AXT Inc: Form 10-K for the period ended Dec 31, 2023

AXT is a worldwide materials science company that develops and produces high-performance compound and single element semiconductor substrates, also known as wafers. Two of our consolidated subsidiaries produce and sell certain raw materials some of which are used in our substrate manufacturing process and some of which are sold to other companies.

Our substrate wafers are used when a typical silicon substrate wafer cannot meet the performance requirements of a semiconductor or optoelectronic device. The dominant substrates used in producing semiconductor chips and other electronic circuits are made from silicon. However, certain chips may become too hot or perform their function too slowly if silicon is used as the base material. In addition, optoelectronic applications, such as LED lighting and chip-based lasers, do not use silicon substrates because they require a wave form frequency that cannot be achieved using silicon. Alternative or specialty materials are used to replace silicon as the preferred base in these situations. Our wafers provide such alternative or specialty materials. We do not design or manufacture the chips. We add value by researching, developing and producing the specialty material wafers. We have two product lines: specialty material substrates and raw materials integral to these substrates. Our compound substrates combine indium with phosphorous (indium phosphide: InP) or gallium with arsenic (gallium arsenide: GaAs). Our single element substrates are made from germanium (Ge).

InP is a high-performance semiconductor wafer substrate used in broadband and fiber optic applications, 5G infrastructure and data center connectivity. Data centers use InP devices for high-speed optical data transmission. We believe the growth of AI applications will increase the need for high-speed data transfer which may lead to an increase in InP substrate demand from such data centers. Currently, InP substrates are being used in certain consumer products, including proximity sensors in mobile devices, biometric wearables and other health monitoring applications. In recent years, InP demand has increased. Semi-insulating GaAs substrates are used to create various high-speed microwave components, including power amplifier chips used in cell phones, satellite communications and broadcast television applications. Semi-conducting GaAs substrates are used to create opto-electronic products, such as light emitting diodes (LEDs) that are used in a wide range of applications including automotive lighting, horticulture, signage, display, sensors and machine vision. Semi-conducting GaAs substrates are also used in making industrial lasers. GaAs wafers could also be used for making vertical cavity surface emitting lasers (VCSELs) for facial recognition and micro-LEDs targeting improved screen technology. Ge substrates are used in applications such as solar cells for space and terrestrial photovoltaic applications.

Our supply chain strategy includes several consolidated raw material companies. One of these consolidated companies produces pyrolytic boron nitride (pBN) crucibles used in the high temperature (typically in the range 500 C to 1,500 C) growth process of single crystal ingots, effusion rings when growing OLED (Organic Light Emitting Diode) tools, epitaxial layer growth in MOCVD (Metal-Organic Chemical Vapor Deposition) reactors and MBE (Molecular Beam Epitaxy) reactors. We use these pBN crucibles in our own ingot growth processes and they are also sold in the open market to other companies. A second consolidated company converts raw gallium to purified gallium. We use purified gallium in producing our GaAs substrates and it is also sold in the open market to other companies for use in producing magnetic materials, high temperature thermometers, single crystal ingots, including gallium arsenide, gallium nitride, gallium antimonite and gallium phosphide ingots, and other materials and alloys. In addition to purified gallium, the second consolidated company also produces InP base material which we then use to grow single crystal ingots. Our substrate product group generated 63%, 79%, and 75% of our consolidated revenue and our raw materials product group generated 37%, 21%, and 25% for 2023, 2022, and 2021, respectively.

The following chart shows our substrate products and their materials, diameters and illustrative applications and shows our raw materials group primary products and their illustrative uses and applications.

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All of our substrate products and raw material products are manufactured in the People’s Republic of China (PRC or China) by our PRC subsidiaries and PRC joint ventures material companies. The PRC generally has favorable costs for facilities and labor compared with comparable facilities in the United States, Europe or Japan. Our supply chain includes partial ownership of raw material companies in China (subsidiaries/joint ventures). We believe this supply chain arrangement provides us with pricing advantages, reliable supply, market trend visibility and better sourcing lead-times for key raw materials central to manufacturing our substrates. In the event of industry-wide supply shortages we believe our vertically integrated supply chain strategy will be even more advantageous. Our raw material companies produce materials, including raw gallium (4N Ga), high purity gallium (6N and 7N Ga), starting material for InP, arsenic, germanium, germanium dioxide, pyrolytic boron nitride (pBN) crucibles, and boron oxide (B2O3). We have board representation in all of these raw material companies. We consolidate the companies in which we have either a controlling financial interest, or majority financial interest combined with the ability to exercise substantive control over the operations, or financial decisions, of such companies. We use the equity method to account for companies in which we have noncontrolling financial interest and have the ability to exercise significant influence, but not control, over such companies. We purchase portions of the materials produced by these companies for our own use and they sell the remainder of their production to third parties.

In 2015, the Beijing city government announced its decision to move most of its offices into the district where our original manufacturing facility is currently located (the Tongzhou district) and the Beijing city government has moved thousands of government employees into this district. The government has constructed showcase tower buildings and overseen the establishment of new apartment complexes, retail stores and restaurants. A large park, named Green Heart City Park, was built across the street from our facility and Universal Studios has developed an amusement park within a few miles of our facility. To create room and upgrade the district, the city instructed virtually all existing manufacturing companies, including Tongmei, to relocate all or some of their manufacturing lines. We were instructed to relocate our gallium arsenide manufacturing lines. For reasons of manufacturing efficiency, we elected to also move part of our germanium manufacturing line. Our indium phosphide manufacturing line, as well as various administrative and sales functions, remain primarily at our original site.

Begun in 2017, the relocation of our gallium arsenide production lines is now completed. Our PRC subsidiary, Baoding Tongmei Xtal Technology Co., Ltd. (“Baoding Tongmei”), entered into volume production in 2020. To mitigate our risks and maintain our production schedule, we moved our gallium arsenide equipment in stages. By December 31, 2019, we had ceased all crystal growth for gallium arsenide in our original manufacturing facility in Beijing and transferred 100% of our ingot production to the new manufacturing facility of our PRC subsidiary, ChaoYang Tongmei Xtal Technology Co., Ltd., (“ChaoYang Tongmei”), in Kazuo, a city approximately 250 miles from Beijing. We transferred our wafer processing equipment for gallium arsenide to Baoding Tongmei’s new manufacturing facility in Dingxing, a city approximately 75 miles from Beijing. These new facilities enabled us to expand capacity and upgrade some of the equipment. In 2021 and 2022, we added additional equipment, including certain more advanced equipment. We have also invested in additional buildings to complement the initial construction and add capacity as needed. Our PRC subsidiaries also acquired sufficient land to enable them to add facilities, if needed in the future. We believe our success in the relocation and our ability to add capacity in the future gives us competitive advantages. In addition, a new level of technological sophistication in our manufacturing capabilities is enabling us to support the major trends that we believe are likely to drive demand for our products in the years ahead.

New customer qualifications and expanding capacity as needed require us to continue to diligently address the many details that arise at each of our sites. A failure to properly accomplish this could result in disruption to our production and have a material adverse impact on our revenue, our results of operations and our financial condition. If we fail to meet the product qualification and volume requirements of a customer, we may lose sales to that customer. Our reputation may also be damaged. Any loss of sales could have a material adverse effect on our revenue, our results of operations and our financial condition.

On November 16, 2020, we announced a strategic initiative to access China’s capital markets by beginning a process to list shares of Tongmei in an initial public offering (the “IPO”) on the STAR Market, an exchange intended to support innovative companies in China. We formed and founded Tongmei in 1998 and believe Tongmei has grown into a company that will be an attractive offering on the STAR Market. To qualify for a STAR Market listing, the first major step in the process was to engage private equity firms in China (“Investors”) to invest funds in Tongmei. By December

31, 2020, Investors, which consist of 10 private equity funds, had entered into two sets of definitive transaction documents, each consisting of a capital increase agreement along with certain supplemental agreements in substantially the same form (collectively, the “Capital Investment Agreements”), with Tongmei for a total investment of approximately $48.1 million. The currency used in the investment transactions was the Chinese renminbi, which has been converted to approximate U.S. dollars for this Annual Report on Form 10-K. The remaining investment of approximately $1.5 million of new capital was funded in January 2021. The government approved the approximately $49 million investment in its entirety on January 25, 2021. In exchange for an investment of approximately $49 million, the Investors received a 7.28% redeemable noncontrolling interest in Tongmei.

Pursuant to the Capital Investment Agreements with the Investors, each Investor has the right to require AXT to redeem any or all Tongmei shares held by such Investor at the original purchase price paid by such Investor, without interest, in the event the IPO fails to pass the audit of the Shanghai Stock Exchange, is not approved by the Chinese Securities Regulatory Commission (“CSRC”) or Tongmei cancels the IPO application. The aggregate redemption amount is approximately $49 million, subject to the foreign exchange rate variable at time of redemption.

Tongmei submitted its IPO application to the Shanghai Stock Exchange in December 2021 and it was formally accepted for review on January 10, 2022. The Shanghai Stock Exchange approved the IPO application on July 12, 2022. On August 1, 2022, the CSRC accepted for review Tongmei’s IPO application. The STAR Market IPO remains subject to review and approval by the CSRC and other authorities. The process of going public on the STAR Market includes several periods of review and therefore is a lengthy process. Subject to review and approval by the CSRC and other authorities, Tongmei hopes to accomplish this goal in the coming months. The listing of Tongmei on the STAR Market will not change the status of AXT as a U.S. public company.

An early step in the STAR Market IPO process involved certain entity reorganizations and alignment of assets under Tongmei. In this regard our two consolidated raw material companies, Nanjing JinMei Gallium Co., Ltd. (“JinMei”) and Beijing BoYu Semiconductor Vessel Craftwork Technology Co., Ltd. (“BoYu”) and their subsidiaries were assigned to Tongmei in December 2020. As of June 30, 2021, AXT-Tongmei, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of AXT, was assigned to Tongmei. The assignment to Tongmei of JinMei and BoYu and their subsidiaries, and AXT-Tongmei, Inc. increased the number of customers and employees attributable to Tongmei as well as increased Tongmei’s consolidated revenue.

We are neither a PRC operating company nor do we conduct our operations in China through the use of variable interest entities (“VIEs”). Recent statements and regulatory actions by China’s government on the use of VIEs and data security or anti-monopoly concerns have not impacted our ability to conduct our business or continue to list our common stock on the Nasdaq Global Select Market.

The following organization chart depicts the consolidated structure as of December 31, 2023.

The businesses of our PRC subsidiaries and PRC joint ventures are subject to complex and rapidly evolving laws and regulations in the PRC, which can change quickly with little advance notice. The PRC government is a single party form of government with virtually unlimited authority and power to intervene in or influence commercial operations in China. In the past, we have experienced such intervention or influence by the PRC government and a change in the rules and regulations in China when we were instructed by the Beijing municipal government to relocate part of our manufacturing facility in Beijing and expect that such intervention or influence or change in the rules and regulations in China could occur in the future.

In the ordinary course of business, our PRC subsidiaries and PRC joint ventures require permits and licenses to operate in the PRC. Such permits and licenses include permits to use hazardous materials in manufacturing operations. From time to time, the PRC government issues new regulations, which may require additional actions on the part of our PRC subsidiaries and PRC joint ventures to comply. For example, on February 27, 2015, the China State Administration of Work Safety updated its list of hazardous substances. The previous list, which was published in 2002, did not restrict the materials that we use in our wafers. The new list added gallium arsenide. As a result of the newly published list, we were required to seek additional permits. In the ordinary course of business, our PRC subsidiaries and PRC joint ventures apply for permits as required. Any such intervention or influence or change in the rules and regulations in China could result in a material change in our PRC operations and/or the value of our common stock or cause the value of such securities to significantly decline or be worthless.

In September 2018, the Trump Administration announced a list of thousands of categories of goods that became subject to tariffs when imported into the United States. This pronouncement imposed tariffs on the wafer substrates we imported into the United States. The initial tariff rate was 10% and subsequently was increased to 25%. Approximately 10% of our revenue derives from importing our wafers into the United States and we expect the volume to increase. In 2023, 2022 and 2021, we paid approximately $1.0 million, $3.3 million and $1.3 million, respectively, in tariffs. The future impact of tariffs and trade wars is uncertain.

Effective as of August 1, 2023, the PRC government instituted a requirement for export licenses for gallium and germanium-related materials and the derivative products using these materials. Tongmei is required to apply for export licenses for gallium arsenide and germanium wafer substrates and each application must state the end use of the product exported. These regulations have required a new level of administration by Tongmei. In some cases, the PRC government has not issued the requisite licenses and our shipments have been delayed.

We have created a vertically integrated supply chain and transfer cash through our corporate structure in three ways. First, we capitalize our investments in our PRC subsidiaries. We licensed to our PRC subsidiaries intellectual property and received from our PRC subsidiaries royalty payments or one-time fees. Second, we use transfer pricing arrangements to buy from our PRC subsidiaries and PRC joint ventures wafers and raw materials. We review the terms of the transfer pricing arrangements annually with our independent registered public accounting firm. In the past, we sold to our PRC subsidiaries capital equipment that we purchased at the request of our PRC subsidiaries and for which we were reimbursed by the applicable PRC subsidiary. In recent years, Tongmei purchases capital equipment from suppliers in Taiwan, Japan, China, Europe or South Korea. Third, our PRC subsidiaries and PRC joint ventures pay dividends to entities within the Company’s corporate structure. For the years ended December 31, 2023, 2022 and 2021, the aggregate dividends paid to the Company, directly or to an intermediate entity within our corporate structure, by our PRC subsidiaries and PRC raw material joint ventures were approximately $4.3 million, $2.9 million and $774,000, respectively. For years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022, the aggregate dividends paid to minority shareholders by our PRC subsidiaries and PRC raw material joint ventures were approximately $0 and $0, respectively. In the year ended December 31, 2023, we continued the settlement of amounts owed under our transfer pricing arrangements in the ordinary course of business. We have no current intentions to distribute earnings to our investors under our corporate structure.

The cash generated from one PRC subsidiary is not used to fund another PRC subsidiary’s operations. None of our PRC subsidiaries has ever faced difficulties or limitations on its ability to transfer cash between our subsidiaries. We have cash management policies that dictate the amount of such funding.

We are subject to a number of unique legal and operational risks associated with our corporate structure, any of which could result in a material change in our operations and/or the value of our common stock or cause the value of such securities to significantly decline or be worthless. Please carefully read the “Risk Factors” in this Annual Report on Form 10-K in Item 1A below, including Category III, “Risks Related to International Aspects of Our Business”. In particular, the following risk factors address issues associated with our corporate structure:

• Although we are a Delaware corporation and are neither a PRC operating company nor do we conduct our operations in China through the use of VIEs, in the event we inadvertently concluded that we do not require any permissions or approvals from the CSRC or other PRC central government authorities to complete a public offering of securities in the U.S. or applicable laws, regulations, or interpretations change, we may be required to obtain such permissions or approvals to complete such a public offering of securities.
• The PRC central government may intervene in or influence our PRC operations at any time and the rules and regulations in China can change quickly with little advance notice.
• The PRC central government may also exert more control over offerings conducted overseas and/or foreign investment in China-based issuers, which could result in a material change in our operations and/or the value of our common stock.
• Changes in China’s political, social, regulatory or economic environments may affect our financial performance.
• Joint venture raw material companies in China bring certain risks.
• Risks exist in utilizing our new gallium arsenide manufacturing sites efficiently.
• The Chinese central government is increasingly aware of air pollution and other forms of environmental pollution and their reform efforts can impact our manufacturing, including intermittent mandatory shutdowns.
• Shutdowns or underutilizing our manufacturing facilities may result in declines in our gross margins.
• Enhanced trade tariffs, import restrictions, export restrictions, Chinese regulations or other trade barriers may materially harm our business.
• If China places restrictions on freight and transportation routes and on ports of entry and departure this could result in shipping delays or increased costs for shipping.
• Our international operations are exposed to potential adverse tax consequence in China.
• We derive a significant portion of our revenue from international sales, and our ability to sustain and increase our international sales involves significant risks.
• The terms of the private equity raised in China as a first step toward an IPO on the STAR Market grant each Investor a right of redemption if Tongmei fails to achieve its IPO.
• We are subject to foreign exchange gains and losses that may materially impact our statement of operations.
• Although the audit report is prepared by an independent registered public accounting firm that is currently inspected fully by the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (the “PCAOB”), there is no guarantee that future audit reports will be prepared by an independent registered public accounting firm that is completely inspected by the PCAOB.

Our independent registered public accounting firm is BPM LLP (“BPM”), which is registered with the PCAOB. The Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act (the “HFCA Act”) requires that the PCAOB determine whether it is unable to inspect or investigate completely registered public accounting firms located in a non-U.S. jurisdiction because of a position taken by one or more authorities in that jurisdiction. On December 16, 2021, the PCAOB issued a report on its determinations that the PCAOB is unable to inspect or investigate completely registered public accounting firms headquartered in the PRC and Hong Kong because of positions taken by PRC authorities in those jurisdictions. BPM is headquartered in the United States and not in the PRC or Hong Kong. As such, BPM is subject to the determinations announced by the PCAOB. Accordingly, the Company does not expect the HFCA Act, the Accelerating Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act and the related regulations to affect the Company and does not expect to be identified by the Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC, under the HFCA Act. On December 15, 2022, the PCAOB vacated its 2021 determinations that the positions taken by authorities in the PRC and Hong Kong prevented it from inspecting and investigating completely registered public accounting firms headquartered in those jurisdictions. See “Although the audit report is prepared by an independent registered public accounting firm that is currently inspected fully by the PCAOB, there is no guarantee that future audit reports will be prepared by an independent registered public accounting firm that is completely inspected by the PCAOB” under the section entitled “Risk Factors” in Item 1A below for further information on risks related to our foreign operations and dependence.

We were incorporated in California in December 1986 and reincorporated in Delaware in May 1998. The Company went public in 1998. We changed our name from American Xtal Technology, Inc. to AXT, Inc. in July 2000. Our principal corporate office is located at 4281 Technology Drive, Fremont, California 94538, and our telephone number at this address is (510) 438-4700.

Industry Background

Certain electronic and opto-electronic applications have performance requirements that exceed the capabilities of conventional silicon substrates, also known as wafers, and often require high-performance compound wafers (mixture of two materials) or single element wafer substrates. Examples of higher performance non-silicon based wafer substrates include GaAs, InP, gallium nitride (GaN), silicon carbide (SiC) and Ge. One of the earliest broadly used alternative wafer substrates was GaAs and GaAs wafer substrates were the earliest wafer substrates we produced.

Silicon substrates dominate the semiconductor substrate market. Silicon wafers are larger in diameter and significantly lower in cost. AXT and our competitors exist because the laws of physics prevent certain functions from performing properly, or at all, if silicon material is used as the wafer substrate. Our substrate wafers are used when a typical silicon substrate wafer cannot meet the performance requirements of a semiconductor chip or optoelectronic device. Demand for higher performance non-silicon-based wafer substrates, such as the substrates in which AXT specializes, is expected to increase as new applications are adopted. In contrast to the ever-more complex electronic circuit designs and the skill sets required to accomplish such designs, the knowledge base and skill sets required for AXT and our competitors are material science-based. We do not design or manufacture the semiconductor chips and other electronic circuits. Instead, we apply our deep knowledge in material science to grow single crystal ingots that are then sliced into individual wafer substrates. We add value by researching, developing and producing the specialty material wafers. This places us at the beginning of the semiconductor “food chain”.

InP is a high-performance semiconductor wafer substrate used in broadband and fiber optic applications, 5G infrastructure and data center connectivity. Data centers use InP devices for high-speed optical data transmission. We believe the growth of AI applications will increase the need for high speed data transfer, which may lead to an increase in InP substrate demand from such data centers. Currently, InP substrates are being used in certain consumer products, including proximity sensors in mobile devices, biometric wearables and other health monitoring applications. In recent years, InP demand has increased. Semi-insulating GaAs substrates are used to create various high-speed microwave components, including power amplifier chips used in cell phones, satellite communications and broadcast television applications. Semi-conducting GaAs substrates are used to create opto-electronic products, including light emitting diodes (LEDs) that are used for a wide range of applications including automotive lighting, horticulture, signage, display, sensors and machine vision. They are also used in making industrial lasers. GaAs wafers could also be used for making vertical cavity surface emitting lasers (VCSELs) for facial recognition and micro-LEDs targeting improved screen technology. Ge substrates are used in applications such as solar cells for space and terrestrial photovoltaic applications.

The AXT Advantages

We believe that we benefit from the following advantages:

• We believe our InP substrates are best in class. We believe our InP substrates have the lowest defect densities and lowest stress and slip lines on the market and are best in class. Our InP substrates enable our customers to achieve the highest wafer fab and device yields. We have developed a strong base of proprietary InP technology that we continue to expand. There are significant barriers to entry in the InP substrate market and currently there are only three primary suppliers, including AXT.

Further, we believe we can be the dominant supplier in the emerging 6-inch diameter market. Already, our InP substrates have reached production in at least two well-known consumer products. Also, one of our largest data center upgrade customers works closely with us as a partner. Our advantages increase with larger diameters, which the industry is starting to demand, and we believe our superior technology will converge with new demands from data centers that are driven by AI applications, additional consumer application wins and other data center and 5G/telecom applications.

• New facilities, equipment and added capacity. We believe we are the only company in our industry to have added significant new facilities, equipment and capacity in recent years. Although current customers and prospective customers previously viewed our relocation process as a risk, we believe our success in managing this process now positions us as the “go to” supplier with a state of the art manufacturing line, a proven ability to add capacity and a commitment to continuous improvement.
• We believe that we are the only compound semiconductor substrate supplier to have a position in raw materials. We believe this provides us with a more reliable supply of, and shorter lead-times for, the raw materials central to our final manufactured products. Customers find this business model attractive. Revenue from the sale of raw materials provides further diversity in our customer base and business model.
• Unique access to capital if needed to expand capacity. We believe the combination of access to both the U.S. and China capital markets presents a strong position to our customers and gives us an advantage over our competitors.
• Low-cost manufacturing operation in China. Since 2004, we have manufactured all of our products in China, which generally has favorable costs for facilities and labor compared to costs of comparable facilities and labor in the United States, Japan or Europe. Our primary competitors have their major manufacturing operations in Germany or Japan.
• Key provider of low defect density GaAs wafer substrates. In recent years customer demand for low etch pit density (“EPD”) GaAs wafer substrates has increased. The most recent example is the requirement for 8-inch wafers GaAs. The requirement of low EPD is a barrier to entry and we believe there are a limited number of potential substrate providers that can meet this requirement, including AXT. We believe the quality of our low EPD wafers will enable us to support new applications and generate additional revenue.
• Proprietary process technology drives manufacturing. In our industry, the single crystal growth process and the wafer manufacturing process incorporate proprietary process technology. We have a substantial body of proprietary process technology and we believe this gives us a competitive advantage, especially in InP. This also creates a barrier to entry.
• Our team. We have a strong technical sales support team that engages with our customers and understands their product requirements. A significant percentage of the members of our team that engage with customers have advanced degrees in physics or materials science. We are known in the marketplace to be knowledgeable and responsive.

