inventory levels based on management’s estimates of customer demand, customer forecasts, and other information sources. Customer forecasts, particularly those of OEM, ODM, and contract manufacturing customers to which we supply Advanced Products in high volumes, are subject to scheduling changes on short notice, contributing to operating inefficiencies and excess costs. In addition, external factors such as supply chain uncertainties, which are often associated with the cyclicality of the electronics industry, regional macroeconomic and trade-related circumstances, and force majeure events (most recently evidenced by the COVID-19 pandemic), have caused our operating results to vary meaningfully. Supply chain disruptions, including those associated with our reliance on outsourced package process steps that are essential in the production of some of our Advanced Products, and those relating, for example, to the procurement of raw material, have in the past negatively impacted and may in the future negatively impact our operating results. We have taken steps to mitigate the impact of supply chain disruptions by, among other things and in varying degrees, moving outsourced manufacturing steps in-house to the Company, ordering supplies with extended lead times, paying higher prices for certain supplies or outsourced production, and expediting deliveries at a cost premium. The resulting impact of the steps taken to mitigate supply chain disruptions have, to varying degrees and at different times, reduced our revenue, gross margin, operating profit and cash flow and may continue to do so in the future. While we continue to make progress in moving outsourced manufacturing steps in-house to the Company, we are still experiencing long lead times on certain raw material components, and uncertainty of output from our outsourced manufacturing supplier. Our quarterly gross margin as a percentage of net revenues may vary, depending on production volumes, average selling prices, average unit costs, the mix of products sold during that quarter, and the level of importation of raw materials subject to tariffs. Our quarterly operating margin as a percentage of net revenues also may vary with changes in revenue and product level profitability, but our operating costs are largely associated with compensation and related employee costs, which are not subject to sudden or significant changes.

2023 Financial Highlights

• Net revenues increased 1.5% to $405,059,000 for 2023, from $399,079,000 for 2022. The increase was primarily in sales of Brick Products due to favorable market conditions and pricing, and available capacity for manufacturing Brick Products. Net revenues for Advanced Products for 2023 decreased compared to 2022, primarily due to manufacturing constraints, customer demand and schedule delays.
• Export sales, as a percentage of total revenues, represented approximately 63.1% in 2023 and 67.6% in 2022.
• Gross margin increased to $204,929,000 for 2023, from $180,559,000 for 2022. Gross margin, as a percentage of net revenues increased to 50.6% for 2023 from 45.2% for 2022. The increase in gross margin dollars and gross margin percentage was primarily due to higher sales volume, improved sales mix, and certain reductions in supply chain costs and recovery of tariff costs.
• Backlog, representing the total of orders received for products for which shipment is scheduled within the next 12 months, was approximately $160,805,000 at the end of 2023, as compared to $304,392,000 at the end of 2022 as a result of getting more current on overdue backlog.
• Operating expenses for 2023 increased $213,000, or 0.1%, to $153,571,000 from $153,358,000 for 2022.
• We reported net income for 2023 of $53,595,000, or $1.19 per diluted share, compared to net income of $25,446,000, or $0.57 per diluted share, for 2022.
• In 2023, as a result of activities associated with our construction and capacity expansion, depreciation and amortization totaled $17,240,000, and capital expenditures were $33,452,000, compared to $13,776,000 and $63,966,000, respectively, for 2022.
• Inventories increased by approximately $5,169,000, or 5.1%, to $106,579,000 at the end of 2023, as compared to $101,410,000 at the end of 2022, primarily consisting of raw materials.

The following table sets forth certain items of selected consolidated financial information as a percentage of net revenues for the years ended December 31, 2023, 2022, and 2021. This table and the subsequent discussion should be read in conjunction with the Consolidated Financial Statements and related notes contained elsewhere in this report.

Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates

Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations is based upon our Consolidated Financial Statements, which have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States (“U.S. GAAP”). The preparation of these financial statements requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets, liabilities, revenues, expenses, and related disclosures of contingent assets and liabilities. On an ongoing basis, we evaluate our estimates and assumptions, and our associated judgments, including those related to inventories, income taxes, contingencies, and litigation. We base our estimates, assumptions, and judgments on historical experience, knowledge of current conditions, and on various other factors we believe to be reasonable under the circumstances, the results of which form the basis for making judgments about the carrying value of assets and liabilities that are not readily apparent from other sources. Actual results may differ from these estimates under different assumptions or conditions. We also have other policies we consider key accounting policies (See Note 2 to the Consolidated Financial Statements – Significant Accounting Policies –Impact of recently issued accounting standards). However, the application of these other policies does not require us to make significant estimates and assumptions difficult to support quantitatively.

Inventories

We employ a variety of methodologies to evaluate inventory that is estimated to be excess, obsolete or unmarketable, in order to write down that inventory to net realizable value. Our estimation process for assessing net realizable value is based upon forecasted future usage which we derive based on backlog, historical consumption, and expected market conditions. For both Brick and Advanced product lines, the methodology used compares on-hand quantities to forecasted usage and historical consumption, such that amounts of inventory on hand in excess of management’s estimate of expected future utility, are fully reserved. While we have used our best efforts and believe we have used the best available information to estimate future demand, due to uncertainty in the economy and our business and the inherent difficulty in forecasting future usage, it is possible actual demand for our products will differ from our estimates. If actual future demand or market conditions are less favorable than those projected by management, additional inventory reserves for existing inventories may need to be recorded in future periods.

Evaluation of the Realizability of Deferred Tax Assets

Significant management judgment is required in determining whether deferred tax assets will be realized in full or in part. We assess the need for a valuation allowance on a quarterly basis. We record a valuation allowance to reduce our deferred tax assets to the amount we believe is more likely than not to be realized. In assessing the need for a valuation allowance, we consider all positive and negative evidence, including scheduled reversals of deferred tax liabilities, projected future taxable income, tax planning strategies, and past financial performance. Despite recent positive operating results, the Company faces uncertainties in forecasting its operating results due to vendor supply and factory capacity constraints, certain process issues with the production of Advanced Products and the unpredictability in certain markets, product transitions, new program introductions and adoption times of new technology offerings. This operating uncertainty also makes it difficult to predict the availability and utilization of tax benefits over the next several years. As a result, management has concluded, as of December 31, 2023, it is more likely than not the Company’s net domestic deferred tax assets will not be realized, and a full valuation allowance against all net domestic deferred tax assets is still warranted as of December 31, 2023. The valuation allowance against these deferred tax assets may require adjustment in the future based on changes in the mix of temporary differences, changes in tax laws, and operating performance. If the positive operating results continue, and the Company’s concerns about industry uncertainty and world events, supply and factory capacity constraints, program adoption and process issues with the production of Advanced Products are resolved, and the amount of tax benefits the Company is able to utilize to the point that the Company believes future taxable income can be more reliably forecasted, the Company may release all or a portion of the valuation allowance in the near-term. Certain state tax credits, though, will likely never be released by the valuation allowance. If and when the Company determines the valuation allowance should be released (i.e., reduced), the adjustment would result in a tax benefit reported in that period’s Consolidated Statements of Operations, the effect of which would be an increase in reported net income.

The amount of any such tax benefit associated with release of our valuation allowance in a particular quarter may be material.

New Accounting Pronouncements

From time to time, new accounting pronouncements are issued by the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) that we adopt as of the specified effective date. Unless otherwise discussed, we believe the impact of recently issued accounting standards will not have a material impact on our future financial condition and results of operations. See Note 2 – Significant Accounting Policies – Impact of recently issued accounting standards, to the Consolidated Financial Statements for a description of recently issued and adopted accounting pronouncements, including the dates of adoption and expected impact on our financial position and results of operations.

Other new pronouncements issued but not effective until after December 31, 2023 are not expected to have a material impact on our consolidated financial statements.