Strategy

Our goal is to become the leading worldwide supplier of high-performance compound and single element semiconductor substrates. Key elements of our strategy include:

• Promote our strengths in InP. As cloud-based data centers continue to combine integrated circuits and InP-based lasers to transfer data through light, we believe there will be increased demand for InP substrates. We intend to promote our capabilities as we believe we provide “best in class” InP wafers. On the horizon, AI will use InP for high-speed data transmission. Other applications could include driverless cars, 5G in cell phones and health and well-being biometric wearables.
• Promote flagship products: 8-inch GaAs and 6-inch InP. We intend to promote our technological strengths by showcasing our success in developing larger diameter wafers. Our 8-inch GaAs product has crossed several milestones and is now shipping in small quantities. The InP development will initially target a consumer market.
• Expand our recycling program. We have successfully deployed InP recycling and have developed a recycling program for GaAs. Recycling can lower our manufacturing costs and it is also good for the environment. Some customers require recycling programs.
• Showcase our new facilities. With travel restrictions largely removed, we plan to host more customers that tour our facilities. We had several very positive visits in 2023 and plan to increase the number of visits in 2024.
• Strengthen our raw materials supply chain. The supply and demand equation for specialty materials can be complex and volatile. Over the years, we have established or invested in raw material companies in China that are an integral part of our supply chain. We will continue to provide strategic support to these companies and they, in turn, will continue to be the backbone of our supply chain. We have identified some new steps that will make our supply chain even stronger.
• Offer diverse products, including custom products. We believe AXT has a reputation in the market for providing a broad range of products, including custom products that are supported by a team of technical sales support professionals, the majority of whom hold advanced graduate degrees in physics or materials science. We plan to further promote this brand image as a way to differentiate ourselves in the market. We believe this strategy will lead to a more diverse customer base and higher revenue volumes.
• Increase manufacturing efficiencies. The recent industry-wide inventory corrections and reduced manufacturing volumes impacted our manufacturing efficiencies. We will seek to continue to leverage our China-based manufacturing advantages by increasing efficiencies in our manufacturing methods, systems and processes. We promote the concept and practice of continuous improvement within our company culture.
• Materials of the future. The specialty materials substrate market is dynamic and subject to continued changes and cycles. We plan to use our deep knowledge and experience in specialty materials and wafer substrates to seek new applications for existing substrates in our portfolio and explore additional materials that may be synergistic with our knowledge base, customer needs and manufacturing lines.

Technology

Wafer substrates on which integrated circuits and optical devices are fabricated serve as a foundation for semiconductor device fabrication. Wafers are derived from ingots that are grown in a cylindrical form. The diameter and length of an ingot will vary depending on the type of material and the growth process used. An ingot can be single-crystalline (a single crystal) or multi-crystalline (polycrystalline). A single crystal is a continuous lattice of atoms with no boundaries within the structure. The ingot must be a single crystal in order for it to be useful in making wafers for device fabrication. A single crystal ingot can be made from a single element such as germanium or silicon, or it can be made from two or more elements such as gallium arsenide (with gallium and arsenic) or indium phosphide (with indium and phosphorous). Depending on physical properties of the materials in a wafer, the performance of devices and circuits can be remarkably different.

AXT uses its proprietary vertical gradient freeze (VGF) technology for growing single crystal Indium Phosphide (InP), Gallium Arsenide (GaAs) and Germanium (Ge) ingots. After growing the crystalline ingot, the ingot is then sliced into individual substrates or wafers. Before specialty material wafers can be used, a thin layer of structured chemicals is grown on the surface of the substrate. This is called an epitaxial layer and it is a complicated and highly technical process. We do not grow the epitaxial layer. We sell the majority of our substrates to companies that specialize in applying the epitaxial layer. Our wafers are then used to produce state-of-the-art electronic circuits and opto-electronic devices. The chips are used in a wide variety of applications.

InP and GaAs compounds are formed by combining elements from Groups III and V in the periodic table of elements, whereas Ge is a Group IV elemental material. Each of these materials has unique properties that determine the best device and/or circuit applications. As a result of their special high electron mobility combined with their direct ban-gap properties, both InP and GaAs wafers have enjoyed dominant roles in the production of light-emitting diodes (LEDs), solid-state lasers and power amplifiers for mobile phones, to name a few applications. Ge wafers, on the other hand, have played a key role in the manufacturing of special solar cells known as triple junction solar cells (TJSCs) for space and terrestrial power generation.

Crystal growth process technology frequently contains steps and procedures that are considered proprietary trade secrets held by the manufacturer, often including methods to control the temperature within the crucible. InP crystal growth relies on extreme pressure within the crucible. As such it requires not only temperature control methodologies, but also pressure control and stabilization process methodologies, many of which AXT considers proprietary trade secrets. It is this combination of variables and the required methods to control them that create a barrier to entry. We believe our long-term investment in research and development has resulted in a substantive body of proprietary knowledge.

After growing the crystalline ingot, the material is then sliced into individual substrates or wafers. We have continued to invest in wafer processing technology covering each step in the process from sawing to edge smoothing to final cleaning and we believe we have technology and trade secrets addressing the scope of wafer processing. One focus in our recent development programs has been on automation, particularly in cleaning the wafers.

Ideally, all the atoms in a wafer or substrate are arrayed in a specific periodic order. However, sensitivities in the ingot growth process will cause some atoms to be improperly aligned and these are referred to as dislocations. The aggregate number of dislocations in a wafer is referred to as the dislocation density. Dislocation densities can be seen as a group of tiny marks or pits under a microscope by etching the wafer with acid and each wafer has an etch pit density or EPD. Certain micro devices, such as GaAs industrial lasers, require wafers with very low EPD. AXT considers the process technology we use to achieve low EPD as proprietary process technology and we believe we are one of only a few substrate manufacturing companies that can produce low EPD wafers.

Products

We have two product lines: specialty material substrates and raw materials integral to these substrates. We design, develop, manufacture and distribute high-performance semiconductor substrates, also known as wafers. Through our consolidated subsidiaries in our supply chain, we also sell certain raw materials. InP is a high-performance semiconductor substrate used in fiber optic lasers and detectors, passive optical networks (PONs), telecommunication, 5G infrastructure, metro and data center connectivity, silicon photonics data center upgrades, photonic ICs (PICs), terrestrial solar cell (CPV), lasers, RF amplifiers, infrared motion control and infrared thermal imaging. On the horizon, we believe InP wafers will be used in artificial intelligence hardware architecture for high-speed data transmission. We make semi-insulating GaAs substrates used in making semiconductor chips in applications such as power amplifiers for wireless devices and high-performance transistors. Our semi-conducting GaAs substrates are used to create opto-electronic products, which include High Brightness LEDs that are often used to backlight wireless handsets and LCD TVs and for automotive, signage, display and lighting applications, as well as high power industrial lasers for material processing (welding, cutting, drilling, soldering, marking and surface modification). Our semi-conducting GaAs substrates can be used to make micro-LEDs for advanced screen technologies and to create opto-electronic products for 3-D facial recognition sensing using VCSELs. Ge substrates are used in emerging applications, such as triple junction solar cells for space and terrestrial photovoltaic applications and for optical applications.

Substrates. We currently sell compound substrates manufactured from InP and GaAs, as well as single-element substrates manufactured from Ge. Many of our customers require customized specifications, such as special levels of iron or sulfur dopants or a special wafer thickness. We supply InP substrates in two-, three- and four-inch diameters, and are developing six-inch diameter InP substrates. We supply Ge substrates in two-, four- and six-inch diameters. We supply both semi-insulating and semi-conducting GaAs substrates in one-, two-, three-, four-, five- and six-inch diameters. More recently we have successfully developed 8-inch GaAs wafers and are selling them in small quantities.

Raw Materials. Our consolidated raw material subsidiaries produce and sell certain raw materials, some of which are used in our substrate manufacturing process and some of which are sold to other companies. One of these consolidated companies produces pBN crucibles and the other consolidated company converts raw gallium to purified gallium and produces InP base material. A third newly formed subsidiary will focus on production and sale of arsenic.

We promote our product diversity as a way to differentiate ourselves in the market. Some competitors provide only gallium arsenide substrates. We provide gallium arsenide and also indium phosphide and germanium substrates. Some competitors limit their wafer diameters to only a few sizes. Our wafers range from one inch to up to eight inches in diameter. We also produce substrates with customer defined specifications, which may range in thickness, smoothness or flatness and may include adding special additional materials, such as iron or sulfur. In addition to our wafers or substrates, we also generate revenue from our two consolidated subsidiaries that sell raw materials. Product diversity can mitigate some of the down cycles in our market because we are not dependent on a single product or application for revenue.

Customers

Before specialty material wafers can be processed in a typical wafer manufacturing facility that constructs the electronic circuit, laser or optical device on a chip, a thin layer of structured chemicals is grown on the surface of the substrate. This is called an epitaxial layer. We do not grow the epitaxial layer. We sell our substrates to companies that apply the epitaxial layer, who then in turn sell the modified wafers to the wafer fabs, chip design companies, LED manufacturers and others. Some customers do both the epitaxial layer and wafer fabrication.

Epitaxial layer companies that form our customer base are located in Asia, the United States and Europe. We also sell our products to universities and other research organizations that use specialty materials for experimentation in various aspects of semi-conducting and semi-insulating applications. Our customers that purchase raw materials are located in Asia, the United States and Europe.

We have at times sold a significant portion of our products in any particular period to a limited number of customers. No customer represented more than 10% of our revenue for the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2021 and one customer, Landmark, represented 15% of our revenue for the year ended December 31, 2022. Our top five customers, although not the same five customers for each period, represented 25% of our revenue for the year 2023, 34% of our revenue for 2022 and 26% of our revenue for 2021.

For the year ended December 31, 2023, three customers of our consolidated subsidiaries, in aggregate, accounted for 31% of raw material sales. For the year ended December 31, 2022, three customers of our consolidated subsidiaries, in aggregate, accounted for 29% of raw material sales and for the year ended December 31, 2021, three customers accounted for 28% of raw material sales. Our subsidiaries and consolidated raw material companies are a key strategic benefit for us as they further diversify our sources of revenue.

Manufacturing, Raw Materials and Supplies

We manufacture all of our products in China. We believe this location generally has favorable costs for facilities and labor compared to the United States or compared to the location of some of our competitors in Japan and Germany.

We use a two-stage wafer manufacturing process. The first stage deploys our VGF technology for the crystal growth of single element or compound element ingots in diameters currently ranging from one inch to eight inches. The growth process occurs in high temperature furnaces built using our proprietary designs. Growing the crystalline elements into cylindrical ingots takes a number of days, depending on the material, the diameter and length of the ingot produced. The crystal growth stage utilizes AXT proprietary process technology. The second stage includes slicing or sawing the ingot into wafers or substrates, then processing each substrate to strict specifications, including grinding to reduce the thickness, beveling the edges, and then polishing and cleaning each substrate. Many of the wafer processing steps use chemical baths and properly cleaning the wafer is a critical process. The wafer processing stage also utilizes AXT proprietary process technology.

Wafers from each ingot will include some material that does not meet specifications or quality standards. Defects may occur as a result of inherent factors in the materials used in the crystalline growth process. They may also result from variances in the manufacturing process. We have many steps in our manufacturing line that are partially or fully automated but other manufacturing steps are performed manually. We intend to increase the level of automation, particularly in cleaning the wafers. Due to potential defects, yield is a key factor in our manufacturing cost. Other key elements are the initial cost of the raw material elements, manufacturing equipment, factory loading, facilities and labor.

Together with certain subsidiaries we have partial ownership of 10 raw material companies in China that form the backbone of our supply chain model. These companies generally provide us with reliable supply, market trend visibility, and shorter lead-times for raw materials central to our manufactured products, including gallium, gallium alloys, indium phosphide poly-crystal, high-purity arsenic, germanium, germanium dioxide, pBN and boron oxide. We believe that these raw material companies have been and will continue to be advantageous in allowing us to procure materials to support our planned growth. In addition, we purchase supply parts, components and raw materials from several other domestic and international suppliers. We depend on a single or limited number of suppliers for certain critical materials used in the production of our substrates, such as quartz tubing, arsenic, phosphorus and polishing solutions. We generally purchase our materials through standard purchase orders and not pursuant to long-term supply contracts.

Recycling

We developed a proprietary process technology that enables us to recycle remnants of indium phosphide processing material. The process was introduced into manufacturing in 2022. The process involves capturing certain InP waste materials generated in the manufacturing process. These materials can then be re-processed and cycled back into the normal process procedures. Not only is this beneficial for environmental reasons, it also reduces our total material costs and, ultimately, improves our gross margin. We have also developed a recycling process for gallium arsenide and expect to deploy it when final permits are issued.

Sales and Marketing

We sell our substrate products directly to customers through our direct salesforce in the United States, China and Europe. We also use independent sales representatives and distributors in Japan, Taiwan, Korea and other areas. Our direct sales force is knowledgeable in the use of compound and single-element substrates. Specialty material wafers are scientifically complicated. Our application engineers must work closely with customers during all stages of our wafer substrate manufacturing process, from developing the precise composition of the wafer substrate through manufacturing and processing the wafer substrate to the customer’s specifications. We believe that maintaining a close relationship with customers and providing them with engineering support improves customer satisfaction and provides us with a competitive advantage in selling. A significant percentage of the members of our technical sales support team who frequently engage with customers have PhDs in physics or materials science.

International Sales. International sales are a substantial part of our business. Sales to customers outside North America (primarily the United States) accounted for approximately 90% of our revenue for 2023 and approximately 86% and 90% of our revenue during each of 2022 and 2021, respectively. The primary markets for sales of our substrate products outside of North America are to customers located in Asia and Western Europe.

Our raw material companies sell specialty raw materials including 4N, 5N, 6N, 7N and 8N gallium, boron oxide, germanium, arsenic, germanium dioxide, and pyrolytic boron nitride crucibles used, for example, in crystal growth processes, epitaxial layer growth in MBE reactors and manufacturing OLED rings. Each raw material company has its own separate sales force and sells directly to its own customers in addition to selling raw materials to us.

Research and Development

To maintain and improve our competitive position, we focus our research and development efforts on designing new proprietary processes and products, improving the performance of existing products, achieving new lows in EPD, increasing yields and reducing manufacturing costs. We also conduct research and development focusing on larger diameter wafers and, in our history, we have consistently developed new products based on larger wafer diameters. Crystal growth of specialty earth materials becomes significantly more difficult as the ingot diameter increases because a consistent temperature, and in the case of InP, consistent control of pressure, must be applied over a larger surface area.

Certain micro devices, such as those used in industrial lasers, require GaAs wafers with very low EPD. Low EPD will also be required for GaAs 8-inch diameter wafers applications and InP wafers that will be used in certain high-end applications. Low EPD has been, and will remain, a focus in our research and development efforts.

Our current substrate research and development activities focus on continued development and enhancement of GaAs, InP and Ge substrates, including improved yield, enhanced surface and electrical characteristics and uniformity, greater substrate strength and increased crystal length. In 2015, we acquired proprietary wafer processing equipment from Hitachi Metals. The Hitachi Metals purchase includes a license covering the use of the proprietary equipment and Hitachi Metals’ proprietary wafer processing technology. A particular focus of the equipment and process technology is on cleaning the wafers. It is important to remove any residual cleaning agents from each wafer to ensure that the epitaxial growth process is not encumbered by residual chemicals on the wafer. We are also focused on developing 6-inch InP wafer substrates and on increasing yields on the recently developed 8-inch GaAs wafers substrates.

As a manufacturing company, we must constantly improve our manufacturing processes to remain competitive, and our research and development programs must be integrated into our manufacturing lines. All of our research and development is conducted at our manufacturing facilities and the process technology developed by the China teams over the last 20 years enables us to remain competitive and to provide high-quality wafer substrates to our customers. Our China research and development teams must continue to stay close to the manufacturing sites and develop new process steps, features and benefits. We believe our teams are fully capable of moving the process technology forward.

Our consolidated subsidiaries conduct research and development, focusing on gallium alloys, gallium refinement and pyrolytic boron nitride crucibles used in high temperature crystal growth.

We have assembled a multi-disciplinary team of skilled scientists, engineers and technicians to meet our research and development objectives. Research and development expenses were $12.1 million in 2023, compared with $13.9 million in 2022 and $10.3 million in 2021. Development work focusing on yield, continuous improvement and other matters related to our research and development efforts also occurs within regular manufacturing processes. These costs are included in our cost of revenue because it is difficult to isolate them as research and development.

Competition

The semiconductor substrate industry is characterized by narrow technological boundaries, price erosion and generally intense competition. Certain wafer substrates, such as low-quality wafer substrates for consumer products using LED lighting, compete almost entirely on price. Other products, such as InP and low EPD GaAs wafers, have fewer competitors and quality is a key competitive factor in addition to price. We face actual and potential competition from a number of established companies who have the advantages of greater name recognition and more established relationships in the industry. In some cases, our competitors have substantially greater financial, technical and marketing resources as they are divisions of much larger companies. They may utilize these advantages to expand their product offerings more quickly, adapt to new or emerging technologies and changes in customer requirements more quickly, and devote greater resources to the marketing and sale of their products. We believe a critical factor in our business is the level of technical support we provide to the customer or prospective customer and we attempt to counter possible advantages of name recognition or size with superior technical support through our team of technical sales support professionals, the majority of whom hold PhDs in physics or materials science.

We believe that the primary competitive factors in the markets in which our substrate products compete are:

• quality;
• low EPD;
• price;
• customer technical support;
• performance;
• meeting customer specifications; and
• manufacturing capacity.

Our ability to compete in target markets also depends on factors such as:

• the timing and success of the development and introduction of new products, including larger diameter wafers, and product features by us and our competitors;
• the availability of adequate sources of raw materials;
• protection of our proprietary methods, systems and processes;
• protection of our products and processes by effective use of intellectual property laws; and
• general economic conditions, which impact end markets using substrates.

A majority of our customers specialize in epitaxial growth, a complex series of chemical layers grown on top of our wafers. Our wafers cannot be used to make chips until the epitaxial layers are grown. Typically, our customer or prospective customer has at least two qualified substrate suppliers. Qualified suppliers must meet industry-standard specifications for quality, on-time delivery and customer support. Once a substrate supplier has qualified with a customer, then price, consistent quality and current and future product delivery lead times become the most important competitive factors. A supplier that cannot meet a customer’s current lead times or that a customer perceives will not be able to meet future demand and provide consistent quality can lose market share. Our primary competition in the market for compound and single element semiconductor substrates includes Sumitomo Electric Industries (“Sumitomo”), Japan Energy (“JX”), Freiberger Compound Materials (“Freiberger”), Umicore, China Crystal Technology Corp. (“CCTC”) and Vital Materials. We believe that at least two of our competitors are shipping high volumes of GaAs substrates manufactured using a process similar to our VGF technology. In addition, we also face competition from semiconductor device manufacturers that may use other specialty material substrates that are not GaAs, InP or Ge based materials and that are actively exploring alternative materials. For example, silicon-on-insulator (“SOI”) technology, a silicon wafer technology that produces satisfactory devices at lower cost, has been proven in the market. From 2012 to 2015, SOI technology displaced GaAs chips in key sectors, primarily the radio frequency (“RF”) switching function in cell phones.

Because of our vertically integrated, sophisticated supply chain, we believe we are the only compound semiconductor substrate supplier to offer a broad suite of raw materials. We believe this gives us a unique competitive advantage because we have greater control and stability over many of our needed materials. Further, we believe we have some advantage in manufacturing costs. In the event of a significant increase in demand we believe our raw materials supply chain strategy and our ability to rapidly increase capacity can provide us some advantage.

Intellectual Property

Our success and the competitive position of our VGF technology depend on our ability to maintain the proprietary process technology secrets developed by teams in China and other intellectual property protections. We rely on a combination of patents, trademark and trade secret laws, non-disclosure agreements and other intellectual property protection methods to protect our proprietary technology. We believe that, due to the rapid pace of technological innovation in the markets for our products, our ability to establish and maintain a position of technology leadership depends as much on the skills of our research and development personnel in China as upon the legal protections afforded our existing technologies. To protect our trade secrets, we take certain measures to ensure their secrecy, such as executing non-disclosure agreements with our employees, customers and suppliers. However, reliance on trade secrets is only an effective business practice insofar as trade secrets remain undisclosed and a proprietary product or process is not reverse engineered or independently developed.

In addition to proprietary process trade secrets, we also file patents. To date, we have been issued 138 patents that relate to our VGF products and processes; 110 in China, 11 in the United States, 8 in Japan, 4 in Taiwan, 3 in the European Union, and 2 in Germany. Patents have a protected life of 20 years (or 10 years for utility model patents in China) from their filing dates. Our patents have expiration dates ranging from 2024 to 2038. In some cases we may consider filing divisional, continuation or continuation-in-part of the existing patents for additional claims. We have several patent applications pending in China, United States, and rest of the world. Furthermore, in aggregate, our consolidated raw material companies have been issued 112 patents in China, including 35 patents issued to JinMei, 66 patents issued to BoYu and 11 patents issued to ChaoYang XinMei High Purity Semiconductor Materials Co., Ltd. (“ChaoYang XinMei”).

In the normal course of business, we periodically receive and make inquiries regarding possible patent infringement. In dealing with such inquiries, it may become necessary or useful for us to obtain or grant licenses or other rights. However, there can be no assurance that such licenses or rights will be available to us on commercially reasonable terms. If we are not able to resolve or settle claims, obtain necessary licenses on commercially reasonable terms and/or successfully prosecute or defend our position, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be materially and adversely affected.

Environmental Regulations

We are subject to federal, state and local environmental and safety laws and regulations in all of our operating locations, including laws and regulations of China, such as laws and regulations related to the development, manufacture and use of our products, the use of hazardous materials, the operation of our facilities, and the use of the real property. These laws and regulations govern the use, storage, discharge and disposal of hazardous materials during manufacturing, research and development and sales demonstrations. We maintain a number of environmental, health and safety programs that are primarily preventive in nature. As part of these programs, we regularly monitor ongoing compliance. If we fail to comply with applicable regulations, we could be subject to substantial liability for clean-up efforts, personal injury, fines or suspension or be forced to cease our operations, and/or suspend or terminate the development, manufacture or use of certain of our products, the use of our facilities, or the use of our real property, each of which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. The regulatory landscape shifts and changes in China as that country works to improve the environment. Because we manufacture all of our products in China, we are subject to an evolving set of regulations that could require changes in our equipment and processes, which may increase our capital expenditures and require us to obtain new permits. In 2017, China increased its focus on environmental concerns which increased pressure on manufacturing companies. During periods of severe air pollution in Beijing, manufacturing companies, including AXT, may be ordered by the local government to stop production for several days. For example, in the first quarter of 2018, over 300 manufacturing companies, including AXT, were intermittently shut down by the local government for a total of ten days from February 27 to March 31, due to severe air pollution.

Human Capital

As of December 31, 2023, AXT and Tongmei had 999 employees, which consisted of 24 employees in our headquarters in Fremont, California, one sales professional in France and 974 employees in our factories in China. In addition, our consolidated raw material companies had, in total, 457 employees. In aggregate, we and our consolidated raw material companies had 1,456 employees, of whom 1,044 were principally engaged in manufacturing, 177 in sales and administration and 235 in research and development. Of these 1,456 employees, 24, consisting of sales and marketing, accounting and finance, administration and corporate executives were located in the United States, one in France and 1,431 in China. Our employees in China are citizens of China, have families and pay taxes in China. We believe these factors are viewed favorably by government agencies in China.

We believe that our future success largely depends upon our continued ability to attract and retain highly skilled employees. We provide our employees with competitive salaries and bonuses, opportunities for equity ownership, development programs that enable continued learning and growth and a robust employment package that promotes well-being across all aspects of their lives, including health care and paid time off. Most of our employees in China are represented by unions. As of December 31, 2023, 1,191 employees in China, including employees of our consolidated raw material companies, were represented by unions. We have never experienced a work stoppage and we consider our relations with our employees to be good.

Geographical Information

Please see Note 14 to our consolidated financial statements for information regarding our foreign operations, and see “Risks related to international aspects of our business” under Item 1A. Risk Factors for further information on risks attendant to our foreign operations and dependence.

Available Information

Our principal executive offices are located at 4281 Technology Drive, Fremont, CA 94538, and our main telephone number at this address is (510) 438-4700. Our Internet website address is www.axt.com (http://www.axt.com). Our website address is given solely for informational purposes; we do not intend, by this reference, that our website should be deemed to be part of this Annual Report on Form 10-K or to incorporate the information available at our website address into this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

We file electronically with the SEC our annual reports on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K, and amendments to those reports filed or furnished pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. We make these reports available free of charge through our Internet website as soon as reasonably practicable after we have electronically filed such material with the SEC. These reports can also be obtained from the SEC’s Internet website at www.sec.gov (http://www.sec.gov).

For ease of reference, we have divided these risks and uncertainties into the following general categories:

I. Summary Risk Factors;

II. Risks Related to Our Business and Operations;

III. Risks Related to International Aspects of Our Business;

IV. Risks Related to Our Financial Results and Capital Structure;

V. Risks Related to Our Intellectual Property; and

VI. Risks Related to Compliance, Environmental Regulations and Other Legal Matters.

I. Summary Risk Factors

• We are subject to a number of unique legal and operational risks associated with our corporate structure.
• The PRC central government may intervene in or influence our PRC operations at any time and the rules and regulations in China can change quickly with little advance notice.
• Although the audit report included in this Annual Report is prepared by an independent registered public accounting firm who is currently inspected fully by the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (the “PCAOB”), there is no guarantee that future audit reports will be prepared by an independent registered public accounting firm that is completely inspected by the PCAOB.
• Our NASDAQ stock price is volatile and our stock price could decline. Unpredictable fluctuations in our operating results, changes and events in our end markets and global trends cause volatility in our stock price.
• COVID-19 or other contagious diseases may affect our business operations and financial performance. Lack of supply of current vaccines and resistance by some to be vaccinated could prolong COVID-19.
• Global economic and political conditions, including trade tariffs, import-export restrictions, and other restrictions, may have a negative impact on our business and financial results.
• Changes in China’s political, social, regulatory or economic environments may affect our financial performance.
• The Chinese central government is increasingly aware of air pollution and other forms of environmental pollution and their reform efforts can impact our manufacturing, including intermittent mandatory shutdowns. Shutdowns or underutilizing our manufacturing facilities may result in declines in our gross margins.
• Enhanced trade tariffs, import restrictions, export restrictions, Chinese regulations or other trade barriers may materially harm our business.
• If China places restrictions on freight and transportation routes and on ports of entry and departure this could result in shipping delays or increased costs for shipping.
• Our international operations are exposed to potential adverse tax consequence in China.
• Our gross margin has fluctuated historically and may decline or increase due to several factors. Factors such as product mix, unit volume, yields and other manufacturing efficiencies can cause our gross margin to decrease or increase from quarter to quarter.
• The proposed Tongmei IPO on the STAR Market in China could fail to be completed. This could result in investor disappointment and in failure to secure sufficient capital needed to take advantage of market opportunities for our products. Our stock price could decline.
• The terms of the private equity raised by Tongmei in China grant each investor a right of redemption if the IPO fails to pass the audit of the Shanghai Stock Exchange, is not approved by the CSRC or Tongmei cancels the IPO application. This could result in disgorging the cash that we raised from the Investors.
• Defects in our products could diminish demand for our products. Our ability to receive orders from tier one customers is contingent on producing wafer substrates of very high quality and deploying best practices in manufacturing. We may not always be able to meet these requirements and we could then lose revenue.
• Difficulties in accurately estimating market demand could result in over-investing in inventory, equipment and capacity expansion or losing market share if we do not invest sufficiently.
• Attracting and retaining tier one customers requires that we succeed in our research and development programs. Customers establish difficult to meet product specifications regarding defect densities, surface flatness, diameter size and other specifications pushing the boundaries of material science. We may not achieve these specifications.
• We are subject to foreign exchange gains and losses that materially impact our consolidated statements of operations. Because we are a global company we are exposed to changes and swings in foreign exchange, particularly when currencies experience periods of volatility.
• Joint venture raw material companies in China bring certain risks.
• We derive a significant portion of our revenue from international sales, and our ability to sustain and increase our international sales involves significant risks.

II. Risks Related to Our Business and Operations

Silicon substrates (wafers) are significantly lower in cost compared to substrates made from specialty materials, such as those that we produce, and new silicon-based technologies could enable silicon-based substrates to replace specialty material-based substrates for certain applications.

Historically silicon wafers or substrates are less expensive than specialty material substrates, such as those that we produce. Electronic circuit designers will generally consider silicon first and only turn to alternative materials if silicon cannot provide the required functionality in terms of power consumption, speed, wave lengths or other specifications. Beginning in 2011, certain applications that had previously used GaAs substrates, specifically the RF chip in mobile phones, adopted a new silicon-based technology called silicon on insulator, or SOI. SOI technology uses a silicon-insulator-silicon layered substrate in place of conventional silicon substrates in semiconductor manufacturing. SOI substrates cost less than GaAs substrates and, although their performance is not as robust as GaAs substrates in terms of power consumption, heat generation and speed, they became acceptable in mobile phones and other applications that were previously dominated by GaAs substrates. The adoption of SOI resulted in decreased GaAs wafer demand, and decreased revenue. If SOI or new silicon-based technologies gain more widespread market acceptance, or are used in more applications, our sales of specialty material-based substrates could be reduced and our business and operating results could be significantly and adversely affected.

Our gross margin has fluctuated historically and may decline due to several factors.

Our gross margin has fluctuated from period to period as a result of increases or decreases in total revenue, unit volume, shifts in product mix, shifts in the cost of raw materials, costs related to the relocation of our gallium arsenide and germanium production lines, including costs related to hiring additional manufacturing employees at our new locations, tariffs imposed by the U.S. government, the introduction of new products, decreases in average selling prices for products, utilization of our manufacturing capacity, fluctuations in manufacturing yields and our ability to reduce product costs. These factors and other variables change from period to period and these fluctuations are expected to continue in the future. For example, in the third quarter of 2022 our gross margin was 42.0% but it dropped to 10.7% in the third quarter of 2023 as a result of several of these factors.

Our raw material companies experience selling price volatility and purchase price volatility in acquiring base materials. We consolidate the results of two of these raw material companies, and any reduction in their gross margins could have a significant, adverse impact on our overall gross margins. One or more of our companies has in the past sold, and may in the future sell, raw materials at significantly reduced prices in order to gain volume sales or sales to new customers. In addition, the market price of gallium dropped below our per unit inventory cost and we incurred an inventory write down under the lower of cost or net realizable value accounting rules.

Shutdowns or underutilizing our manufacturing facilities may result in declines in our gross margins.

An important factor in our success is the extent to which we are able to utilize the available capacity in our manufacturing facilities. A number of factors and circumstances may reduce utilization rates, including periods of industry overcapacity, low levels of customer orders, operating inefficiencies, mechanical failures and disruption of operations due to expansion, power interruptions, fire, flood, other natural disasters or calamities or government-ordered mandatory factory shutdowns, including as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Severe air pollution in Beijing can trigger mandatory factory shutdowns. For example, in the first quarter of 2018, over 300 manufacturing companies, including Tongmei, were intermittently shut down by the local government for a total of ten days from February 27 to March 31, due to severe air pollution. Further, we have increased capacity by adding two new sites and this could reduce our utilization rate and increase our depreciation charges. Because many portions of our manufacturing costs are relatively fixed, high utilization rates are critical to our gross margins and operating results. If we fail to achieve acceptable manufacturing volumes or experience product shipment delays, our results of operations will be negatively affected. During periods of decreased demand, we have underutilized our manufacturing lines. If we are unable to improve utilization levels at our facilities during periods of decreased demand and correctly manage capacity, the fixed expense levels will have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. For example, in the three months ended September 30, 2023, our revenue dropped to $17.4 million and our gross margin was only 10.7%.

If we are unable to utilize the available capacity in our manufacturing facilities, we may need to implement a restructuring plan, which could have a material adverse effect on our revenue, our results of operations and our financial condition. For example, in 2013, we concluded that incoming orders were insufficient and that we were significantly underutilizing our factory capacity. As a result, in February 2014, we announced a restructuring plan with respect to our China company, Tongmei, in order to better align manufacturing capacity with demand. Under the restructuring plan, we recorded a charge of approximately $907,000 in the first quarter of 2014.

If we receive fewer customer orders than forecasted or if our customers delay or cancel orders, we may not be able to reduce our manufacturing costs in the short-term and our gross margins would be negatively affected. In addition, lead times required by our customers are shrinking, which reduces our ability to forecast orders and properly balance our capacity utilization.

Global economic and political conditions, including trade tariffs, import-export restrictions, and other restrictions, may have a negative impact on our business and financial results.

In September 2018, the Trump Administration announced a list of thousands of categories of goods that became subject to tariffs when imported into the United States from China. This pronouncement imposed tariffs on wafer substrates we imported into the United States. The initial tariff rate was 10% and subsequently was increased to 25%. Approximately 10% of our revenue derives from importing our wafers into the United States. In the years ended December 31, 2023, 2022 and 2021 we paid approximately $1.0 million, $3.3 million and $1.3 million, respectively, in tariffs. The future impact of tariffs and trade wars is uncertain.

The economic and political conditions between China and the United States, in our view, create an unstable business environment. The United States has restricted access by certain Chinese technology companies to items produced domestically and abroad from U.S. technology and software, which may impact our ability to grow our revenue. Trade restrictions against China have resulted in a greater determination within China to be self-sufficient and produce more goods domestically. Government agencies in China may be encouraging and supporting the founding of new companies, the addition of new products in existing companies and more vertical integration within companies. These factors could negatively impact our sales in China.

Our operations and financial results depend on worldwide economic and political conditions and their impact on levels of business spending, which has deteriorated significantly in many countries and regions. Uncertainties in the political, financial and credit markets and U.S. financial system may cause our customers to postpone deliveries. The COVID-19 virus remains an additional cause of uncertainty. Additionally, U.S. bank failures may affect our customers. Delays in the placement of new orders and extended uncertainties may reduce future sales of our products and services. The revenue growth and profitability of our business depends on the overall demand for our substrates. Because the end users of our products are primarily large companies whose businesses fluctuate with general economic and business conditions, a softening of demand for products that use our substrates, caused by a weakening economy, may result in decreased revenue. Customers may find themselves facing excess inventory from earlier purchases and may defer or reconsider purchasing products due to the downturn in their business and in the general economy. For example, global business conditions deteriorated in the second half of 2022. In the second quarter of 2022, our revenue totaled $39.5 million. In the fourth quarter of 2022, our revenue declined to $26.8 million and in the third quarter of 2023, our revenue further declined to $17.4 million. If market conditions deteriorate, we may experience increased collection times and greater write-offs, either of which could have a material adverse effect on our profitability and our cash flow.

Future tightening of credit markets and concerns regarding the availability of credit may make it more difficult for our customers to raise capital, whether debt or equity, to finance their purchases of capital equipment or of the products we sell. Delays in our customers’ ability to obtain such financing, or the unavailability of such financing, would adversely affect our product sales and revenues and, therefore, harm our business and operating results. We cannot predict the timing, duration of or effect on our business of any future economic downturn or the timing or strength of any subsequent recovery.

COVID-19 or other contagious diseases may affect our business operations and financial performance.

The spread of COVID-19 impacted our operations and financial performance. The outbreak of COVID has triggered references to the SARS outbreak, which occurred in 2003 and affected our business operations. Any severe occurrence of an outbreak of a contagious disease such as COVID-19, SARS, Avian Flu or Ebola may cause us or the government to temporarily close our manufacturing operations in China. In January 2020, virtually all companies in China were ordered to remain closed after the traditional Lunar New Year holiday ended, including our subsidiaries in China. In December 2022, the PRC government ended its zero-COVID policy. If there is a renewed surge of the COVID-19 pandemic in cities in which our PRC subsidiaries and PRC joint ventures are located, the Chinese government may require these companies to close again. If one or more of our key suppliers is required to close for an extended period, we might not have enough raw material inventories to continue manufacturing operations. In addition, travel restrictions between China and the U.S. were disrupted and this impacted our efficiency. In the future, if our manufacturing operations were closed for a significant period or we experience difficulty in shipping our products, we could lose revenue and market share, which would depress our financial performance and could be difficult to recapture. If one of our key customers is required to close for an extended period, this may delay the placement of new orders. As a result, our revenue would decline.

If we have low product yields, the shipment of our products may be delayed and our product cost and operating results may be adversely impacted.

A critical factor in our product cost is yield. Our products are manufactured using complex crystal growth and wafer processing technologies, and the number of usable wafer substrates we produce can fluctuate as a result of many factors, including:

• poor control of furnace temperature and pressure;
• impurities in the materials used;
• contamination of the manufacturing environment;
• quality control and inconsistency in quality levels;
• lack of automation and inconsistent processing requiring manual manufacturing steps;
• substrate breakage during the manufacturing process; and
• equipment failure, power outages or variations in the manufacturing process.

An example where yield is of special concern is for our six-inch semi-conducting gallium arsenide substrates, which can be used for manufacturing industrial lasers and LED lighting. These applications require very low defect densities, also called EPD, and our yields will be lower than the yields achieved for the same substrate when it will be used in other applications. If we are unable to achieve the targeted quantity of low defect density substrates, then our manufacturing costs would increase and our gross margins would be negatively impacted.

In addition, we may modify our process to meet a customer specification, but this can impact our yields. If our yields decrease, our revenue could decline if we are unable to produce products to our customers’ requirements. At the same time, our manufacturing costs could remain fixed, or could increase. Lower yields negatively impact our gross margin. We have experienced product shipment delays and difficulties in achieving acceptable yields on both new and older products, and such delays and poor yields have adversely affected our operating results. We may experience similar problems in the future and we cannot predict when they may occur, their duration or severity.

If our manufacturing processes result in defects in our products making them unfit for use by our customers, our products would be rejected, resulting in compensation costs paid to our customers, and possible disqualification. This could lead to revenue loss and market share loss.

Problems incurred in our raw material companies or our investment partners could result in a material adverse impact on our financial condition or results of operations.

We have invested in raw material companies in China that produce materials, including 99.99% pure gallium (4N Ga), high purity gallium (6N and 7N Ga), arsenic, germanium, germanium dioxide, pyrolytic boron nitride (pBN) crucibles and boron oxide (B2O3). We purchase a portion of the materials produced by these companies for our use and they sell the remainder of their production to third parties. We consolidate the companies in which we have a majority or controlling financial interest and employ equity accounting for the companies in which we have a smaller ownership interest. Several of these companies occupy space within larger facilities owned and/or operated by one of the other investment partners. Several of these partners are engaged in other manufacturing activities at or near the same facility. In some facilities, we share access to certain functions, including water, hazardous waste treatment or air quality treatment. If a partner in any of these ventures experiences problems with its operations, or deliberately withholds or disrupts services, disruptions in the operations of our companies could occur, having a material adverse effect on the financial condition and results of operation in these companies, and correspondingly on our financial condition or results of operations. For example, since gallium is a by-product of aluminum, our raw gallium company in China, which is housed in and receives services from an affiliated aluminum plant, could generate lower production and shipments of gallium as a result of reduced services provided by the aluminum plant. Accordingly, in order to meet customer supply obligations, our supply chain may have to source materials from another independent third-party supplier, resulting in higher costs and reduced gross margin.

The China central government has tightened control over hazardous chemicals and other hazardous materials. Further, the central government encourages employees to report to the appropriate regulatory agencies possible safety or environmental violations, but there may not be actual violations. Regular use in the normal course of business of hazardous chemicals or hazardous materials or a company’s failure to meet the ever-tightening standards for control of hazardous chemicals or hazardous materials could result in orders to shut down permanently, fines or other severe measures. Any such orders directed at one of our raw material companies could result in impairment charges if the company is forced to close its business, cease operations or incurs fines or operating losses, which would have a material adverse effect on our financial results.

Further, some of our raw material companies share facilities with our raw material investment partners. If either company is deemed to have violated applicable laws, rules or regulations governing the use, storage, discharge or disposal of hazardous chemicals, their operations could be adversely affected and we could be subject to substantial liability for clean-up efforts, personal injury, fines or suspension or termination of operations. Employees working for these companies could bring litigation against us even though we are not directly controlling those operations. While we would expect to defend ourselves vigorously in any litigation that is brought against us, litigation is inherently uncertain and it is possible that our business, financial condition, results of operations or cash flows could be affected. Even if we are not deemed responsible for the actions of the raw material companies or investment partners, litigation could be costly, time consuming to defend and divert management attention; in addition, if we are deemed to be the most financially viable of the partners, plaintiffs may decide to pursue us for damages.

Unforeseen manufacturing issues and restrictions at the new manufacturing sites could occur.

In 2015, the Beijing city government announced its decision to move most of its offices to the Tongzhou district where our original manufacturing facility is currently located. The Beijing city government has moved thousands of government employees into this district. To create room and upgrade the district, the government instructed virtually all existing manufacturing companies, including Tongmei, to relocate all or some of their manufacturing lines. We were instructed to move our gallium arsenide manufacturing lines out of the area.

Although the relocation is completed and we are in volume production at the new sites, unforeseen manufacturing issues and restrictions at the new sites could occur. Problems could occur as we add capacity or comply with strict guidelines as customers perform their qualifications. All of this will require us to continue to diligently address the many details that arise at each of our new sites. A failure to properly accomplish this could result in disruption to our production and have a material adverse impact on our revenue, our results of operations and our financial condition. If we fail to meet the product qualification and volume requirements of a customer, we may lose sales to that customer. Our reputation may also be damaged. Any loss of sales could have a material adverse effect on our revenue, our results of operations and our financial condition.

The Chinese government has in the past imposed temporary restrictions on manufacturing facilities, such as the restrictions imposed on polluting factories for the 2008 Olympics and the 2014 Asian Pacific Economic Cooperation event. These restrictions included a shutdown of the transportation of materials and power plants to reduce air pollution. To reduce air pollution in Beijing, the Chinese government has sometimes limited the construction of new, or expansion of existing, facilities by manufacturing companies in the Beijing area or required mandatory factory shutdowns. For example, in the first quarter of 2018, over 300 manufacturing companies, including Tongmei, were intermittently shut down by the local government for a total of ten days from February 27 to March 31 due to severe air pollution. If the government applies restrictions to us or requires mandatory factory shutdowns in the future, then such restrictions or shutdowns could have an adverse impact on our results of operations and our financial condition. Our ability to supply current or new orders could be significantly impacted. Customers could then be required to purchase products from our competitors, causing our competitors to take market share from us.

In addition, from time to time, the Chinese government issues new regulations, which may require additional actions on our part to comply. On February 27, 2015, the China State Administration of Work Safety updated its list of hazardous substances. The previous list, which was published in 2002, did not restrict the materials that we use in our wafers. The new list added gallium arsenide. As a result of the newly published list, we were required to seek additional permits.

Demand for our products may decrease if demand for the end-user applications decrease or if manufacturers downstream in our supply chain experience difficulty manufacturing, marketing or selling their products.