Year ended December 31, 2023 compared to Year ended December 31, 2022

Consolidated net revenues for 2023 were $405,059,000, an increase of $5,980,000, or 1.5%, as compared to $399,079,000 for 2022.

Net revenues, by product line, for the years ended December 31 were as follows (dollars in thousands):

The decrease in net revenues for Advanced Products was primarily due to manufacturing constraints, customer demand and schedule delays. The increase in net revenues for Brick Products was primarily due to favorable market conditions and pricing, and available capacity for manufacturing Brick Products.

Gross margin for 2023 increased $24,370,000, or 13.5%, to $204,929,000 from $180,559,000 in 2022. Gross margin as a percentage of net revenues increased to 50.6% in 2023 from 45.2% in 2022. The increase in gross margin dollars and gross margin percentage was primarily due to higher sales volume, improved sales mix, and certain reductions in supply chain costs, including a reduction of $9,950,000 in outsourced manufacturing costs partially offset by incremental costs of bringing production in-house for certain Advanced Products, and a reduction of freight-in and tariff spending of $12,747,000 (net of approximately $6,954,000 in duty drawback recovery of previously paid tariffs in the twelve months ended December 31, 2023 and $229,000 in duty drawback recovery in the twelve months ended December 31, 2022).

Selling, general, and administrative expenses were $85,714,000 for 2023, a decrease of $550,000, or 0.6%, as compared to $86,264,000 for 2022. As a percentage of net revenues, selling, general, and administrative expenses decreased to 21.2% in 2023 from 21.6% in 2022.

The components of the $550,000 decrease in selling, general, and administrative expenses were as follows (dollars in thousands):

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(1) Decrease primarily attributable to a decrease in activity related to the SynQor litigation offset by increases in certain corporate legal matters.

(2) Increase primarily attributable to an increase in travel by the Company’s sales and marketing personnel.

(3) Increase attributable to net additions of furniture and fixtures and capitalization of building improvements.

(4) Increase primarily attributable to increases in sales support expenses, direct mailings, and advertising in trade publications.

(5) Increase primarily attributable to an increase in net revenues subject to commissions.

(6) Increase primarily attributable to an increase in the use of consultants.

(7) Increase primarily attributable to annual compensation adjustments in May 2023 and higher stock-based compensation expense associated with stock options awarded in May 2023.

Research and development expenses increased $7,263,000, or 12.0%, to $67,857,000 in 2023 from $60,594,000 in 2022. As a percentage of net revenues, research and development expenses increased to 16.8% in 2023 from 15.2% in 2022.

The components of the $7,263,000 increase in research and development expenses were as follows (dollars in thousands):

(1) Increase primarily attributable to increased prototype development costs for Advanced Products.

(2) Increase primarily attributable to annual compensation adjustments in May 2023 and higher stock-based compensation expense associated with stock options awarded in May 2023.

(3) Increase attributable to net additions of furniture and fixtures and capitalization of building improvements.

(4) Increase primarily attributable to an increase in computer and software expenses.

(5) Increase primarily attributable to an increase in the use of consultants.

(6) Decrease primarily attributable to an increase in deferred costs capitalized for certain non-recurring engineering projects for which the related revenues had been deferred.

Litigation-contingency expense was $6,500,000 for 2022, which related to the SynQor litigation, as compared to $0 for 2023. See Note 15 to the Consolidated Financial Statements for additional information.

The significant changes in the components of "Other income (expense), net" for the years ended December 31 were as follows (in thousands):

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Our exposure to market risk fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates relates to the operations of Vicor Japan Company, Ltd. ("VJCL"), for which the functional currency is the Japanese Yen, and all other subsidiaries in Europe and Asia, for which the functional currency is the U.S. Dollar. These subsidiaries in Europe and Asia experienced more favorable foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations in 2023 compared to 2022. In 2023, interest income, net increased due to higher interest rates received on the cash and cash equivalents balance held by the Company. In 2022, "Interest income, net" includes an immaterial error correction of $834,000 related to the amortization of bond premiums on available-for-sale securities.

Income before income taxes was $60,244,000 in 2023, as compared to $28,687,000 in 2022.

The provision for income taxes and the effective income tax rate for the years ended December 31 were as follows (dollars in thousands):

The effective tax rates were lower than the statutory tax rates for the year ended December 31, 2023 and 2022 primarily due to the Company’s full valuation allowance position against domestic deferred tax assets during both years. The provision for income taxes for the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022 included estimated federal, state and foreign income taxes in jurisdictions in which the Company does not have sufficient tax attributes.

See Note 14 to the Consolidated Financial Statements for disclosure regarding our current assessment of the valuation allowance against all domestic deferred tax assets, and the possible release (i.e., reduction) of the allowance in the future.

We reported net income for the year ended December 31, 2023 of $53,595,000, or $1.19 per diluted share, as compared to $25,446,000, or $0.57 per diluted share, for the year ended December 31, 2022.

Liquidity and Capital Resources

At December 31, 2023, we had $242,219,000 in cash and cash equivalents. The ratio of current assets to current liabilities was 9.5:1 at December 31, 2023, as compared to 5.6:1 at December 31, 2022. Net working capital increased $78,142,000 to $376,197,000 at December 31, 2023 from $298,055,000 at December 31, 2022.

The primary working capital changes were due to the following (in thousands):

The primary sources of cash for the year ended December 31, 2023 were $74,528,000 of cash generated from operations and $10,602,000 of cash received in connection with the exercise of options to purchase our Common Stock awarded under our stock option plans and the issuance of Common Stock under our 2017 Employee Stock Purchase Plan. The primary use of cash during the year ended December 31, 2023 was $33,452,000 for the purchase of machinery and equipment and internal-use software.

In November 2000, our Board of Directors authorized the repurchase of up to $30,000,000 of Common Stock (the “November 2000 Plan”). The November 2000 Plan authorizes us to make such repurchases from time to time in the open market or through privately negotiated transactions. The timing of such repurchases and the number of shares purchased in each transaction are at the discretion of management based on its view of economic and financial market conditions. We did not repurchase shares of Common Stock under the November 2000 Plan during the year ended December 31, 2023. As of December 31, 2023, we had approximately $8,541,000 remaining for share repurchases under the November 2000 Plan.

As of December 31, 2023, we had a total of approximately $15,014,000 of cancelable and non-cancelable capital expenditure commitments, principally for manufacturing and production equipment, which we intend to fund with existing cash, and approximately $2,168,000 of capital expenditure items and internal-use software which had been received and included in Property, plant and equipment in the accompanying Consolidated Balance Sheets, but not yet paid for. Our primary needs for liquidity are for making continuing investments in manufacturing and production equipment. We believe cash generated from operations together with our available cash and cash equivalents will be sufficient to fund planned operational needs and capital equipment purchases for the foreseeable future.

We do not consider the impact of inflation and changing prices on our business activities or fluctuations in the exchange rates for foreign currency transactions to have been significant during the last three fiscal years.

We are exposed to a variety of market risks, including changes in interest rates affecting the return on our cash and cash equivalents, short-term investments and fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates. As our cash and cash equivalents and short-term investments consist principally of cash accounts, money market securities and U.S. Treasury securities, which are short-term in nature, we believe our exposure to market risk on interest rate fluctuations for these investments is not significant. As of December 31, 2023, our long-term investment portfolio, recorded on our Consolidated Balance Sheet as “Long-term investment, net”, consisted of a single auction rate security with a par value of $3,000,000, purchased through and held in custody by a broker-dealer affiliate of Bank of America, N.A., that has experienced failed auctions (the “Failed Auction Security”) since February 2008. While the Failed Auction Security is Aaa/AA+ rated by major credit rating agencies, collateralized by student loans and guaranteed by the U.S. Department of Education under the Federal Family Education Loan Program, continued failure to sell at its periodic auction dates (i.e., reset dates) could negatively impact the carrying value of the investment, in turn leading to impairment charges in future periods. Periodic changes in the fair value of the Failed Auction Security attributable to credit loss (i.e., risk of the issuer’s default) are recorded through earnings as a component of “Other income (expense), net”, with the remainder of any periodic change in fair value not related to credit loss (i.e., temporary “mark-to-market” carrying value adjustments) recorded in “Accumulated other comprehensive income (loss)”, a component of Vicor Corporation Stockholders’ Equity. Should we conclude a decline in the fair value of the Failed Auction Security is other than temporary, such losses would be recorded through earnings as a component of “Other income (expense), net”. We do not believe there was an “other-than-temporary” decline in value in this security as of December 31, 2023.