Our products are used to produce components for electronic and opto-electronic products. Accordingly, demand for our products is subject to the demand for end-user applications, including certain consumer applications, which utilize our products. For example, we have developed an 8-inch gallium arsenide wafer targeting an application in a consumer product. Our customer recently informed us that its end-user customer has cancelled its project. Production of the intended product was scheduled to begin in 2025. While there may be other end users, this particular cancellation is the loss of a potentially high-volume sales opportunity. Other factors affecting the ability of the manufacturers downstream in our supply chain to introduce and market their products successfully, include:

• worldwide economic and political conditions and their impact on levels of business spending;
• the competition such manufacturers face in their particular industries;
• end of life obsolescence of products containing devices built on our wafers;
• the technical, manufacturing, sales, marketing and management capabilities of such manufacturers;
• the financial and other resources of such manufacturers; and
• the inability of such manufacturers to sell their products if they infringe third-party intellectual property rights.

If demand for the end-user applications for which our products are used decreases, or if manufacturers downstream in our supply chain are unable to develop, market and sell their products, demand for our products will decrease. For example, during 2019 widespread political and economic instability and trade war concerns resulted in a general slowdown and our revenue decreased significantly. Additionally, in the second half of 2016, manufacturers producing and selling passive optical network devices known as EPONs and GPONs experienced a slowdown in demand resulting in surplus inventory on hand. The slowdown persisted until late in 2017. This resulted in a slowdown of sales of our InP substrates used in the PON market. More recently, global business conditions deteriorated, beginning in the second half of 2022. In general, many companies purchased more inventory than needed, in part due to fears of shortages resulting from COVID. In the second quarter of 2022, our revenue totaled $39.5 million. In the fourth quarter of 2022 our revenue declined to $26.8 million, in the second quarter of 2023, our revenue declined to $18.6 million and in the third quarter of 2023, our revenue further declined to $17.4 million. We expect similar cycles of strong demand followed by lower demand will occur for various InP, GaAs or Ge substrates in the future.

Our financial performance can be hurt if there are unfavorable financial results in any of our raw material companies.

The raw material companies in our vertically integrated supply chain have historically made a positive contribution to our financial performance. However, if there are unfavorable changes in revenue, average selling prices, gross margins or operating expenses in one or more of the consolidated companies, then this can result in a negative impact on our consolidated revenue, gross margin and profitability. If the companies are accounted for under the equity method, then these changes can result in a reduction in Equity in Income of Unconsolidated Joint Venture Companies. In 2023 and 2022, the companies accounted for under the equity method of accounting contributed a gain of $1.9 million and $6.0 million, respectively, to our consolidated financial statements. In 2023, the total includes impairment charges of $1.9 million. The last time the companies accounted for under the equity method of accounting contributed a loss was 2019 with a loss of $1.9 million.

Intense competition in the markets for our products could prevent us from increasing revenue and achieving profitability.

The markets for our products are intensely competitive. We face competition for our wafer substrate products from other manufacturers of substrates, such as Sumitomo, JX, Freiberger, Umicore, Vital and CCTC, and from companies, such as Qorvo and Skyworks, that are actively considering alternative materials to GaAs and marketing semiconductor devices using these alternative materials. Sumitomo and JX also compete with us in the InP market. If we are unable to compete effectively, our revenue may decrease and we may not maintain profitability. We face many competitors that have a number of significant advantages over us, including:

• greater name recognition and market share in the business;
• more manufacturing experience;
• extensive intellectual property; and
• significantly greater financial, technical and marketing resources.

Our competitors could develop new or enhanced products that are more effective than our products.

The level and intensity of competition has increased over the past years and we expect competition to continue to increase in the future. Competitive pressures have resulted in reductions in the prices of our products, and continued or increased competition could reduce our market share, require us to further reduce the prices of our products, affect our ability to recover costs and result in reduced gross margins and profitability.

In addition, new competitors have and may continue to emerge, such as a company established by a former employee in China that is supplying semi-conducting GaAs wafers to the LED market. Competition from sources such as this could increase, particularly if these competitors are able to obtain large capital investments. Further, recent trade tensions between China and the United States have resulted in a greater determination within China to be self-sufficient and produce more goods domestically. This could result in the formation of new competitors that would compete against the Company and adversely affect our financial results.

Cyber-attacks, system security risks and data protection issues could disrupt our internal operations and cause a reduction in revenue, increase in expenses, negatively impact our results of operation or result in other adverse consequences.

Like most technology companies, we could be targeted in cyber-attacks. We face a risk that experienced computer programmers and hackers may be able to penetrate our network security and misappropriate or compromise our confidential and proprietary information, potentially without being detected. Computer programmers and hackers also may be able to develop and deploy viruses, worms, and other malicious software programs that attack our information technology infrastructure and demand a ransom payment. The costs to us to eliminate or alleviate cyber or other security problems, bugs, viruses, worms, malicious software programs and security vulnerabilities could be significant, and our efforts to address these problems may not be successful and could result in interruptions and delays that may impede our sales, manufacturing, distribution, accounting or other critical functions.

Breaches of our security measures could create system disruptions or cause shutdowns or result in the accidental loss, inadvertent disclosure or unapproved dissemination of proprietary information or sensitive or confidential data about us. Cyber-attacks could use fraud, trickery or other forms of deception. A cyber-attack could expose us to a risk of loss or misuse of information, result in litigation and potential liability, damage our reputation or otherwise harm our business. In addition, the cost and operational consequences of implementing further data protection measures could be significant.

Portions of our information technology infrastructure might also experience interruptions, delays or cessations of service or produce errors in connection with systems integration or migration work that takes place from time to time, which may have a material impact on our business. We may not be successful in implementing new systems and transitioning data, which could cause business disruptions and be more expensive, time consuming, disruptive and resource-intensive than originally anticipated. Such disruptions could adversely impact our ability to fulfill orders and interrupt other processes. Delayed sales, lower margins or lost customers could adversely affect our financial results and reputation.

The average selling prices of our substrates may decline over relatively short periods, which may reduce our revenue and gross margins.

Since the market for our products is characterized by declining average selling prices resulting from various factors, such as increased competition, overcapacity, the introduction of new products and decreased sales of products incorporating our products, the average selling prices for our products may decline over relatively short time periods. We have in the past experienced, and in the future may experience, substantial period-to-period fluctuations in operating results due to declining average selling prices. In certain years, we have experienced an average selling price decline of our substrate selling prices of approximately 5% to 10%, depending on the substrate product. It is possible that the pace of the decline of average selling prices could accelerate beyond these levels for certain products in a commoditizing market. We anticipate that average selling prices may decrease in the future in response to the unstable demand environment, price reductions by competitors, or by other factors, including pricing pressures from significant customers. When our average selling prices decline, our revenue and gross profit decline, unless we are able to sell more products or reduce the cost to manufacture our products. We generally attempt to combat an average selling price decline by improving yields and manufacturing efficiencies and working to reduce the costs of our raw materials and of manufacturing our products. We also need to sell our current products in increasing volumes to offset any decline in their average selling prices, and introduce new products, which we may not be able to do, or do on a timely basis.

In order to remain competitive, we must continually improve our processes, work to reduce the cost of manufacturing our products and improve our yields and manufacturing efficiencies. Our efforts may not allow us to keep pace with competitive pricing pressures which could adversely affect our margins. There is no assurance that any changes effected by us will result in sufficient cost reductions to allow us to reduce the price of our products to remain competitive or improve our gross margins.

The loss of one or more of our tier one substrate customers would significantly hurt our operating results.

From time to time, sales to one or more of our tier one customers individually represent more than 10% of our revenue and if we were to lose a major customer the loss would negatively impact our revenue. Our customers are not obligated to purchase a specified quantity of our products or to provide us with binding forecasts of product purchases. In addition, our customers may reduce, delay or cancel orders. In the past, we have experienced a slowdown in bookings, significant push-outs and cancellation of orders from customers. If we lose a major customer or if a customer cancels, reduces or delays orders, our revenue would decline. In addition, customers that have accounted for significant revenue in the past may not continue to generate revenue for us in any future period. Any loss of customers or any delay in scheduled shipments of our products could cause revenue to fall below our expectations and the expectations of market analysts or investors, causing our stock price to decline.

We have made and may continue to make strategic investments in raw materials suppliers, which may not be successful and may result in the loss of all or part of our investment.

We have made direct investments or investments through our subsidiaries in raw material suppliers in China, which provide us with opportunities to gain supplies of key raw materials that are important to our substrate business. These affiliates each have a market beyond that provided by us. We may not have significant influence over every one of these companies and in some we have made only a strategic, minority investment. We may not be successful in achieving the financial, technological or commercial advantage upon which any given investment is premised, and we could end up losing all or part of our investment which would have a negative impact on our results of operations. In the first quarter of 2019, we incurred an impairment charge of $1.1 million for a germanium materials company in China in which we had a 25% ownership interest, writing down our investment to zero value. During the second quarter of 2023, one of our equity investments assessed one of its equity investments was fully impaired, leading to a $754,000 impairment charge in our financial results for the second quarter of 2023. In the fourth quarter of 2023, we divested another equity investment, incurring a net impairment charge of $1.1 million. A significant decline in the selling prices of raw materials began in 2015 and weakened some of these companies and their losses negatively impacted our financial results for several years. Further, the increasing concern and restrictions in China of hazardous chemicals and other hazardous materials could result in orders to shut down permanently, fines or other severe measures. Any such orders directed at one of our joint venture companies could result in impairment charges if the company is forced to close its business, cease operations or incurs fines, or operating losses, which would have a material adverse effect on our financial results.

If any of our facilities are damaged by occurrences such as fire, explosion, power outage or natural disaster, we might not be able to manufacture our products.

The ongoing operation of our manufacturing and production facilities is critical to our ability to meet demand for our products. If we are not able to use all or a significant portion of our facilities for prolonged periods for any reason, we would not be able to manufacture products for our customers. For example, a fire or explosion caused by our use of combustible chemicals, high furnace temperatures or, in the case of InP, high pressure during our manufacturing processes could render some of our facilities inoperable for an indefinite period of time. Actions outside of our control, such as earthquakes or other natural disasters, could also damage our facilities, rendering them inoperable. If we are unable to operate our facilities and manufacture our products, we would lose customers and revenue and our business would be harmed.

On the evening of March 15, 2017, an electrical short-circuit fire occurred at our Beijing manufacturing facility. The electrical power supply supporting 2-inch, 3-inch and 4-inch gallium arsenide and germanium crystal growth was damaged and production in that area was stopped. In addition, a wastewater pipe was damaged resulting in a halt to wafer processing for four days until the pipe could be repaired. We were able to rotate key furnace hardware and use some of the 6-inch capacity for smaller diameter crystal growth production to mitigate the impact of the fire and resume production. If we are unable to recover from a fire or natural disaster, our business and operating results could be materially and adversely affected.

Defects in our products could diminish demand for our products.

Our wafer products are complex and may contain defects, including defects resulting from impurities inherent in our raw materials or inconsistencies in our manufacturing processes. We have experienced quality control problems with some of our products, which caused customers to return products to us, reduce orders for our products, or both. If we experience quality control problems, or experience other manufacturing problems, customers may return product for credit, cancel or reduce orders or purchase products from our competitors. We may be unable to maintain or increase sales to our customers and sales of our products could decline. Defects in our products could cause us to incur higher manufacturing costs and suffer product returns and additional service expenses, all of which could adversely impact our operating results. If new products developed by us contain defects when released, our customers may be dissatisfied and we may suffer negative publicity or customer claims against us, lose sales or experience delays in market acceptance of our new products.

Our substrate products have a long qualification cycle that makes it difficult to forecast revenue from new customers or for new products sold to existing customers.

New customers typically place orders with us for our substrate products three months to a year or more after our initial contact with them. The sale of our products is subject to our customers’ lengthy internal evaluation and qualification processes. During this time, we may incur substantial expenses and expend selling, marketing and management efforts while the customers evaluate our products. These expenditures may not result in sales of our products. If we do not achieve anticipated sales in a period as expected, we may experience an unplanned shortfall in our revenue. As a result, our operating results would be adversely affected. In addition, if we fail to meet the product qualification requirements of the customer, we may not have another opportunity to sell that product to that customer for many months or even years. In the current competitive climate, the average qualification and sales cycle for our products has lengthened even further and is expected to continue to make it difficult for us to forecast our future sales accurately. We anticipate that sales of any future substrate products will also have lengthy qualification periods and will, therefore, be subject to risks substantially similar to those inherent in the lengthy sales cycles of our current substrate products.

The cyclical nature of the semiconductor industry may limit our ability to maintain or increase net sales and operating results during industry downturns.

The semiconductor industry is highly cyclical and periodically experiences significant economic downturns characterized by diminished product demand, resulting in production overcapacity and excess inventory in the markets we serve. A downturn can result in lower unit volumes and rapid erosion of average selling prices. The semiconductor industry has experienced significant downturns, often in connection with, or in anticipation of, maturing product cycles of both semiconductor companies’ and their customers’ products or a decline in general economic conditions. This may adversely affect our results of operations and the value of our business.

A recent example of a cyclical downcycle took shape in the second half of 2022 and has continued into 2024. Early in its history, COVID began to impact supply chains resulting in shortages. As a result, in 2021 and into 2022 almost all companies purchased more inventory than they needed as a safety precaution. In the second half of 2022 companies began to realize they were holding too much inventory and entered into the “inventory correction” period. Our consolidated revenue had reached $39.7 million in the first quarter of 2022. In the third quarter of 2023, our revenue had declined to $17.4 million.

Our continuing business depends in significant part upon manufacturers of electronic and opto-electronic compound semiconductor devices, as well as the current and anticipated market demand for these devices and products using these devices. As a supplier to the semiconductor industry, we are subject to the business cycles that characterize the industry. The timing, length and volatility of these cycles are difficult to predict. The compound semiconductor industry has historically been cyclical due to sudden changes in demand, the amount of manufacturing capacity and changes in the technology employed in compound semiconductors. The rate of changes in demand, including end demand, is high, and the effect of these changes upon us occurs quickly, exacerbating the volatility of these cycles. These changes have affected the timing and amounts of customers’ purchases and investments in new technology. These industry cycles create pressure on our revenue, gross margin and net income.

Our industry has in the past experienced periods of oversupply and that has resulted in significantly reduced prices for compound semiconductor devices and components, including our products, both as a result of general economic changes and overcapacity. Oversupply causes greater price competition and can cause our revenue, gross margins and net income to decline. During periods of weak demand, customers typically reduce purchases, delay delivery of products and/or cancel orders for our products. Order cancellations, reductions in order size or delays in orders could occur and would materially adversely affect our business and results of operations. Actions to reduce our costs may be insufficient to align our structure with prevailing business conditions. We may be required to undertake additional cost-cutting measures, and may be unable to invest in marketing, research and development and engineering at the levels we believe are necessary to maintain our competitive position. Our failure to make these investments could seriously harm our business.

A significant portion of our operating expense and manufacturing costs are relatively fixed. If revenue for a particular quarter is lower than we expect, we likely will be unable to proportionately reduce our operating expenses or fixed manufacturing costs for that quarter, which would harm our operating results.

If we do not successfully develop new product features and improvements and new products that respond to customer requirements, our ability to generate revenue, obtain new customers, and retain existing customers may suffer.

Our success depends on our ability to offer new product features, improved performance characteristics and new products, such as larger diameter substrates, low defect density substrates, thicker or thinner substrates, substrates with extreme surface flatness specifications, substrates that are manufactured with a doped crystal growth process or substrates that incorporate leading technology and other technological advances. This is an ongoing iterative research and development process performed by our China team in collaboration with our manufacturing managers. New products must meet customer needs and compete effectively on quality, price and performance. The markets for our products are characterized by rapid technological change, changing customer needs and evolving industry standards. If our competitors introduce products employing new technologies or performance characteristics, our existing products could become obsolete and unmarketable. Over time, we have seen our competitors selling more substrates manufactured using a crystal growth technology similar to ours, which has eroded our technological differentiation.

The development of new product features, improved performance characteristics and new products can be a highly complex process, and we may experience delays in developing and introducing them. Any significant delay could cause us to fail to timely introduce and gain market acceptance of new products. Further, the costs involved in researching, developing and engineering new products could be greater than anticipated. If we fail to offer new products or product enhancements or fail to achieve higher quality products, we may not generate sufficient revenue to offset our development costs and other expenses or meet our customers’ requirements.

We purchase critical raw materials and parts for our equipment from single or limited sources, and could lose sales if these sources fail to fill our needs.

We depend on a limited number of suppliers for certain raw materials, components and equipment used in manufacturing our products, including key materials such as quartz tubing, and polishing solutions. We generally purchase these materials through standard purchase orders and not pursuant to long-term supply contracts, and no supplier guarantees supply of raw materials or equipment to us. If we lose any of our key suppliers, our manufacturing efforts could be significantly hampered and we could be prevented from timely producing and delivering products to our customers. We have experienced delays obtaining critical raw materials and spare parts, including gallium, and we could experience such delays again in the future due to shortages of materials or for other reasons. Delays in receiving equipment or materials could result in higher costs and cause us to delay or reduce production of our products. If we have to delay or reduce production, we could fail to meet customer delivery schedules and our revenue and operating results could suffer.

We may not be able to identify or form additional complementary raw material joint ventures.

We might invest in additional joint venture companies in order to remain competitive in our marketplace and ensure a supply of critical raw materials. However, we may not be able to identify additional complementary joint venture opportunities or, even once opportunities are identified, we may not be able to reach agreement on the terms of the business venture with the other investment partners. Further, geopolitical tensions and trade wars could result in government agencies blocking such new joint ventures. New joint ventures could require cash investments or cause us to incur additional liabilities or other expenses, any of which could adversely affect our financial condition and operating results.

The financial condition of our customers may affect their ability to pay amounts owed to us.

Some of our customers may be undercapitalized and cope with cash flow issues. Because of competitive market conditions, we may grant our customers extended payment terms when selling products to them. Subsequent to our fulfilling an order, some customers have been unable to make payments when due, reducing our cash balances and causing us to incur charges to allow for a possibility that some accounts might not be paid. We observed an increase in our accounts receivable in the first quarter of 2020 and believe this has resulted from work stoppages, shelter-in-place orders and general cautiousness due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In the past, we have had some customers file for bankruptcy. If our customers do not pay amounts owed to us then we will incur charges that would reduce our earnings.

We depend on the continuing efforts of our senior management team and other key personnel. If we lose members of our senior management team or other key personnel, or are unable to successfully recruit and train qualified personnel, our ability to manufacture and sell our products could be harmed.

Our future success depends on the continuing services of members of our senior management team and other key personnel. Our industry is characterized by high demand and intense competition for talent, and the turnover rate can be high. We compete for qualified management and other personnel with other specialty material companies and semiconductor companies. Our employees could leave the Company with little or no prior notice and would be free to work for a competitor. If one or more of our senior executives or other key personnel were unable or unwilling to continue in their present positions, we may not be able to replace them easily or at all, and other senior management may be required to divert attention from other aspects of the business. The loss of any of these individuals or our ability to attract or retain qualified personnel could adversely affect our business.

Our results of operations may suffer if we do not effectively manage our inventory.

We must manage our inventory of raw materials, work in process and finished goods effectively to meet changing customer requirements, while keeping inventory costs down and improving gross margins. Although we seek to maintain sufficient inventory levels of certain materials to guard against interruptions in supply and to meet our near term needs, we may experience shortages of certain key materials. Alternatively, a sudden decline in demand could result in holding too much inventory which occurred in the second half of 2022. Some of our products and supplies have in the past, and may in the future, become obsolete while in inventory due to changing customer specifications, or become excess inventory due to decreased demand for our products and an inability to sell the inventory within a foreseeable period. This would result in charges that reduce our gross profit and gross margin. Furthermore, if market prices drop below the prices at which we value inventory, we would need to take a charge for a reduction in inventory values in accordance with the lower of cost or net realizable value valuation rule. We have in the past had to take inventory valuation and impairment charges. Any future unexpected changes in demand or increases in costs of production that cause us to take additional charges for un-saleable, obsolete or excess inventory, or to reduce inventory values, would adversely affect our results of operations.

The effect of terrorist threats and actions on the general economy could decrease our revenue.

Countries such as the United States and China continue to be on alert for terrorist activity. The potential near and long-term impact terrorist activities may have in regards to our suppliers, customers and markets for our products and the economy is uncertain. There may be embargos of ports or products, or destruction of shipments or our facilities, or attacks that affect our personnel. There may be other potentially adverse effects on our operating results due to significant events that we cannot foresee. Since we perform all of our manufacturing operations in China, terrorist activity or threats against U.S. owned enterprises are a particular concern to us.

III. Risks Related to International Aspects of Our Business

The Chinese central government is increasingly aware of air pollution and other forms of environmental pollution and their reform efforts can impact our manufacturing, including intermittent mandatory shutdowns.

The Chinese central government is demonstrating strong leadership to improve air quality and reduce environmental pollution. These efforts have impacted manufacturing companies through mandatory shutdowns, increased inspections and regulatory reforms. In the fourth quarter of 2017, many manufacturing companies in the greater Beijing area, including Tongmei, were instructed by the local government to cease most manufacturing for several days until the air quality improved. In the first quarter of 2018, from February 27 to March 31 over 300 manufacturing companies, including Tongmei, were again intermittently shut down by the local government for a total of ten days, or 30 percent of the remaining calendar days, due to severe air pollution. Our shipments were delayed and our revenue for the quarter was negatively impacted. We expect that mandatory factory shutdowns may occur in the future. If the frequency of such shutdowns increases, especially at the end of a quarter, or if the total number of days of shutdowns prevents us from producing enough wafers to ship, then these shutdowns will have a material adverse effect on our manufacturing output, revenue and factory utilization. Each of our raw material supply chain companies could also be impacted by environmental related orders from the central government.

Although we are a Delaware corporation and are neither a PRC operating company nor do we conduct our operations in China through the use of VIEs, in the event we inadvertently concluded that we do not require any permissions or approvals from the CSRC or other PRC central government authorities to complete a public offering of securities in the U.S. or applicable laws, regulations, or interpretations change, we may be required to obtain such permissions or approvals to complete such a public offering of securities.

We are a Delaware corporation and are neither a PRC operating company nor do we conduct our operations in China through the use of VIEs. All of our products are manufactured in the PRC by our PRC subsidiaries and PRC joint ventures. We believe that we do not require any permissions or approvals from the CSRC or other PRC central government authorities to complete a public offering of securities in the U.S. because we are a Delaware corporation with our principal corporate office in Fremont, California and the PRC laws and regulations that govern the listing of securities on a U.S. securities exchange apply to PRC companies. However, in the event that we inadvertently concluded that such permission or approvals are not required or applicable laws, regulations, or interpretations change and we are required to obtain such permissions or approvals in the future and we fail to obtain such permissions or approvals, then we may not be able to complete a public offering of securities in the U.S. We may also be pressured to delist our securities, which would force the holders to sell these securities and could result in a material adverse effect on the value of these securities. We may face sanctions by the CSRC or other PRC central government authorities or pressure from the PRC government in various business matters for failure to obtain such permissions or approvals. These sanctions or pressure may include fines and penalties on our operations in China, limitations on our operating privileges in China, delays in or restrictions on the repatriation of the proceeds from a public offering of securities in the U.S. into the PRC, restrictions on or prohibition of the payments or remittance of dividends by our subsidiaries in China, or other actions that could have a material and adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations, reputation and prospects, as well as the trading price of our common stock.

The PRC central government may intervene in or influence our PRC operations at any time and the rules and regulations in China can change quickly with little advance notice.

The businesses of our PRC subsidiaries and PRC joint ventures are subject to complex and rapidly evolving laws and regulations in the PRC, which can change quickly with little advance notice. The PRC central government is a single party form of government with virtually unlimited authority and power to intervene in or influence commercial operations in China. In the past, we have experienced such intervention or influence by the PRC central government and a change in the rules and regulations in China when we were instructed by the Beijing municipal government to relocate our gallium arsenide manufacturing facility in Beijing and expect that such intervention or influence or change in the rules and regulations in China could occur in the future.

In the ordinary course of business, our PRC subsidiaries and PRC joint ventures require permits and licenses to operate in the PRC. Such permits and licenses include permits to use hazardous materials in manufacturing operations. From time to time, the PRC government issues new regulations, which may require additional actions on the part of our PRC subsidiaries and PRC joint ventures to comply. For example, on February 27, 2015, the China State Administration of Work Safety updated its list of hazardous substances. The previous list, which was published in 2002, did not restrict the materials that we use in our wafers. The new list added gallium arsenide. As a result of the newly published list, we were required to seek additional permits. Any such intervention or influence or change in the rules and regulations in China could result in a material change in our PRC operations and/or the value of our common stock.

Enhanced trade tariffs, import restrictions, export restrictions, Chinese regulations or other trade barriers may materially harm our business.

On July 3, 2023, China adopted new export control regulations on gallium- and germanium-related materials and the derivative products using these materials, effective as of August 1, 2023, which require Tongmei to proceed to immediately seek permits from the applicable Chinese authorities to export gallium arsenide and germanium substrates. Indium phosphide substrates are not included in the new export control regulations, and, therefore, exports of indium phosphide will not require export approvals as part of these regulations. While Tongmei has received its initial China export permits to resume shipping gallium arsenide and germanium substrates to certain customers, there can be no assurances that Tongmei will continue to receive China export permits to resume shipping gallium arsenide and germanium substrates to other customers or that China will not adopt additional export control regulations that affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

All of our wafer substrates are manufactured in China and in the years 2023, 2022 and 2021, approximately 10%, 14% and 10% of our revenue, respectively, were generated by sales to customers in North America, primarily in the U.S. In September 2018, the Trump Administration announced a list of thousands of categories of goods that became subject to tariffs when imported into the United States from China. This pronouncement imposed tariffs on wafer substrates we imported into the United States. The initial tariff rate was 10% and subsequently was increased to 25%. In the years 2023, 2022 and 2021, we paid approximately $1.0 million, $3.3 million and $1.3 million, respectively, in tariffs. The future impact of tariffs and trade wars is uncertain. We may be required to raise prices, which may result in the loss of customers and our business, financial condition and results of operations may be materially harmed. Additionally, it is possible that our business could be adversely impacted by retaliatory trade measures taken by China or other countries in response to existing or future tariffs, which could cause us to raise prices or make changes to our operations, which could materially harm our business, financial condition and results of operations.

The economic and political conditions between China and the United States, in our view, create an unstable business environment. The United States government has restricted access by certain Chinese technology companies to items produced domestically and abroad from U.S. technology and software, which may impact our ability to maintain or grow our revenue. Trade restrictions against China have resulted in a greater determination within China to be self-sufficient and produce more goods domestically. Government agencies in China may be encouraging and supporting the founding of new companies, the addition of new products in existing companies and more vertical integration within companies. These factors have resulted in lower revenue from sales of our wafer substrates in China. Further, the continued threats of tariffs and other trade restrictions could have a generally disruptive impact on the global economy and, therefore, negatively impact our sales.

In addition, we may incur increases in costs and other adverse business consequences, including losses of customers and revenue or decreased gross margins, due to changes in tariffs, import or export restrictions, further trade barriers, or unexpected changes in regulatory requirements. In addition, in July 2012, we received notice of retroactive value-added taxes (VATs) levied by the tax authorities in China, which applied for the period from July 1, 2011 to June 30, 2012. We expensed the retroactive VATs of approximately $1.3 million in the quarter ended June 30, 2012, which resulted in a decrease in our gross margins. These VATs will continue to negatively impact our gross margins for the future quarters. Given the relatively fluid regulatory environment in China and the United States, there could be additional tax or other regulatory changes in the future. Any such changes could directly and materially adversely impact our financial results and general business condition.

COVID-19 or other contagious diseases may affect our business operations and financial performance.

The spread of COVID-19 impacted our operations and financial performance. The outbreak of COVID has triggered references to the SARS outbreak, which occurred in 2003 and affected our business operations. Any severe occurrence of an outbreak of a contagious disease such as COVID-19, SARS, Avian Flu or Ebola may cause us or the government to temporarily close our manufacturing operations in China. In January 2020, virtually all companies in China were ordered to remain closed after the traditional Lunar New Year holiday ended, including our subsidiaries in China. In December 2022, the PRC government ended its zero-COVID policy. If there is a renewed surge of the COVID-19 pandemic in cities in which our PRC subsidiaries and PRC joint ventures are located, the Chinese government may require these companies to close again. If one or more of our key suppliers is required to close for an extended period, we might not have enough raw material inventories to continue manufacturing operations. In addition, travel restrictions between China and the U.S. were disrupted and this impacted our efficiency. In the future, if our manufacturing operations were closed for a significant period or we experience difficulty in shipping our products, we could lose revenue and market share, which would depress our financial performance and could be difficult to recapture. If one of our key customers is required to close for an extended period, this may delay the placement of new orders. As a result, our revenue would decline.

Changes in China’s political, social, regulatory or economic environments may affect our financial performance.

Our financial performance may be affected by changes in China’s political, social, regulatory or economic environments. The role of the Chinese central and local governments in the Chinese economy is significant. The Beijing municipal government’s decision to move to the Tongzhou district, the original location of our China company, resulted in the city instructing virtually all existing manufacturing companies, including AXT, to relocate all or some of their manufacturing lines. We were instructed to move our gallium arsenide manufacturing line out of the area. Chinese policies toward hazardous materials, including arsenic, environmental controls, air pollution, economic liberalization, laws and policies affecting technology companies, foreign investment, currency exchange rates, taxation structure and other matters could change, resulting in greater restrictions on our ability to do business and operate our manufacturing facilities in China. We have observed a growing fluidity and tightening of regulations concerning hazardous materials, other environmental controls and air pollution. The Chinese government could revoke, terminate or suspend our operating licenses for reasons related to environmental control over the use of hazardous materials, air pollution, labor complaints, national security and similar reasons without compensation to us. Further, the central government encourages employees to report to the appropriate regulatory agencies possible safety or environmental violations, but there may not be actual violations. In days of severe air pollution the government has ordered manufacturing companies to stop all production. For example, in the first quarter of 2018, from February 27 to March 31, over 300 manufacturing companies, including us, were again intermittently shut down by the local government for a total of ten days due to severe air pollution. Our shipments were delayed and our revenue for the quarter was negatively impacted. We expect that mandatory factory shutdowns may occur in the future. Any failure on our part to comply with governmental regulations could result in the loss of our ability to manufacture our products. Further, any imposition of surcharges or any increase in Chinese tax rates or reduction or elimination of Chinese tax benefits could hurt our financial results.

Financial market volatility and adverse changes in the domestic, global, political and economic environment could have a significant adverse impact on our business, financial condition and operating results.

We are subject to the risks arising from adverse changes and uncertainty in domestic and global economies. Uncertain global economic and political conditions or low or negative growth in China, Europe or the United States, along with volatility in the financial markets and U.S. financial system, increasing national debt and fiscal concerns in various regions and the adoption and availability of fiscal and monetary stimulus measures to counteract the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, pose challenges to our industry. Currently China’s economy is slowing and this could impact our financial performance. In addition, tariffs, trade restrictions, trade wars, high levels of inflation, high interest rates, the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Middle East conflict, the Red Sea shipping disruptions, Brexit, heightened tensions between the U.S. and China, and U.S. bank failures in 2023, among other factors, are creating an unstable environment and can disrupt or restrict commerce. Although we remain well-capitalized, the cost and availability of funds may be adversely affected by illiquid credit markets. Volatility in U.S. and international markets and economies may adversely affect our liquidity, financial condition and profitability. Another severe or prolonged economic downturn could result in a variety of risks to our business, including:

• inventory corrections;
• increased volatility in our stock price;
• increased volatility in foreign currency exchange rates;
• delays in, or curtailment of, purchasing decisions by our customers or potential customers;
• increased credit risk associated with our customers or potential customers, particularly those that may operate in industries most affected by the economic downturn; and
• impairment of our tangible or intangible assets.

A recent example of economic volatility took shape in the second half of 2022 and has continued into 2024. Early in its history, COVID began to impact supply chains resulting in shortages. As a result, in 2021 and into 2022 almost all companies purchased more inventory than needed as a safety net. In the second half of 2022 companies began to realize they had too much inventory and entered into the “inventory correction” period. Our consolidated revenue had reached $39.7 million in the first quarter of 2022. In the third quarter of 2023 our revenue had declined to $17.4 million. In the fourth quarter of 2018 and continuing in 2019, we experienced delays in customer purchasing decisions and disruptions in a normal volume of customer orders that we believe were in part due to the uncertainties in the global economy, resulting in an adverse impact on consumer spending. During challenging and uncertain economic times and in tight credit markets, many customers delay or reduce technology purchases. Should similar events occur again, our business and operating results could be significantly and adversely affected.

The PRC central government may also exert more control over offerings conducted overseas and/or foreign investment in China-based issuers, which could result in a material change in our operations and/or the value of our common stock.

The PRC central government may also exert more control over offerings conducted overseas and/or foreign investment in China-based issuers, which could result in a material change in our operations and/or the value of our common stock. The PRC central government may also seek to significantly limit or completely hinder our ability to offer or continue to offer our securities to investors and cause the value of such securities to significantly decline or be worthless.

Our international operations are exposed to potential adverse tax consequence in China.

Our international operations create a risk of potential adverse tax consequences. Taxes on income in our China-based companies are dependent upon acceptance of our operational practices and intercompany transfer pricing by local tax authorities as being on an arm's length basis. Due to inconsistencies among taxing authorities in application of the arm's length standard, transfer pricing challenges by tax authorities could, if successful, materially increase our consolidated income tax expense. We are subject to tax audits in China and an audit could result in the assessment of additional income tax against us. This could have a material adverse effect on our operating results or cash flows in the period or periods for which that determination is made and could result in increases to our overall tax expense in subsequent periods. Various taxing agencies in China are increasingly focused on tax reform and other legislative action to increase tax revenue. In addition to risks regarding income tax we have in the past been retroactively assessed value added taxes (“VAT” or “sales tax”) and such VAT assessments could occur again in the future.

Uncertainty regarding the United States’ foreign policy, particularly with regards to China, could disrupt our business.

We manufacture our substrates in China and, in the twelve months ended December 31, 2023, approximately 90% of our sales were to customers located outside the United States. Further, we have partial ownership of raw material companies in China as part of our supply chain. The United States’ current foreign policy has created uncertainty and caution in the international business community, resulting in disruptions in manufacturing, import/export, trade tariffs, sales, investments and other business activity. Such disruptions have had an adverse impact on our financial performance and could continue in the future.

Dividends from within our corporate structure are subject to PRC withholding tax and SAFE approval.

Occasionally, one of our PRC subsidiaries or PRC raw material joint ventures declares and pays a dividend. These dividends generally occur when the PRC joint venture declares a dividend for all of its shareholders. We have no current intentions to distribute to our investors earnings under our corporate structure. Dividends paid to the Company are subject to a 10% PRC withholding tax. The Company is required to obtain approval from SAFE to transfer funds in or out of the PRC. SAFE requires a valid agreement to approve the transfers, which are processed through a bank. Other than PRC foreign exchange restrictions, the Company is not subject to any PRC restrictions and limitations on its ability to distribute earnings from its businesses. If SAFE approval is denied the dividend payable to the Company would be owed but would not be paid.

Our PRC subsidiaries and PRC joint ventures are subject to data security oversight.

Our PRC subsidiaries and PRC joint ventures are subject to oversight by the Cyberspace Administration of China (the “CAC”) regarding data security. Except for routine personal information necessary to process payroll and other benefits and emergency contact information, our PRC subsidiaries and PRC joint ventures do not collect or maintain personal information. All of our products are manufactured in the PRC by our PRC subsidiaries and PRC joint ventures. Although we are neither a PRC operating company nor do we conduct our operations in China through the use of VIEs, cybersecurity is increasingly a focus of the central government and the CAC could require AXT to comply with PRC cybersecurity regulations, which could cause us to make changes to our operations that could materially harm our business, financial condition and results of operations.

We derive a significant portion of our revenue from international sales, and our ability to sustain and increase our international sales involves significant risks.

Approximately 90% of our revenue is from international sales. We expect that sales to customers outside the United States, particularly sales to customers in Japan, Taiwan, Europe and China, will continue to represent a significant portion of our revenue. Therefore, our revenue growth depends significantly on the expansion of our international sales and operations.

All of our manufacturing facilities and most of our suppliers are also located outside the United States. Managing our overseas operations presents challenges, including periodic regional economic downturns, trade balance issues, threats of trade wars, varying business conditions and demands, political instability, variations in enforcement of intellectual property and contract rights in different jurisdictions, differences in the ability to develop relationships with suppliers and other local businesses, changes in U.S. and international laws and regulations, including import and export restrictions, fluctuations in interest and currency exchange rates, the ability to provide sufficient levels of technical support in different locations, cultural differences and perceptions of U.S. companies, shipping delays and terrorist acts or acts of war, natural disasters and epidemics or pandemics, such as COVID-19, among other risks. Many of these challenges are present in China, which represents a large potential market for semiconductor devices. Global uncertainties with respect to: (i) economic growth rates in various countries; (ii) sustainability of demand for electronic products; (iii) capital spending by semiconductor manufacturers; (iv) price weakness for certain semiconductor devices; (v) changing and tightening environmental regulations; (vi) political instability in regions where we have operations and (vii) trade wars may also affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Our dependence on international sales involves a number of risks, including:

• changes in tariffs, import restrictions, export restrictions, or other trade barriers;
• unexpected changes in regulatory requirements;
• longer periods to collect accounts receivable;
• foreign exchange rate fluctuations;
• changes in export license requirements;
• political and economic instability; and
• unexpected changes in diplomatic and trade relationships.

Most of our sales are denominated in U.S. dollars, except for sales to our Chinese customers which are denominated in renminbi and our Japanese customers which are denominated in Japanese yen. We also have some small sales denominated in Euro. Increases in the value of the U.S. dollar could increase the price of our products in non-U.S. markets and make our products more expensive than competitors’ products in these markets.

We are subject to foreign exchange gains and losses that may materially impact our consolidated statements of operations.

We are subject to foreign exchange gains and losses that may materially impact our consolidated statements of operations. For example, in 2023 and 2022, we incurred foreign exchange gains of $169,000 and $1.6 million, respectively and in 2021, we incurred a foreign exchange loss of $434,000.

The functional currency of our companies in China is the Chinese renminbi, the local currency. We can incur foreign exchange gains or losses when we pay dollars to one of our China-based companies or a third-party supplier in China. Similarly, if a company in China pays renminbi into one of our bank accounts transacting in dollars the renminbi will be converted to dollars and we can incur a foreign exchange gain or loss. Hedging renminbi will be considered in the future but it is complicated by the number of companies involved, the diversity of transactions and restrictions imposed by the banking system in China.

Sales to Japanese customers are denominated in Japanese yen. This subjects us to fluctuations in the exchange rates between the U.S. dollar and the Japanese yen and can result in foreign exchange gains and losses. This has been problematic in the past and, therefore, we instituted a foreign currency hedging program dealing with yen which has historically mitigated the gains and losses caused by fluctuations in the exchange rates.

Joint venture raw material companies in China bring certain risks.

Since our consolidated subsidiaries and all of our joint venture raw material companies operate in China, their activities could subject us to a number of risks associated with conducting operations internationally, including:

• import and export restrictions;
• unexpected changes in regulatory requirements that may limit our ability to manufacture, export the products of these companies, sell into particular jurisdictions or impose multiple conflicting tax laws and regulations;
• the imposition of tariffs, trade barriers and duties;
• difficulties in managing geographically disparate operations;
• difficulties in enforcing agreements through non-U.S. legal systems;
• political and economic instability, civil unrest or war;
• terrorist activities that impact international commerce;
• difficulties in protecting our intellectual property rights, particularly in countries where the laws and practices do not protect proprietary rights to as great an extent as do the laws and practices of the United States;
• new or changing laws and policies affecting economic liberalization, foreign investment, currency convertibility or exchange rates, taxation or employment;
• new or changing PRC regulations and policies regarding data security and oversight by the CAC of our consolidated subsidiaries and all of our joint venture raw material companies; and
• nationalization of foreign-owned assets, including intellectual property.

If China places restrictions on freight and transportation routes and on ports of entry and departure this could result in shipping delays or increased costs for shipping.

In August 2015, there was an explosion at the Port of Tianjin, China. As a result of this incident the government placed restrictions on importing certain materials and on freight routes used to transport these materials. We experienced some modest disruption from these restrictions. If the government were to place additional restrictions on the transportation of materials, then our ability to transport our raw materials or products could be limited and result in manufacturing delays or bottlenecks at shipping ports, affecting our ability to deliver products to our customers. During periods of such restrictions, we may increase our stock of critical materials (such as arsenic, gallium and other items) for use during the period that these restrictions are likely to last, which will increase our use of cash and increase our inventory level. Any of these restrictions could materially and adversely impact our results of operations and our financial condition.

Our operating results depend in large part on continued customer acceptance of our substrate products manufactured in China and continued improvements in product quality.

We manufacture all of our products in China, and source most of our raw materials in China. We have in the past experienced quality problems with our China manufactured products. Our previous quality problems caused us to lose market share to our competitors as some of our customers reduced their orders until our wafer surface quality was as good and as consistent as that offered by our competitors. If we are unable to continue to achieve customer qualifications for our products, or if we are unable to control product quality, customers may not increase purchases of our products, our China facilities will become underutilized, and we will be unable to achieve revenue growth.

If there are power shortages in China, we may have to temporarily close our China operations, which would adversely impact our ability to manufacture our products and meet customer orders, and would result in reduced revenue.

In the past, China has faced power shortages resulting in power demand outstripping supply in peak periods. Instability in electrical supply has caused sporadic outages among residential and commercial consumers causing the Chinese government to implement tough measures to ease the energy shortage. If further problems with power shortages occur in the future, we may be required to make temporary closures of our operations or of our subsidiary and joint venture raw material companies. We may be unable to manufacture our products and would then be unable to meet customer orders except from finished goods inventory on hand. As a result, our revenue could be adversely impacted, and our relationships with our customers could suffer, impacting our ability to generate future revenue. In addition, if power is shut off at any of our facilities at any time, either voluntarily or as a result of unplanned brownouts, during certain phases of our manufacturing process including our crystal growth phase, the work in process may be ruined and rendered unusable, causing us to incur costs that will not be covered by revenue, and negatively impacting our cost of revenue and gross margins.

Although the audit report is prepared by an independent registered public accounting firm who is currently inspected fully by the PCAOB, there is no guarantee that future audit reports will be prepared by an independent registered public accounting firm that is completely inspected by the PCAOB.

Our independent registered public accounting firm, BPM, is registered with the PCAOB and is subject to regular inspections by the PCAOB to assess its compliance with the applicable professional standards. Although we have operations in China, a jurisdiction where the PCAOB was, until recently, unable to conduct inspections without the approval of the Chinese government authorities, our independent registered public accounting firm is currently inspected fully by the PCAOB.

Inspections of other independent registered public accounting firms conducted by the PCAOB outside China have at times identified deficiencies in those independent registered public accounting firms’ audit procedures and quality control procedures, which may be addressed as part of the inspection process to improve future audit quality. The lack of PCAOB inspections of audit work undertaken in China prevented the PCAOB from regularly evaluating independent registered public accounting firms’ audits and their quality control procedures. As a result, to the extent that any component of our independent registered public accounting firm’s work papers is or becomes located in China, such work papers may not be subject to inspection by the PCAOB. As a result, investors would be deprived of such PCAOB inspections, which could result in limitations or restrictions to our access of the U.S. capital markets.