We estimate our annual interest income would change by approximately $30,000 in 2023 for each 100 basis point increase or decrease in interest rates.

Our exposure to market risk for fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates relates primarily to the operations of VJCL, for which the functional currency is the Japanese Yen, and changes in the relative value of the Yen to the U.S. Dollar. Relative to our Yen exposure as of December 31, 2023, we estimate a 10% unfavorable movement in the value of the Yen relative to the U.S. Dollar would increase our foreign currency loss by approximately $48,000. The functional currency of all other subsidiaries in Europe and other subsidiaries in Asia is the U.S. Dollar. While we believe risk to fluctuations in foreign currency rates for these subsidiaries is generally not significant, they can be subject to substantial currency changes, and therefore foreign exchange exposures.

Attached as exhibits to this Annual Report on Form 10-K are certifications of our Chief Executive Officer ("CEO") and Chief Financial Officer (“CFO”), which are required in accordance with Rule 13a-14 of the Exchange Act. This “Controls and Procedures” section includes information concerning the controls and controls evaluation referred to in the certifications.

(a) Evaluation of disclosure controls and procedures

As required by Rule 13a-15 under the Exchange Act, management, with the participation of our CEO and CFO, conducted an evaluation regarding the effectiveness of our disclosure controls and procedures, as of the end of the last fiscal year. The term "disclosure controls and procedures," as defined in Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e) under the Exchange Act, means controls and other procedures of a company that are designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed by a company in the reports that it files or submits under the Exchange Act is recorded, processed, summarized and reported, within the time periods specified in the Securities and Exchange Commission's rules and forms. Disclosure controls and procedures include, without limitation, controls and procedures designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed by a company in the reports that it files or submits under the Exchange Act is accumulated and communicated to the Company's management, including its principal executive and principal financial officers, as appropriate to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure. We recognize any controls and procedures, no matter how well designed and operated, can provide only reasonable assurance of achieving their objectives and we necessarily apply our judgment in evaluating the cost-benefit relationship of possible controls and procedures. Based on the evaluation of the Company’s disclosure controls and procedures as of December 31, 2023, the CEO and CFO concluded, as of such date, the Company’s disclosure controls and procedures were effective at the reasonable assurance level.

(b) Management's Report on Internal Control Over Financial Reporting

Our management is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of our financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. Internal control over financial reporting includes those policies and procedures: (a) pertaining to the maintenance of records that in reasonable detail accurately and fairly reflect the transactions and dispositions of our assets; (b) providing reasonable assurance that transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of financial statements in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, and that receipts and expenditures are being made only in accordance with authorizations of our management and Board of Directors; and (c) providing reasonable assurance regarding prevention or timely detection of unauthorized acquisition, use, or disposition of our assets that could have a material effect on our financial statements.

Management assessed our internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2023, the end of our fiscal year. Management based its assessment on criteria established in Internal Control — Integrated Framework (2013) issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (“COSO”). Management’s assessment included evaluation of such elements as the design and operating effectiveness of key financial reporting controls, process documentation, accounting policies, and our overall control environment.

Based on our assessment, management has concluded that our internal control over financial reporting was effective as of December 31, 2023.

The effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2023 has been audited by KPMG LLP, our independent registered public accounting firm, as stated in their report which is included immediately below.

Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm

To the Stockholders and Board of Directors Vicor Corporation:

Opinion on Internal Control Over Financial Reporting

We have audited Vicor Corporation and subsidiaries' (the Company) internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2023, based on criteria established in Internal Control – Integrated Framework (2013) issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission. In our opinion, the Company maintained, in all material respects, effective internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2023, based on criteria established in Internal Control – Integrated Framework (2013) issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission.

We also have audited, in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (PCAOB), the consolidated balance sheets of the Company as of December 31, 2023 and 2022, the related consolidated statements of operations, comprehensive income, equity, and cash flows for each of the years in the three-year period ended December 31, 2023, and the related notes and financial statement schedule listed in Item 15(a)(2) (collectively, the consolidated financial statements), and our report dated February 28, 2024 expressed an unqualified opinion on those consolidated financial statements.

Basis for Opinion

The Company’s management is responsible for maintaining effective internal control over financial reporting and for its assessment of the effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting, included in the accompanying Management's Report on Internal Control Over Financial Reporting. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the Company’s internal control over financial reporting based on our audit. 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 audit in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether effective internal control over financial reporting was maintained in all material respects. Our audit of internal control over financial reporting included obtaining an understanding of internal control over financial reporting, assessing the risk that a material weakness exists, and testing and evaluating the design and operating effectiveness of internal control based on the assessed risk. Our audit also included performing such other procedures as we considered necessary in the circumstances. We believe that our audit provides a reasonable basis for our opinion.

Definition and Limitations of Internal Control Over Financial Reporting

A company’s internal control over financial reporting is a process designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. A company’s internal control over financial reporting includes those policies and procedures that (1) pertain to the maintenance of records that, in reasonable detail, accurately and fairly reflect the transactions and dispositions of the assets of the company; (2) provide reasonable assurance that transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of financial statements in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, and that receipts and expenditures of the company are being made only in accordance with authorizations of management and directors of the company; and (3) provide reasonable assurance regarding prevention or timely detection of unauthorized acquisition, use, or disposition of the company’s assets that could have a material effect on the financial statements.

Because of its inherent limitations, internal control over financial reporting may not prevent or detect misstatements. Also, projections of any evaluation of effectiveness to future periods are subject to the risk that controls may become inadequate because of changes in conditions, or that the degree of compliance with the policies or procedures may deteriorate.

/s/ KPMG LLP

Boston, Massachusetts

February 28, 2024

(c) Inherent Limitations on Effectiveness of Controls

The Company’s management, including the CEO and CFO, does not expect that our disclosure controls or our internal control over financial reporting will prevent or detect all errors and all fraud. A control system, no matter how well designed and operated, can provide only reasonable, not absolute, assurance that the control system’s objectives will be met. The design of a control system must reflect the fact that there are resource constraints, and the benefits of controls must be considered relative to their costs. Further, because of the inherent limitations in all control systems, no evaluation of controls can provide absolute assurance that misstatements due to error or fraud will not occur or that all control issues and instances of fraud, if any, within the Company have been detected. These inherent limitations include the realities that judgments in decision-making can be faulty and that breakdowns can occur because of simple error or mistake. Controls can also be circumvented by the individual acts of some persons, by collusion of two or more people, or by management override of the controls. The design of any system of controls is based in part on certain assumptions about the likelihood of future events, and there can be no assurance that any design will succeed in achieving its stated goals under all potential future conditions. Projections of any evaluation of controls effectiveness to future periods are subject to risks. Over time, controls may become inadequate because of changes in conditions or deterioration in the degree of compliance with policies or procedures.

(d) Changes in Internal Control Over Financial Reporting

There was no change in our internal control over financial reporting that occurred during the fiscal quarter ended December 31, 2023, that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, the Company’s internal control over financial reporting.