As part of a continued regulatory focus in the United States on access to audit and other information currently protected by national law, in particular PRC laws, in June 2019, a bipartisan group of lawmakers introduced bills in both houses of the U.S. Congress which, if passed, would require the SEC to maintain a list of issuers for which PCAOB is not able to inspect or investigate the audit work performed by a non-U.S. independent registered public accounting firm completely. The proposed Ensuring Quality Information and Transparency for Abroad-Based Listings on our Exchanges Act prescribes increased disclosure requirements for these issuers and, beginning in 2025, the delisting from U.S. national securities exchanges such as the Nasdaq Global Select Market of issuers included on the SEC’s list for three consecutive years. It is unclear if this proposed legislation will be enacted. Furthermore, there have been recent deliberations within the U.S. government regarding potentially limiting or restricting companies based in China from accessing U.S. capital markets. On May 20, 2020, the U.S. Senate passed the HFCA Act, which includes requirements for the SEC to identify issuers whose audit work is performed by independent registered public accounting firms that the PCAOB is unable to inspect or investigate completely because of a restriction imposed by a non-U.S. authority in the independent registered public accounting firms’ local jurisdiction. The U.S. House of Representatives passed the HFCA Act on December 2, 2020, and the HFCA Act was signed into law on December 18, 2020. Additionally, in July 2020, the U.S. President’s Working Group on Financial Markets issued recommendations for actions that can be taken by the executive branch, the SEC, the PCAOB or other federal agencies and department with respect to Chinese companies listed on U.S. stock exchanges and their independent registered public accounting firms, in an effort to protect investors in the United States. In response, on November 23, 2020, the SEC issued guidance highlighting certain risks (and their implications to U.S. investors) associated with investments in issuers based in China and summarizing enhanced disclosures the SEC recommends issuers based in China make regarding such risks. On March 18, 2021, the SEC adopted interim final rules to implement the HFCA Act, which requires the SEC to identify certain issuers that filed annual reports with audit reports issued by registered public accounting firms located in foreign jurisdictions and that the PCAOB is unable to inspect or investigate completely because of a position taken by an authority in those jurisdictions (the “Commission-Identified Issuers”). Specifically, the SEC implemented the submission and disclosure requirements of the HFCA Act. On December 2, 2021, the SEC issued amendments to finalize the interim final rules. Further, the SEC established procedures to identify Commission-Identified Issuers and prohibit the trading of the securities of Commission-Identified Issuers as required by the HFCA Act. We will be required to comply with these rules if the SEC identifies us as a Commission-Identified Issuer. Under the HFCA Act, our securities may be prohibited from trading on the Nasdaq Global Select Market or other U.S. stock exchanges if we are determined to be a Commission-Identified

Issuer for three consecutive years, and this ultimately could result in our common stock being delisted. Furthermore, on June 22, 2021, the U.S. Senate passed the Accelerating Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act, which, if enacted, would amend the HFCA Act and require the SEC to prohibit an issuer’s securities from trading on any U.S. stock exchanges if the issuer is determined to be a Commission-Identified Issuer for two consecutive years instead of three. On December 15, 2021, the Accelerating Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act was introduced to the U.S. House of Representatives. On September 22, 2021, the PCAOB adopted a final rule implementing the HFCA Act, which provides a framework for the PCAOB to use when determining, as contemplated under the HFCA Act, whether the PCAOB is unable to inspect or investigate completely independent registered public accounting firms located in a non-U.S. jurisdiction because of a position taken by one or more authorities in that jurisdiction and was approved by the SEC on November 5, 2021. On December 16, 2021, the PCAOB issued a report on its determinations that the PCAOB is unable to inspect or investigate completely registered public accounting firms headquartered in the PRC and Hong Kong because of positions taken by PRC authorities in those jurisdictions.

Beginning in March 2022, the SEC listed companies on either its conclusive list of issuers identified under the HFCA Act or its provisional list of issuers identified under the HFCA Act. Companies listed on the SEC’s conclusive list of issuers identified under the HFCA Act are determined to be Commission-Identified Issuers. The SEC did not list AXT, Inc. on either its conclusive list of issuers identified under the HFCA Act or its provisional list of issuers identified under the HFCA Act.

On December 15, 2022, the PCAOB vacated its 2021 determinations that the positions taken by authorities in the PRC and Hong Kong prevented it from inspecting and investigating completely registered public accounting firms headquartered in those jurisdictions. As a result, the SEC will not provisionally or conclusively identify an issuer as a Commission-Identified Issuer if it files an annual report with an audit report issued by a registered public accounting firm headquartered in either jurisdiction on or after December 15, 2022, until such time as the PCAOB issues a new determination. The SEC will continue to include any Commission-Identified Issuer on the provisional or conclusive list if they filed an annual report with an audit report issued by a registered public accounting firm headquartered in mainland China and Hong Kong prior to the PCAOB’s decision to vacate its 2021 determinations.

While an agreement has been reached among the CSRC, the SEC and the PCAOB regarding the inspection of PCAOB-independent registered public accounting firms in China, there can be no assurance that we will be able to comply with requirements imposed by U.S. regulators. If the PRC authorities do not fully perform their obligations under the agreement with the PCAOB in the future, or if authorities in the PRC otherwise take positions that render the PCAOB unable to inspect or investigate completely registered public accounting firms headquartered in the PRC and Hong Kong, the PCAOB will make determinations under the HFCA Act. Delisting of our common stock would force holders of our common stock to sell their shares. The market price of our common stock could be adversely affected as a result of anticipated negative impacts of these executive or legislative actions upon, as well as negative investor sentiment towards, companies with operations in China that are listed in the United States, regardless of whether these executive or legislative actions are implemented and regardless of our actual operating performance.

IV. Risks Related to Our Financial Results and Capital Structure

We may utilize our cash balances for relocating manufacturing lines, adding capacity, acquiring state-of-the-art equipment or offsetting a business downturn resulting in the decline of our existing cash and if we need additional capital, funds may not be available on acceptable terms, or at all.

Our liquidity is affected by many factors, including among others, the relocation of our gallium arsenide manufacturing lines, the expansion of our capacity to meet market demand, the acquisition of state-of-the-art equipment, other capital expenditures, operating activities, the effect of exchange rate changes and other factors related to the uncertainties of the industry and global economies. Such matters could draw down our cash reserves, which could adversely affect our financial condition, require us to incur debt, reduce our value and possibly impinge our ability to raise debt and equity funding in the future, at a time when we might need to raise additional cash or elect to raise additional cash. Accordingly, there can be no assurance that events will not require us to seek additional capital or, if required, that such capital would be available on terms acceptable to us, if at all.

The terms of the private equity raised in China as a first step toward an IPO on the STAR Market grant each Investor a right of redemption if Tongmei fails to achieve its IPO.

Pursuant to the Capital Investment Agreements with the Investors, each Investor has the right to require AXT to redeem any or all Tongmei shares held by such Investor at the original purchase price paid by such Investor, without interest, in the event the IPO fails to pass the audit of the Shanghai Stock Exchange, is not approved by the CSRC or Tongmei cancels the IPO application. The aggregate redemption amount is approximately $49 million.

Tongmei submitted its IPO application to the Shanghai Stock Exchange and it was formally accepted for review on January 10, 2022. The Shanghai Stock Exchange approved the IPO application on July 12, 2022. On August 1, 2022, the CSRC accepted for review Tongmei’s IPO application. The STAR Market IPO remains subject to review and approval by the CSRC and other authorities. The process of going public on the STAR Market includes several periods of review and, therefore, is a lengthy process. Subject to review and approval by the CSRC and other authorities, Tongmei expects to accomplish this goal in the coming months. The listing of Tongmei on the STAR Market will not change the status of AXT as a U.S. public company. There can be no assurances that Tongmei will complete its IPO in 2024 or at all. In the event that investors exercise their redemption rights, we may be required to seek additional capital in order to redeem their Tongmei shares and there would be no assurances that such capital would be available on terms acceptable to us, if at all. Any redemptions could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Unpredictable fluctuations in our operating results could disappoint analysts or our investors, which could cause our stock price to decline.

We have experienced, and may continue to experience, significant fluctuations in our revenue, gross margins and earnings. Our quarterly and annual revenue and operating results have varied significantly in the past and may vary significantly in the future due to a number of factors, including:

• inventory corrections within the technology sector;
• our ability to develop, manufacture and deliver high quality products in a timely and cost-effective manner;
• unforeseen disruptions at our new sites;
• disruptions in manufacturing if air pollution, or other environmental hazards, or outbreaks of contagious diseases causes the Chinese government to order work stoppages;
• fluctuation of our manufacturing yields;
• decreases in the prices of our or our competitors’ products;
• fluctuations in demand for our products;
• the volume and timing of orders from our customers, and cancellations, push-outs and delays of customer orders once booked;
• decline in general economic conditions or downturns in the industry in which we compete;
• expansion of our manufacturing capacity;
• expansion of our operations in China;
• limited availability and increased cost of raw materials;
• costs incurred in connection with any future acquisitions of businesses or technologies; and
• increases in our expenses, including expenses for research and development.

Due to these factors, we believe that period-to-period comparisons of our operating results may not be meaningful indicators of our future performance.

A substantial percentage of our operating expenses are fixed, and we may be unable to adjust spending to compensate for an unexpected shortfall in revenue. As a result, any delay in generating revenue could cause our operating results to fall below the expectations of market analysts or investors, which could also cause our stock price to decline.

If our operating results and financial performance do not meet the guidance that we have provided to the public, our stock price may decline.

We provide public guidance on our expected operating and financial results. Although we believe that this guidance provides our stockholders, investors and analysts with a better understanding of our expectations for the future, such guidance is comprised of forward-looking statements subject to the risks and uncertainties described in this Report and in our other public filings and public statements. Our actual results may not meet the guidance we have provided. If our operating or financial results do not meet our guidance or the expectations of investment analysts, our stock price may decline.

We have adopted certain anti-takeover measures that may make it more difficult for a third party to acquire us.

Our Board of Directors has the authority to issue up to 800,000 shares of preferred stock in addition to the outstanding shares of Series A preferred stock and to determine the price, rights, preferences and privileges of those shares without any further vote or action by the stockholders. The rights of the holders of common stock will be subject to, and may be adversely affected by, the rights of the holders of any preferred stock that may be issued in the future. The issuance of shares of preferred stock could have the effect of making it more difficult for a third party to acquire a majority of our outstanding voting stock. We have no present intention to issue additional shares of preferred stock.

Provisions in our restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws may have the effect of delaying or preventing a merger, acquisition or change of control, or changes in our management, which could adversely affect the market price of our common stock. The following are some examples of these provisions:

• the division of our Board of Directors into three separate classes, each with three-year terms;
• the right of our Board of Directors to elect a director to fill a space created by a board vacancy or the expansion of the board;
• the ability of our Board of Directors to alter our amended and restated bylaws; and
• the requirement that only our Board of Directors or the holders of at least 10% of our outstanding shares may call a special meeting of our stockholders.

Furthermore, because we are incorporated in Delaware, we are subject to the provisions of Section 203 of the Delaware General Corporation Law. These provisions prohibit us from engaging in any business combination with any interested stockholder (a stockholder who owns 15% or more of our outstanding voting stock) for a period of three years following the time that such stockholder became an interested stockholder, unless:

• 662/3% of the shares of voting stock not owned by the interested stockholder approve the merger or combination, or
• the Board of Directors approves the merger or combination or the transaction which resulted in the stockholder becoming an interested stockholder.

Our common stock may be delisted from The Nasdaq Global Select Market, which could negatively impact the price of our common stock and our ability to access the capital markets.

Our common stock is listed on The Nasdaq Global Select Market. The bid price of our common stock has in the past closed below the $1.00 minimum per share bid price required for continued inclusion on The Nasdaq Global Select Market under Marketplace Rule 5450(a). If the bid price of our common stock remains below $1.00 per share for thirty consecutive business days, we could be subject to delisting from the Nasdaq Global Select Market.

Any delisting from The Nasdaq Global Select Market could have an adverse effect on our business and on the trading of our common stock. If a delisting of our common stock were to occur, our common stock would trade in the over-the-counter market and be quoted on a service such as those provided by OTC Markets Group, Inc. Such alternatives are generally considered to be less efficient markets, and our stock price, as well as the liquidity of our common stock, may be adversely impacted as a result. Delisting from The Nasdaq Global Select Market could also have other negative results, including the potential loss of confidence by customers, suppliers and employees, the loss of institutional investor interest and fewer business development opportunities, as well as the loss of liquidity for our stockholders.

Our ability to use our net operating loss carryforwards and certain other tax attributes may be limited.

As of December 31, 2023, we had U.S. federal net operating loss carryforwards of approximately $40.2 million. We have net operating loss carryforwards of approximately $115,000, primarily in the state of California, as of December 31, 2023. We do not expect to utilize the loss carryforwards in the next several years unless Tongmei pays a dividend. Under Sections 382 and 383 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, if a corporation undergoes an “ownership change,” the corporation’s ability to use its pre-change net operating loss carryforwards and other pre-change tax attributes, such as research tax credits, to offset its post-change income and taxes may be limited. In general, an “ownership change” occurs if there is a cumulative change in our ownership by “5% shareholders” that exceeds 50 percentage points over a rolling three-year period. Similar rules may apply under state tax laws. We might have undergone prior ownership changes, and we may undergo ownership changes in the future, which may result in limitations on our net operating loss carryforwards and other tax attributes. Any such limitations on our ability to use our net operating loss carryforwards and other tax attributes could adversely impact our business, financial condition and results of operations.

V. Risks Related to Our Intellectual Property

Intellectual property infringement claims may be costly to resolve and could divert management attention.

Other companies may hold or obtain patents on inventions or may otherwise claim proprietary rights to technology necessary to our business. The markets in which we compete are comprised of competitors that in some cases hold substantial patent portfolios covering aspects of products that could be similar to ours. We could become subject to claims that we are infringing patent, trademark, copyright or other proprietary rights of others. We may incur expenses to defend ourselves against such claims or enter into cross license agreements that require us to pay royalty payments to resolve such claims. For example, in 2020, we and a competitor entered into a cross license and covenant agreement (the “Cross License Agreement”), which has a term that began on January 1, 2020 and expires on December 31, 2029. We have in the past been involved in lawsuits alleging patent infringement, and could in the future be involved in similar litigation.

If we are unable to protect our intellectual property, including our non-patented proprietary process technology, we may lose valuable assets or incur costly litigation.

We rely on a combination of patents, copyrights, trademarks, trade secrets and trade secret laws, non-disclosure agreements and other intellectual property protection methods to protect our proprietary technology. We believe that our internal, non-patented proprietary process technology methods, systems and processes are a valuable and critical element of our intellectual property. We must establish and maintain safeguards to avoid the theft of these processes. Our ability to establish and maintain a position of technology leadership also depends on the skills of our development personnel. Despite our efforts to protect our intellectual property, third parties can develop products or processes similar to ours. Our means of protecting our proprietary rights may not be adequate, and our competitors may independently develop similar technology, duplicate our products or design around our patents. We believe that at least two of our competitors ship GaAs substrates produced using a process similar to our VGF process. Our competitors may also develop and patent improvements to the VGF technology upon which we rely, and thus may limit any exclusivity we enjoy by virtue of our patents or trade secrets.

It is possible that pending or future United States or foreign patent applications made by us will not be approved, that our issued patents will not protect our intellectual property, or that third parties will challenge our ownership rights or the validity of our patents. In addition, the laws of some foreign countries may not protect our proprietary rights to as great an extent as do the laws of the United States and it may be more difficult to monitor the use of our intellectual property. Our competitors may be able to legitimately ascertain non-patented proprietary technology embedded in our systems. If this occurs, we may not be able to prevent the development of technology substantially similar to ours.

We may have to resort to costly litigation to enforce our intellectual property rights, to protect our trade secrets or know-how or to determine their scope, validity or enforceability. Enforcing or defending our proprietary technology is expensive, could cause us to divert resources and may not prove successful. Our protective measures may prove inadequate to protect our proprietary rights, and if we fail to enforce or protect our rights, we could lose valuable assets.

VI. Risks Related to Compliance, Environmental Regulations and Other Legal Matters

If we, or any of our partially owned supply chain companies, fail to comply with environmental and safety regulations, we may be subject to significant fines or forced to cease our operations.

We are subject to federal, state and local environmental and safety laws and regulations in all of our operating locations, including laws and regulations of China, such as laws and regulations related to the development, manufacture and use of our products, the use of hazardous materials, the operation of our facilities, and the use of our real property. These laws and regulations govern the use, storage, discharge and disposal of hazardous materials during manufacturing, research and development, and sales demonstrations. If we, or any of our partially owned supply chain companies, fail to comply with applicable regulations, we could be subject to substantial liability for clean-up efforts, personal injury, fines or suspension or be forced to close or temporarily cease our operations, and/or suspend or terminate the development, manufacture or use of certain of our products, the use of our facilities, or the use of our real property, each of which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

The Chinese central government is demonstrating strong leadership to improve air quality and reduce environmental pollution. The central government encourages employees to report to the appropriate regulatory agencies possible safety or environmental violations but there may not be actual violations. These efforts have impacted manufacturing companies through mandatory shutdowns, increased inspections and regulatory reforms. In the first quarter of 2018, from February 27 to March 31 over 300 manufacturing companies were again intermittently shut down by the local government for a total of ten days, or 30 percent of the remaining calendar days, due to severe air pollution. Our shipments were delayed and our revenue for the quarter was negatively impacted. We expect that mandatory factory shutdowns may occur in the future. If the frequency of such shutdowns increases, especially at the end of a quarter, or if the total number of days of shutdowns prevents us from producing enough wafers to ship, then the shutdowns will have a material adverse effect on our manufacturing output, revenue and factory utilization. We believe the relocation of our gallium arsenide and germanium manufacturing lines mitigates our exposure to factory shutdowns. Each of our raw material supply chain companies could also be impacted by environmental related orders from the central government.

In addition, from time to time, the Chinese government issues new regulations, which may require additional actions on our part to comply. For example, on February 27, 2015, the China State Administration of Work Safety updated its list of hazardous substances. The previous list, which was published in 2002, did not restrict the materials that we use in our wafers. The new list added gallium arsenide. As a result of the newly published list, we were required to seek additional permits.

We could be subject to suits for personal injuries caused by hazardous materials.

In 2005, a complaint was filed against us alleging personal injury, general negligence, intentional tort, wage loss and other damages, including punitive damages, as a result of exposure of plaintiffs to high levels of gallium arsenide in gallium arsenide wafers, and methanol. Other current and/or former employees could bring litigation against us in the future. Although we have in place engineering, administrative and personnel protective equipment programs to address these issues, our ability to expand or continue to operate our present locations could be restricted or we could be required to acquire costly remediation equipment or incur other significant expenses if we were found liable for failure to comply with environmental and safety regulations. Existing or future changes in laws or regulations in the United States and China may require us to incur significant expenditures or liabilities, or may restrict our operations. In addition, our employees could be exposed to chemicals or other hazardous materials at our facilities and we may be subject to lawsuits seeking damages for wrongful death or personal injuries allegedly caused by exposure to chemicals or hazardous materials at our facilities.

Litigation is inherently uncertain and while we would expect to defend ourselves vigorously, it is possible that our business, financial condition, results of operations or cash flows could be affected in any particular period by litigation pending and any additional litigation brought against us. In addition, future litigation could divert management’s attention from our business and operations, causing our business and financial results to suffer. We could incur defense or settlement costs in excess of the insurance covering these litigation matters, or that could result in significant judgments against us or cause us to incur costly settlements, in excess of our insurance limits.

We are subject to internal control evaluations and attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act.

Pursuant to Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, we must include in our Annual Report on Form 10-K a report of management on the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting. Ongoing compliance with this requirement is complex, costly and time-consuming and it extends to our companies in China. If: (1) we fail to maintain effective internal control over financial reporting; or (2) our management does not timely assess the adequacy of such internal control, we could be subject to regulatory sanctions and the public’s perception of us may be adversely impacted.

We need to continue to improve or implement our systems, procedures and controls.

We rely on certain manual processes for data collection and information processing, as do our joint venture companies. If we fail to manage these procedures properly or fail to effectively manage a transition from manual processes to automated processes, our systems and controls may be disrupted. To manage our business effectively, we may need to implement additional management information systems, further develop our operating, administrative, financial and accounting systems and controls, add experienced senior level managers, and maintain close coordination among our executive, engineering, accounting, marketing, sales and operations organizations.

Risk Management and Strategy

We have established policies and processes for assessing, identifying, and managing material risks from cybersecurity threats, and have integrated these processes into our overall risk management systems and processes. We routinely assess material risks from cybersecurity threats, including any potential unauthorized occurrence on or conducted through our information systems that may result in adverse effects on the confidentiality, integrity, or availability of our information systems or any information residing therein.

We conduct periodic risk assessments to identify cybersecurity threats, as well as assessments in the event of a material change in our business practices that may affect information systems that are vulnerable to such cybersecurity threats. These risk assessments include identification of reasonably foreseeable internal and external risks, the likelihood and potential damage that could result from such risks, and the sufficiency of existing policies, procedures, systems, and safeguards in place to manage such risks.

Following these risk assessments, we re-design, implement, and maintain reasonable safeguards to minimize identified risks; reasonably address any identified gaps in existing safeguards; and regularly monitor the effectiveness of our safeguards. We devote significant resources and designate high-level personnel, including our Chief Financial Officer, VP of Finance, and Controller to manage the risk assessment and mitigation process.

As part of our overall risk management system, we monitor and test our safeguards and train our employees on these safeguards, in collaboration with finance, IT, and management. Personnel at all levels and departments are made aware of our cybersecurity policies through trainings and email notifications.

We engage assessors, consultants, auditors, or other third parties in connection with our risk assessment processes. These service providers assist us to design and implement our cybersecurity policies and procedures, as well as to monitor and test and audit our safeguards. We maintain policies and processes to assess and manage risks relating to third-party service providers, based on the nature of the engagement with the third party and on the information and systems to which the third party will have access. We maintain policies to conduct due diligence before onboarding new service providers and maintain ongoing evaluations to ensure compliance with our security standards.

For additional information regarding whether any risks from cybersecurity threats have materially affected or are reasonably likely to materially affect the Company, including our business strategy, results of operations, or financial condition, please refer to Item 1A, “Risk Factors,” in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, including the risk factor entitled “Cyber-attacks, system security risks and data protection issues could disrupt our internal operations and cause a reduction in revenue, increase in expenses, negatively impact our results of operation or result in other adverse consequences.”

Governance

One of the key functions of our Board of Directors is informed oversight of our risk management process, including risks from cybersecurity threats. Our Board of Directors is responsible for monitoring and assessing strategic risk exposure, and our executive officers are responsible for the day-to-day management of the material risks we face. Our Board of Directors administers its cybersecurity risk oversight function directly as a whole, as well as through the Audit Committee. The chair of our Audit Committee has experience in assessing and managing cybersecurity risk.

Our management committee on cybersecurity, which includes our Chief Financial Officer and members from finance and IT, is primarily responsible to assess and manage our material risks from cybersecurity threats. Our Chief Financial Officer has had supervisory responsibilities over IT for over 30 years and personally engages our employees in training for cybersecurity. Our lead IT Senior System Engineer has over 20 years of direct IT employment and is a Microsoft Certified System Engineer, a Cisco Certified Network Associate and a Sun Certified System Administrator. One of our Controllers has over 15 years of Sarbanes Oxley compliance training and auditing, including auditing compliance regarding IT. Our VP Finance and Corporate Controller has over 20 years as an employee of AXT and has a thorough understanding of our specific IT systems.

Our management committee on cybersecurity oversees our cybersecurity policies and processes, including those described in “Risk Management and Strategy” above. The processes by which our management committee on cybersecurity is informed about and monitors the prevention, detection, mitigation, and remediation of cybersecurity incidents include regular communication and reporting from our IT manager, alerts and warnings through the use of technological tools and software and the results of cybersecurity systems testing from a third-party consultant.

Our Chief Financial Officer provides briefings to our Board of Directors and the Audit Committee regarding the Company’s cybersecurity risks and activities, including cybersecurity systems testing, activities of third parties, and the like.

Our principal properties as of March 12, 2024 are as follows:

* Raw material companies consolidated in our consolidated financial statements.

We consider each facility to be in good operating condition and adequate for its present use, and believe that each facility has sufficient plant capacity to meet its current and anticipated operating requirements.

From time to time we may be involved in judicial or administrative proceedings concerning matters arising in the ordinary course of business. We do not expect that any of these matters, individually or in the aggregate, will have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, cash flows or results of operations.

In addition to historical information, the following discussion contains forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ substantially from those referred to herein due to a number of factors, including but not limited to risks described in the section entitled Item 1A. “Risk Factors” and elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. This discussion should be read in conjunction with our consolidated financial statements and related notes included elsewhere in this Form 10-K.

Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates

We prepare our consolidated financial statements in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“U.S. GAAP”). Accordingly, we make estimates, assumptions and judgments that affect the amounts reported on our consolidated financial statements. These estimates, assumptions and judgments about future events and their effects on our results cannot be determined with certainty, and are made based upon our historical experience and on other assumptions that are believed to be reasonable under the circumstances. These estimates may change as new events occur or additional information is obtained, and we may periodically be faced with uncertainties, the outcomes of which are not within our control and may not be known for a prolonged period of time.

We have identified the policies below as critical to our business operations and understanding of our financial condition and results of operations. Critical accounting policies are material to the presentation of our consolidated financial statements and require us to make difficult, subjective or complex judgments that could have a material effect on our financial condition and results of operations. They may require us to make assumptions about matters that are highly uncertain at the time of the estimate. Different estimates that we could have used, or changes in the estimate that are reasonably likely to occur, may have a material impact on our financial condition or results of operations. We also refer you to Note 1 to our consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Revenue Recognition and Sales Returns

We manufacture and sell high-performance compound semiconductor substrates including indium phosphide, gallium arsenide and germanium wafers, and our consolidated subsidiaries sell certain raw materials, including high purity gallium (6N and 7N Ga), pyrolytic boron nitride (pBN) crucibles and boron oxide (B2O3). After we ship our products, there are no remaining obligations or customer acceptance requirements that would preclude revenue recognition. Our products are typically sold pursuant to purchase orders placed by our customers, and our terms and conditions of sale do not require customer acceptance. We account for a contract with a customer when there is a legally enforceable contract, which could be the customer’s purchase order, the rights of the parties are identified, the contract has commercial terms, and collectibility of the contract consideration is probable. The majority of our contracts have a single performance obligation to transfer products and are short term in nature, usually less than six months. Our revenue is measured based on the consideration specified in the contract with each customer in exchange for transferring products that are generally based upon a negotiated, formula, list or fixed price. Revenue is recognized when control of the promised goods is transferred to our customer, which is either upon shipment from our dock, receipt at the customer’s dock, or removal from consignment inventory at the customer’s location, in an amount that reflects the consideration we expect to be entitled to receive in exchange for those goods.

We have elected to account for shipping and handling as activities to fulfill the promise to transfer the goods. As such, shipping and handling fees billed to customers in a sales transaction are recorded in revenue. Shipping and handling costs incurred are recorded in cost of revenue. Sales taxes and value added taxes in foreign jurisdictions that are collected from customers and remitted to governmental authorities are accounted for on a net basis and, therefore, are excluded from revenue.

We do not provide training, installation or commissioning services. We accrue for future returns based on historical data, prior experience, current economic trends and changes in customer demand at the time revenue is recognized. We do not recognize any asset associated with the incremental cost of obtaining revenue generating customer contracts. As such, sales commissions and other related expenses are expensed as incurred, given that the expected period of benefit is less than one year.

Accounts Receivable and Allowance for Credit Losses

Accounts receivable are recorded at the invoiced amount and are not interest bearing. We review at least quarterly, or when there are changes in credit risks, the likelihood of collection on our accounts receivable balances and provide an allowance for credit losses. We measure the expected credit losses on a collective (pool) basis when similar delinquency status exist. We evaluate receivables from U.S. customers with an emphasis on balances in excess of 90 days and for receivables from customers located outside the U.S. with an emphasis on balances in excess of 120 days and establish a reserve allowance on the receivable balances if needed. The reason for the difference in the evaluation of receivables between foreign and U.S. customers is that U.S. customers have historically made payments in a shorter period of time than foreign customers. Foreign business practices generally require us to allow customer payment terms that are longer than those accepted in the United States.

In accordance with ASC 326-20’s current expected credit loss impairment model, we exercise judgment when determining the adequacy of our reserves as we evaluate historical bad debt trends, general economic conditions in the United States and internationally, and reasonable and supportable forecasts of future economic conditions. Uncollectible receivables are recorded as provision for credit losses when a credit loss is expected through the establishment of an allowance, which would then be written off when all efforts to collect have been exhausted and recoveries are recognized when they are received. As of December 31, 2023 and 2022, our accounts receivable, net balance was $19.3 million and $29.3 million, respectively, which was net of an allowance for credit losses of $579,000 and $307,000 as of December 31, 2023 and 2022, respectively. During 2023, we increased the allowance for credit losses by $272,000. During 2022, we increased the allowance for credit losses by $177,000. If actual uncollectible accounts differ substantially from our estimates, revisions to the estimated allowance for credit losses would be required, which could have a material impact on our financial results for the future periods.

Warranty Reserve

We maintain a warranty reserve based upon our claims experience during the prior twelve months and any pending claims and returns of which we are aware. Warranty costs are accrued at the time revenue is recognized. As of December 31, 2023 and 2022, accrued product warranties totaled $703,000 and $669,000, respectively. The increase in accrued product warranties is primarily attributable to increased claims for quality issues experienced by customers. If actual warranty costs or pending new claims differ substantially from our estimates, revisions to the estimated warranty liability would be required, which could have a material impact on our financial condition and results of operations for future periods.

Inventory Valuation

Inventories are stated at the lower of cost (approximated by standard cost) or net realizable value. Cost is determined using the weighted average cost method. Our inventory consists of raw materials as well as finished goods and work-in-process that include material, labor and manufacturing overhead costs. We routinely evaluate the levels of our inventory in light of current market conditions in order to identify excess and obsolete inventory, and we provide a reserve for certain inventories based upon the age and quality of the product and the projections for sale of the completed products. As of December 31, 2023 and 2022, we had an inventory reserve of $21.9 million and $24.7 million, respectively, for excess and obsolete inventory and $78,000 and $47,000, respectively, for lower of cost or net realizable value reserves. If actual demand for our products were to be substantially lower than estimated, additional inventory adjustments for excess or obsolete inventory might be required, which could have a material impact on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Impairment of Investments

We classify marketable investments in debt securities as available-for-sale debt securities in accordance with Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) Topic 320, Investments—Debt Securities. All available-for-sale debt securities with a quoted market value below cost (or adjusted cost) are reviewed in order to determine whether the decline is other-than-temporary. Factors considered in determining whether a loss is temporary include the magnitude of the decline in market value, the length of time the market value has been below cost (or adjusted cost), credit quality, and our ability and intent to hold the debt securities for a period of time sufficient to allow for any anticipated recovery in market value. We also review our debt investment portfolio at least quarterly, or when there are changes in credit risks or other potential valuation concerns to identify and evaluate whether an allowance for expected credit losses or impairment would be necessary.

We also invest in equity instruments of privately held raw material companies in China for business and strategic purposes. Investments in our unconsolidated PRC joint venture raw material companies are classified as other assets and accounted for under either the equity or fair value method, depending on whether we have the ability to exercise significant influence over their operations or financial decisions. We monitor our investments for impairment and record reductions in carrying value when events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying value may not be recoverable. Determination of impairment is highly subjective and is based on a number of factors, including an assessment of the strength of the subsidiary’s management, the length of time and extent to which the fair value has been less than our cost basis, the financial condition and near-term prospects of the subsidiary, fundamental changes to the business prospects of the subsidiary, share prices of subsequent offerings, and our intent and ability to hold the investment for a period of time sufficient to allow for any anticipated recovery in our carrying value.

For the year ended December 31, 2023, one of our PRC joint venture raw material companies assessed one of its equity investments was fully impaired. For the year ended December 31, 2023, we also divested our equity investment in a PRC joint venture. The impairment and divesture resulted in a total of $1.9 million in impairment charges in our financial results. For the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021, we had no impairment charges.

Fair Value of Investments

ASC Topic 820, Fair Value Measurement establishes three levels of inputs that may be used to measure fair value.

Level 1 instruments represent quoted prices in active markets. Therefore, determining fair value for Level 1 instruments does not require significant management judgment, and the estimation is not difficult.

Level 2 instruments include observable inputs other than Level 1 prices, such as quoted prices for similar instruments in markets with insufficient volume or infrequent transactions (less active markets), issuer bank statements, credit ratings, non-binding market consensus prices that can be corroborated with observable market data, model-derived valuations in which all significant inputs are observable or can be derived principally from or corroborated with observable market data for substantially the full term of the assets or liabilities, or quoted prices for similar assets or liabilities. These Level 2 instruments require more management judgment and subjectivity compared to Level 1 instruments, including:

• Determining which instruments are most comparable to the instrument being priced requires management to identify a sample of similar securities based on the coupon rates, maturity, issuer, credit rating, and instrument type, and subjectively select an individual security or multiple securities that are deemed most similar to the security being priced.
• Determining which model-derived valuations to use in determining fair value requires management judgment. When observable market prices for similar securities or similar securities are not available, we price our marketable debt instruments using non-binding market consensus prices that are corroborated with observable market data or pricing models, such as discounted cash flow models, with all significant inputs derived from or corroborated with observable market data.

Level 3 instruments include unobservable inputs to the valuation methodology that are significant to the measurement of fair value of assets or liabilities. The determination of fair value for Level 3 instruments requires the most management judgment and subjectivity.

We place short-term foreign currency hedges that are intended to offset the potential cash exposure related to fluctuations in the exchange rate between the United States dollar and Japanese yen. We measure the fair value of these foreign currency hedges at each month end and quarter end using current exchange rates and in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. At quarter end any foreign currency hedges not settled are netted in “Accrued liabilities” on the consolidated balance sheet and classified as Level 3 assets and liabilities. As of December 31, 2023 and 2022, the net change in fair value from the placement of the hedge to settlement at each month end during the quarter had a de minimis impact to the consolidated results.

Impairment of Long-Lived Assets

We evaluate the recoverability of property, equipment and intangible assets in accordance with ASC Topic 360, Property, Plant and Equipment. When events and circumstances indicate that long-lived assets may be impaired, we compare the carrying value of the long-lived assets to the projection of future undiscounted cash flows attributable to such assets. In the event that the carrying value exceeds the future undiscounted cash flows, we record an impairment charge against income equal to the excess of the carrying value over the asset’s fair value. Fair values are determined based on quoted market values, discounted cash flows or internal and external appraisals, as applicable. Assets held for sale are carried at the lower of carrying value or estimated net realizable value. We had no “Assets held for sale” or any impairment of long-lived assets on the consolidated balance sheets as of December 31, 2023 and 2022.

Stock-Based Compensation

We account for stock-based compensation in accordance with ASC Topic 718, Stock-based Compensation. Share-based awards granted include stock options and restricted stock awards. We utilize the Black-Scholes option pricing model to estimate the grant date fair value of stock options, which requires the input of highly subjective assumptions, including estimating stock price volatility and expected term. Historical volatility of our stock price was used while the expected term for our options was estimated based on historical option exercise behavior and post-vesting forfeitures of options, and the contractual term, the vesting period and the expected term of the outstanding options. Further, we apply an expected forfeiture rate in determining the amount of share-based compensation. We use historical forfeitures to estimate the rate of future forfeitures. Changes in these inputs and assumptions can materially affect the measure of estimated fair value of our stock compensation. The cost of restricted stock awards is determined using the fair value of our common stock on the date of grant.

We recognize the compensation costs net of an estimated forfeiture rate over the requisite service period of the options award, which is generally the vesting term of four years. Compensation expense for restricted stock awards is recognized over the vesting period, which is generally one, three or four years. Stock-based compensation expense is recorded in cost of revenue, research and development, and selling, general and administrative expenses. (see Note 1—Summary of Significant Accounting Policies—Stock-Based Compensation).

Income Taxes

We account for income taxes in accordance with ASC topic 740, *Income Taxes (“*ASC 740”), which requires that deferred tax assets and liabilities be recognized using enacted tax rates for the effect of temporary differences between the book and tax bases of recorded assets and liabilities. ASC 740 also requires that deferred tax assets be reduced by a valuation allowance if it is more likely than not that a portion of the deferred tax asset will not be realized. Our deferred tax assets have been reduced to zero by valuation allowance.

We provide for income taxes based upon the geographic composition of worldwide earnings and tax regulations governing each region, particularly China. The calculation of tax liabilities involves significant judgment in estimating the impact of uncertainties in the application of complex tax laws, particularly in foreign countries such as China.

See Note 12—”Income Taxes” in the consolidated financial statements for additional information.

Results of Operations

Overview

We were founded in 1986 to commercialize and enhance our proprietary VGF technology for producing high-performance compound semiconductor substrates or wafers. We have one operating segment and two product lines: specialty material substrates and raw materials used to make such substrates or other related products. We recorded our first substrate sales in 1990 and our substrate products currently include indium phosphide (InP), gallium arsenide (GaAs) and germanium (Ge) substrates used to produce semiconductor devices for use in applications such as fiber optic and wireless telecommunications, light emitting diodes (LEDs), lasers and for solar cells for space and terrestrial photovoltaic applications. Our two raw material companies sell, among other items, purified gallium and pBN crucibles.

Operating Results

We manufacture all of our products in the People’s Republic of China (PRC or China), which generally has favorable costs for facilities and labor compared with comparable facilities in the United States, Europe or Japan. Our supply chain includes partial ownership of raw material companies in China (joint ventures). We believe this supply chain arrangement provides us with pricing advantages, reliable supply and enhanced sourcing lead-times for key raw materials which are central to our final manufactured products.

Our annual revenue decreased in 2023 from $141.1 million in 2022 to $75.8 million in 2023 a decrease of 46.3%. Our annual revenue increased in 2022 from $137.4 million in 2021 to $141.1 million in 2022 an increase of 2.7%. Our annual revenue increased in 2021 from $95.4 million in 2020 to $137.4 million in 2021 an increase of 44.1%. In 2023, our gross margin decreased from 36.9% of total revenue in 2022 to 17.6% of total revenue in 2023. In 2022, our gross margin increased from 34.5% of total revenue in 2021 to 36.9% of total revenue in 2022. In 2021, our gross margin increased from 31.7% of total revenue in 2020 to 34.5% of total revenue in 2021.

We believe we are now beginning to see a recovery in our markets. We are seeing increased orders. The gallium arsenide market, which was the first of our markets to go into a correction, appears to have largely worked through excess inventory.

Revenue

Revenue decreased $65.3 million, or 46.3%, in 2023 from $141.1 million in 2022. The $63.6 million decrease in wafer substrate sales was the result of lower demand for InP wafer substrates for 5G applications, data center upgrades (silicon photonics) and consumer related applications, lower demand for our GaAs wafer substrates as the result of decreased demand for LED products, industrial lasers and other applications requiring low defect densities in the wafer substrate and lower demand for our Ge wafer substrates from our customers in China. The $1.7 million raw materials revenue decrease as compared to the same period in 2022 was primarily the result of decreased revenue from pBN crucibles and pBN-based OLED manufacturing tools sold by BoYu, one of our consolidated raw material companies, partially offset by increased sales of purified gallium.

Revenue increased $3.7 million, or 2.7%, in 2022 from $137.4 million in 2021. The $8.1 million increase in wafer substrate sales was the result of strong demand for InP wafer substrates for 5G applications, data center upgrades (silicon photonics) and consumer related applications, partially offset by lower demand for our GaAs wafer substrates as the result of decreased demand for LED products, industrial lasers and other applications requiring low defect densities in the wafer substrate and lower demand for our Ge wafer substrates from our customers in China. The $4.3 million raw materials revenue decrease as compared to the same period in 2021 was primarily the result of decreased revenue from sales of purified gallium and unfavorable pricing, partially offset by increased demand for pBN crucibles and pBN-based OLED manufacturing tools sold by BoYu, one of our consolidated raw material companies.

Revenue by Geographic Region

($ in thousands)

Sales to customers located outside of North America represented approximately 90%, 86% and 90% of our revenue during 2023, 2022 and 2021, respectively.

Revenue from customers in China decreased in 2023 by 28.2%, primarily due to lower demand for Ge and InP wafer substrates and GaAs wafer substrates used in wireless and LED applications and pBN crucibles sold by one of our consolidated subsidiaries, partially offset by increased demand for refined gallium. Revenue from customers in Taiwan decreased in 2023 by 69.9%, primarily due to lower demand for InP wafer substrates and GaAs wafer substrates used in wireless applications, partially offset by increased demand for Ge wafer substrates. Revenue from customers in Japan decreased in 2023 by 60.4% as a result of lower demand for InP and Ge wafer substrates, GaAs wafer substrates used in LED and wireless applications, pBN crucibles sold by one of our consolidated subsidiaries and refined gallium. Revenue from customers in Asia Pacific decreased by 8.9% as a result of decreased demand for GaAs wafer substrates used in wireless applications and refined gallium, partially offset by increased demand for InP wafer substrates and pBN crucibles sold by one of our consolidated subsidiaries. Revenue from customers in Europe decreased in 2023 by 40.2%, primarily due to lower demand for GaAs wafer substrates used in LED and wireless applications, InP and Ge wafer substrates and pBN crucibles sold by one of our consolidated subsidiaries. Revenue from customers in North America decreased in 2023 by 67.7% primarily due to lower demand for InP wafer substrates and GaAs wafer substrates used in LED and wireless applications, partially offset by increased demand for pBN crucibles sold by one of our consolidated subsidiaries.

Revenue from customers in China decreased in 2022 by 17.8%, primarily due to lower demand for refined gallium and pBN crucibles sold by our consolidated subsidiaries. In addition, revenue from InP and Ge wafer substrates decreased, partially offset by increased demand for GaAs wafer substrates. Revenue from customers in Taiwan increased in 2022 by 70.9%, primarily due to an increase in demand for InP wafer substrates, partially offset by a decline in wireless applications using GaAs wafer substrates. Revenue from customers in Japan increased in 2022 by 15.9% as a result of increased demand for refined gallium and pBN crucibles sold by our consolidated subsidiaries, partially offset by lower demand for GaAs wafer substrates used in wireless applications. Revenue from customers in Asia Pacific decreased by 44.5% as a result of decreased demand for GaAs used in wireless applications, InP wafer substrates and pBN crucibles sold by one of our consolidated subsidiaries. Revenue from customers in Europe decreased in 2022 by 10.7%, primarily due to lower demand for GaAs wafer substrates used in LED applications, Ge wafer substrates and pBN crucibles sold by one of our consolidated subsidiaries, partially offset by increased demand for InP wafer substrates. Revenue from customers in North America increased by 64.2% primarily due to increased demand for our

InP wafer substrates and pBN crucibles sold by one of our consolidated subsidiaries, partially offset by lower demand for our GaAs and Ge wafer substrates.

Gross Margin

($ in thousands)

Gross profit decreased $38.8 million in 2023 as compared to 2022. Gross margin in 2023 was 17.6% as compared to 36.9% in 2022. The decrease in gross profit is attributed to lower revenue resulting in fixed costs being spread over less units and an unfavorable change in product mix.

Gross profit increased $4.7 million in 2022 as compared to 2021. Gross margin in 2022 was 36.9% as compared to 34.5% in 2021. The increase in gross profit is attributed to higher revenue resulting in fixed costs being spread over more units and a favorable change in product mix.

Selling, General and Administrative Expenses

($ in thousands)

Selling, general and administrative expenses decreased $2.8 million, or 11.1%, to $22.8 million for 2023 compared to $25.7 million for 2022. The lower selling, general and administrative expenses were primarily from lower personnel-related expenses, stock compensation expenses and outside commissions, partially offset by higher professional service expenses and D&O insurance costs.

Selling, general and administrative expenses increased $1.5 million, or 6.1%, to $25.7 million for 2022 compared to $24.2 million for 2021. The higher selling, general and administrative expenses were primarily from higher personnel-related expenses, professional services, stock compensation expenses, and bad debt expense, partially offset by lower license and fees and outside commissions.

Research and Development Expenses

($ in thousands)

Research and development expenses decreased $1.8 million, or 13.2%, to $12.1 million in 2023 from $13.9 million in 2022. The decrease in research and development expenses in 2023 was primarily due to lower personnel-related expenses and development expenses for 8-inch GaAs and 6-inch InP wafer substrates and the development of new features for certain of our GaAs and InP wafer substrates and new product testing.

Research and development expenses increased $3.6 million, or 34.7%, to $13.9 million in 2022 from $10.3 million in 2021. The increase in research and development expenses in 2022 was primarily due to higher development expenses for 8-inch GaAs and 6-inch InP wafer substrates, the development of new features for certain of our GaAs and InP wafer substrates and new product testing and personnel-related expenses.

Interest Expense, Net

($ in thousands)

Interest expense, net increased in 2023 as compared to the same period in 2022, primarily due to lower investment balances in 2023 and increased borrowings in 2023. Interest expense, net increased in 2022 as compared to the same period in 2021, primarily due to lower investment balances in 2022 and increased borrowings in 2022.

Equity in Income of Unconsolidated Joint Venture Companies

($ in thousands)

Equity in income of unconsolidated joint ventures is the aggregate net income (loss) from our minority-owned supply chain joint venture companies that are not consolidated. Equity in income of unconsolidated joint ventures decreased $4.1 million to an income of $1.9 million in 2023 from an income of $6.0 million in 2022 as our unconsolidated joint ventures reported worse performance in 2023 as compared to 2022. The decreased income in 2023 includes total impairment charges of $1.9 million on two of our equity investments.

Equity in income of unconsolidated joint ventures increased $1.5 million to an income of $6.0 million in 2022 from an income of $4.4 million in 2021 as our unconsolidated joint ventures reported better performance in 2022 as compared to 2021.

Other Income, Net

($ in thousands)

Other income, net decreased $1.3 million to an income of $2.2 million for 2023 as compared to an income of $3.5 million in 2022, primarily due to foreign exchange gains of $0.2 million in 2023 compared to foreign exchange gains of $1.6 million in 2022 and compensation received from the China government by one of our consolidated subsidiaries for relocating its facilities to Kazuo in 2022.

Other income, net increased $3.0 million to an income of $3.5 million for 2022 as compared to an income of $0.5 million in 2021, primarily due to foreign exchange gains of $1.6 million in 2022 compared to foreign exchange losses of $434,000 in 2021 and compensation received from the China government by one of our consolidated subsidiaries for relocating its facilities to Kazuo in 2022 as compared to 2021.

Provision for Income Taxes

($ in thousands)

Provision for income taxes for 2023 and 2022 were $0.2 million and $2.2 million, respectively, which were mostly related to our consolidated wafer substrate subsidiaries in China and our two partially owned consolidated raw material companies. No income taxes or benefits have been provided for AXT as the income in the U.S. had been fully offset by utilization of federal and state net operating loss carryforwards. Additionally, there is uncertainty of generating future profit in the U.S., which has resulted in our deferred tax assets being fully reserved. We did not incur any federal income tax liability for AXT-Tongmei in 2023, due to its financial loss. Our estimated tax rate can vary greatly from year to year because of the change or benefit in the mix of taxable income between our U.S. and China-based operations.

Due to our uncertainty regarding our future profitability, we recorded a valuation allowance against our net deferred tax assets of $17.5 million and $11.9 million for the years 2023 and 2022, respectively.

Net (Income) loss Attributable to Noncontrolling Interests and Redeemable Noncontrolling Interests

($ in thousands)

The decrease in noncontrolling interests and redeemable noncontrolling interests’ share of income to a loss for 2023 as compared to 2022 was primarily due to losses at four of our consolidated subsidiaries in China, partially offset by a profit from our other consolidated subsidiary in China.

The increase in noncontrolling interests and redeemable noncontrolling interests’ share of income for 2022 as compared to 2021 was primarily due to the structural changes of the legal entities in China (see Note 1 to our consolidated financial statements) and to a lesser degree, losses generated by our consolidated subsidiary, ChaoYang XinMei.

Liquidity and Capital Resources

($ in thousands)

We consider cash and cash equivalents, short-term investments and long-term investments as liquid and available for use within two years in our current operations. Short-term investments and long-term investments are comprised of money market accounts, certificates of deposit, corporate bonds and notes, and government securities. As of December 31, 2023, we and our consolidated joint ventures held approximately $42.0 million in cash and investments in bank accounts outside the United States.

Total cash, restricted cash and cash equivalents, short-term and long-term investments decreased by $0.6 million in 2023. As of December 31, 2023, our principal source of liquidity was $52.3 million, which consisted of cash, restricted cash and cash equivalents of $50.1 million and short-term investments of $2.1 million. In 2023, cash, restricted cash and cash equivalents increased by $8.8 million and short-term investments decreased by $9.3 million. The increase in cash, restricted cash and cash equivalents of $8.8 million in 2023 was primarily due to net cash provided by operating activities of $3.4 million and financing activities of $8.6 million, partially offset by net cash used in investing activities of $2.6 million and the effect of exchange rate changes of $0.6 million.

Total cash, restricted cash and cash equivalents, short-term and long-term investments increased by $1.0 million in 2022. As of December 31, 2022, our principal source of liquidity was $52.8 million, which consisted of cash, restricted cash and cash equivalents of $41.3 million and short-term and long-term investments of $11.5 million. In 2022, cash, restricted cash and cash equivalents increased by $4.6 million and short-term and long-term investments decreased by $3.5 million. The increase in cash, restricted cash and cash equivalents of $4.6 million in 2022 was primarily due to net cash provided by financing activities of $38.0 million and the effect of exchange rate changes of $0.5 million, partially offset by net cash used in investing activities of $25.2 million and operating activities of $8.8 million.

Net cash provided by operating activities of $3.4 million for 2023 was primarily comprised of net change in operating assets and liabilities of $7.0 million, adjustment of non-cash items of depreciation and amortization of $8.7 million, return of equity method investments (dividends) of $4.3 million, stock-based compensation of $3.5 million, deferred tax assets of $0.6 million, provision for credit losses of $0.3 million and loss on sale of equity investment of $0.2 million, offset in part by our net loss of $19.2 million and income from equity method investments of $2.1 million. The $7.0 million net change in operating assets and liabilities primarily resulted from a decrease in accounts receivable of $9.3 million, a $1.1 million decrease in inventories and a $0.4 million decrease in other assets, offset in part by a $1.9 million decrease in accrued liabilities, a $1.0 million decrease in other long-term liabilities, including royalties, a $0.7 million increase in prepaid expenses and other current assets, and a decrease in accounts payable of $0.2 million.

Net cash used in operating activities of $8.8 million for 2022 was primarily comprised of net change in operating assets and liabilities of $35.2 million, gain on equity method investments of $6.0 million offset in part by our net income of $18.7 million, adjustment of non-cash items of depreciation and amortization of $8.1 million, stock-based compensation of $4.0 million, return of equity method investments (dividends) of $1.6 million, and amortization of marketable securities premium of $0.1 million. The $35.2 million net change in operating assets and liabilities primarily resulted from a $31.4 million increase in inventories, a $5.5 million decrease in accounts payable, a $3.5 million increase in prepaid expenses and other current assets, a $2.1 million decrease in accrued liabilities, and a $0.5 million increase in other assets offset in part by a $4.5 million decrease in accounts receivable and a $3.3 million increase in other long-term liabilities, including royalties.

Net cash used in operating activities of $3.3 million for 2021 was primarily comprised of net change in operating assets and liabilities of $30.3 million and gain on equity method investments of $4.4 million, offset in part by our net income of $16.5 million, adjustment of non-cash items of depreciation and amortization of $7.1 million, stock-based compensation of $4.5 million, deferred tax assets of $2.3 million, return of equity method investments (dividends) of $0.8 million and amortization of marketable securities premium of $0.1 million. The $30.3 million net change in operating assets and liabilities primarily resulted from a $12.4 million increase in inventories, a $9.7 million increase in accounts receivable, a $6.3 million increase in other assets, a $3.4 million decrease in accrued liabilities, a $1.2 million decrease in other long-term liabilities, including royalties, and a $0.8 million increase in prepaid expenses and other current assets, offset in part by a $3.6 million increase in accounts payable.

Net cash used in investing activities of $2.6 million for 2023 was primarily due to property, plant and equipment of $10.5 million in preparation for our new manufacturing sites, additional equipment for our Beijing site and equipment and facility costs incurred by our consolidated subsidiaries and investments in non-marketable equity investments of $2.5 million, which were partially offset by proceeds from maturities and sales of available-for-sale debt securities of $9.6 million and proceeds from sales of equity securities of $0.8 million.

Net cash used in investing activities of $25.2 million for 2022 was primarily due to property, plant and equipment of $28.5 million in preparation for our new manufacturing sites, additional equipment for our Beijing site and equipment and facility costs incurred by our consolidated subsidiaries and the purchases of marketable investment securities of $2.2 million, which were partially offset by proceeds from maturities and sales of available-for-sale debt securities of $5.4 million.

Net cash used in investing activities of $38.8 million for 2021 was primarily due to property, plant and equipment of $29.6 million in preparation for our new manufacturing sites, additional equipment for our Beijing site and equipment and facility costs incurred by our consolidated subsidiaries and the purchases of marketable investment securities of $9.6 million, which were partially offset by proceeds from maturities and sales of available-for-sale debt securities of $0.5 million.

Net cash provided by financing activities was $8.6 million for 2023 which mainly consisted of the proceeds of $56.5 million from short-term loans in China, $0.7 million from the capital increase in subsidiary shares from noncontrolling interest, and $0.6 million from a long-term loan in China, which were partially offset by payments on short-term loans of $49.2 million.

Net cash provided by financing activities was $38.0 million for 2022 which mainly consisted of the proceeds of $53.1 million from short-term loans in China, $2.2 million from the capital increase in subsidiary shares from noncontrolling interest, and $0.5 million from the exercise of common stock options, which were partially offset by payments on short-term loans of $17.8 million.

Net cash provided by financing activities was $5.7 million for 2021 which mainly consisted of the proceeds of $20.5 million from short-term loans in China, $1.8 million from short-term loan from noncontrolling interest, $1.7 million from the exercise of common stock options, $1.3 million from the formation of new subsidiary with noncontrolling interests and $0.5 million from sale of Tongmei shares to noncontrolling interests, which were partially offset by payments on short-term loans of $19.1 million and $1.1 million of issuance costs in connection with issuance of Tongmei common stock to redeemable noncontrolling interests.

On October 27, 2014, our Board of Directors approved a stock repurchase program pursuant to which we may repurchase up to $5.0 million of our outstanding common stock. These repurchases can be made from time to time in the open market and are funded from our existing cash balances and cash generated from operations. During 2015, we repurchased approximately 908,000 shares at an average price of $2.52 per share for a total purchase price of approximately $2.3 million under the stock repurchase program. No shares were repurchased during 2023, 2022 and 2021 under this program. As of December 31, 2023, approximately $2.7 million remained available for future repurchases under this program. Currently, we do not plan to repurchase additional shares.

Dividends accrue on our outstanding Series A preferred stock, and are payable as and when declared by our Board of Directors. We have never paid or declared any dividends on the Series A preferred stock. By the terms of the Series A preferred stock, so long as any shares of Series A preferred stock are outstanding, neither the Company nor any subsidiary of the Company shall redeem, repurchase or otherwise acquire any shares of common stock, unless all accrued dividends on the Series A preferred stock have been paid. During 2013 and 2015, we repurchased shares of our outstanding common stock. As of December 31, 2015, the Series A preferred stock had cumulative dividends of $2.9 million and we included this amount in “Accrued liabilities” in our consolidated balance sheets. At the time we pay this accrued liability, our cash and cash equivalents would be reduced. We account for the cumulative year to date dividends on the Series A preferred stock when calculating our earnings per share. See Item 5, Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities in Part II.

Occasionally, one of our PRC subsidiaries or PRC raw material joint ventures declares and pays a dividend. These dividends generally occur when the PRC joint venture declares a dividend for all of its shareholders. Dividends paid to the Company are subject to a 10% PRC withholding tax. The Company is required to obtain approval from SAFE to transfer funds in or out of the PRC. SAFE requires a valid agreement to approve the transfers, which are processed through a bank. Other than PRC foreign exchange restrictions, the Company is not subject to any PRC restrictions and limitations on its ability to distribute earnings from its businesses, including its PRC subsidiaries and PRC joint ventures, to the Company and its investors as well as the ability to settle amounts owed by the Company to its PRC subsidiaries and PRC joint ventures. If SAFE approval is denied the dividend payable to the Company would be owed but would not be paid.

For the years ended December 31, 2023, 2022 and 2021, the aggregate dividends paid to us, directly or to an intermediate entity within our corporate structure, by our PRC subsidiaries and PRC raw material joint ventures were approximately $4.3 million, $2.9 million and $774,000, respectively. In June 2021, we received a dividend of $774,000, from one of our equity investments, Xiaoyi XingAn Gallium Co., Ltd. (“Xiaoyi XingAn”). In June 2022, July 2022 and August 2022, we received a dividend of $1.3 million from BoYu, $1.5 million from Xiaoyi XingAn and $0.1 million from one of our equity investments, JiYa Semiconductor Material Co. Ltd. (“JiYa”), respectively. In April 2023 and November 2023, Xiaoyi XingAn distributed a dividend of $1.8 million, and JiYa distributed dividends of $2.0 million and $0.5 million, respectively. For the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022, there were no dividends paid to minority shareholders by our PRC subsidiaries or PRC raw material joint ventures.

We have no current intentions to distribute to our investors earnings under our corporate structure. We settle amounts owed under our transfer pricing arrangements in the ordinary course of business.

The cash generated from one PRC subsidiary is not used to fund another PRC subsidiary’s operations. None of our PRC subsidiaries has ever faced difficulties or limitations on its ability to transfer cash between our subsidiaries. AXT has cash management policies that dictate the amount of such funding.

As one of the first steps in the process of listing Tongmei on the STAR Market and going public, we sold approximately 7.28% of Tongmei to private equity investors for approximately $49 million in the aggregate. Pursuant to the Capital Investment Agreements with the Investors, each Investor has the right to require AXT to redeem any or all Tongmei shares held by such Investor at the original purchase price paid by such Investor, without interest, in the event the IPO fails to pass the audit of the Shanghai Stock Exchange, is not approved by the CSRC or Tongmei cancels the IPO application. The aggregate redemption amount is approximately $49 million.

Tongmei submitted its IPO application to the Shanghai Stock Exchange, and it was formally accepted for review on January 10, 2022. The Shanghai Stock Exchange approved the IPO application on July 12, 2022. On August 1, 2022, the CSRC accepted for review Tongmei’s IPO application. The STAR Market IPO remains subject to review and approval by the CSRC and other authorities. The process of going public on the STAR Market includes several periods of review and, therefore, is a lengthy process. Subject to review and approval by the CSRC and other authorities, Tongmei hopes to accomplish this goal in the coming months. The listing of Tongmei on the STAR Market will not change the status of AXT as a U.S. public company.

We believe that we have adequate cash and investments to meet our operating needs and capital expenditures over the next twelve months. If our sales decrease, however, our ability to generate cash from operations will be adversely affected which could adversely affect our future liquidity, require us to use cash at a more rapid rate than expected, and require us to seek additional capital.

On July 27, 2021, we filed with the SEC a registration statement on Form S-3, pursuant to which we may offer up to $60 million of common stock, preferred stock, debt securities, depositary shares, warrants, subscription rights, purchase contracts and/or units in one or more offerings and in any combination. A prospectus supplement, which we will provide each time we offer securities, will describe the specific amounts, prices and terms of the securities we determine to offer. We currently expect to use the net proceeds from the sale of securities under the shelf registration statement for working capital, capital expenditures and other general corporate purposes. We may also use a portion of the net proceeds to acquire, license or invest in complementary products, technologies or businesses. On May 17, 2022, the SEC declared the registration statement effective.

Cash from operations could be affected by various risks and uncertainties, including, but not limited to those set forth below under Item 1A. “Risk Factors” above.

Bank Loans and Line of Credit

Our bank loans and credit facilities typically have a term of 12 months or less and are included in “Bank loan” in our consolidated balance sheets. The following table represents bank loans as of December 31, 2023 and 2022 (in thousands, except interest rate data):

Collateral for the above bank loans and line of credit

(1) Baoding Tongmei’s land use rights and all of its buildings located at its facility in Dingxing, China.

(2) ChaoYang Tongmei’s land use rights and all of its buildings located at its facility in Kazuo, China.

(3) ChaoYang LiMei time deposit.

(4) AXT time deposit.

(5) Not collateralized.

(6) BoYu’s land use rights and its building located at its facility in Tianjin, China. In addition, the December 2023 loan attracts a guarantee fee amounting to 0.7% of the loan amount.

Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements

We did not have any off-balance sheet financing arrangements and have never established any special purpose entities as defined under SEC Regulation S-K Item 303(a)(4)(ii). We have not entered into any options on non-financial assets.

Contractual Obligations

We lease certain equipment, office space, warehouse and facilities under long-term operating leases expiring at various dates through July 2029. The majority of our lease obligations relate to our lease agreement for our facility in Fremont, California with approximately 19,467 square feet, which was scheduled to expire in 2020. Under the terms of the facility lease agreement, in May 2020, we were granted an extension to the term of the lease for an additional three years. Furthermore, in September 2023, we entered into another agreement to extend the lease for an additional five years, commencing December 2023. There are no variable lease payments, residual value guarantees or any restrictions or covenants imposed by the facility lease. The remainder relate to our lease agreement for a nitrogen system to be used during the manufacturing process for our facility in Dingxing, China. The equipment lease became effective in August 2019 and will expire in July 2029. There are no variable lease payments, residual value guarantees or any restrictions or covenants imposed by the equipment lease. All other operating leases have a term of 12 months or less. Total rent expenses under these operating leases charged to selling, general and administrative were approximately $510,000, $458,000 and $431,000 for the years ended December 31, 2023, 2022 and 2021, respectively, primarily related to our Fremont facility. Total rent expenses under these operating leases charged to cost of revenue were approximately $285,000, $303,000 and $296,000 for the years ended December 31, 2023, 2022 and 2021, respectively, primarily related to the nitrogen system at our facility in Dingxing.

In 2020, we and a competitor entered into the Cross License Agreement, which has a term that begins on January 1, 2020 and expires on December 31, 2029. The Cross License Agreement is a fixed-cost cross license and not a variable-cost cross license that is based on revenue or units. Under the Cross License Agreement, we are obligated to make annual payments over a 10-year period. For the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022, the royalty expense under the Cross License Agreement was not considered material to our consolidated financial statements.

In December 2023, one of our consolidated subsidiaries, ChaoYang XinMei secured a loan of approximately $2.1 million from an unrelated financing company. According to the agreement, ChaoYang XinMei temporarily transferred ownership of its production line and related equipment to the financing company, while retaining the right to use the property for production. At the end of the 30-month contractual period, ChaoYang XinMei holds the option to repurchase the production line and related equipment for $14.00. As of December 31, 2023, $2.1 million associated with this financing arrangement is included in Other long-term liabilities in our consolidated balance sheets.

Land Purchase and Investment Agreement

We have established a wafer processing production line in Dingxing, China. In addition to a land rights and building purchase agreement that we entered into with a private real estate development company to acquire our new manufacturing facility, we also entered into a cooperation agreement with the Dingxing local government. In addition to pledging its full support and cooperation, the Dingxing local government will issue certain tax credits to us as we achieve certain milestones. We, in turn, agreed to hire local workers over time, pay taxes when due and eventually demonstrate a total investment of approximately $90 million in value, assets and capital. The investment will include cash paid for the land and buildings, cash on deposit in our name at local banks, the gross value of new and used equipment (including future equipment that might be used for indium phosphide and germanium substrates production), the deemed value for our customer list or the end user of our substrates (for example, the end users of the 3-D sensing VCSELs), a deemed value for employment of local citizens, a deemed value for our proprietary process technology, other intellectual property, other intangibles and additional items of value. There is no timeline or deadline by which this must be accomplished, rather it is a good faith covenant entered into between AXT and the Dingxing local government. Further, there is no specific penalty contemplated if either party breaches the agreement, however the agreement does state that each party has a right to seek from the other party compensation for losses. Under certain conditions, the Dingxing local government may purchase the land and building at the appraised value. We believe that such cooperation agreements are normal, customary and usual in China and that the future valuation is flexible. We have a similar agreement with the city of Kazuo, China, although on a smaller scale. The total investment targeted by AXT in Kazuo is approximately $15 million in value, assets and capital.

Purchase Obligations with Penalties for Cancellation

In the normal course of business, we issue purchase orders to various suppliers. In certain cases, we may incur a penalty if we cancel the purchase order. As of December 31, 2023, we do not have any outstanding purchase orders that will incur a penalty if canceled by the Company.

Recent Accounting Pronouncements

Recent accounting pronouncements are detailed in Note 1 to our consolidated financial statements included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Foreign Currency Risk

A significant portion of our business is conducted in currencies other than the U.S. dollar. Foreign exchange losses have had a material adverse effect on our operating results and cash flows in the past and could have a material adverse effect on our operating results and cash flows in the future. If we do not effectively manage the risks associated with this currency risk, our revenue, cash flows and financial condition could be adversely affected. During 2023 and 2022, we recorded a foreign exchange gain of $0.2 million and $1.6 million, respectively, and during 2021 we recorded a net foreign exchange loss of $0.4 million, included as part of other income, net in our consolidated statements of operations. We incur foreign currency transaction exchange gains and losses due to operations in general. In the future we may experience foreign exchange losses on our non-functional currency denominated receivables and payables to the extent that we have not mitigated our exposure. Foreign exchange losses could have a materially adverse effect on our operating results and cash flows.

Our product sales to Japanese customers are typically invoiced in Japanese yen. As such we have foreign exchange exposure on our accounts receivable and on any Japanese yen denominated cash deposits. To partially protect us against fluctuations in foreign currency resulting from accounts receivable in Japanese yen, starting in 2015, we instituted a foreign currency hedging program. We place short term hedges that are intended to offset the potential cash exposure related to fluctuations in the exchange rate between the United States dollar and Japanese yen. We measure the fair value of these hedges at each month end and quarter end using current exchange rates and in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. At quarter end and year end any foreign currency hedges not settled are netted on the consolidated balance sheet and consolidated balance sheet, respectively, and classified as Level 3 assets and liabilities. As of December 31, 2023 the net change in fair value from the placement of the hedge to settlement at each month end during the quarter had a de minimis impact to the consolidated results.

The functional currency for our foreign operations is the renminbi, the local currency of China, and in the future we may establish short term hedges covering renminbi. Most of our operations are conducted in China and most of our costs are incurred in Chinese renminbi, which subjects us to fluctuations in the exchange rates between the U.S. dollar and the Chinese renminbi. We incur transaction gains or losses resulting from consolidation of expenses incurred in local currencies for our Chinese subsidiaries, as well as in translation of the assets and liabilities at each balance sheet date. Our financial results could be adversely affected by factors such as changes in foreign currency exchange rates or weak economic conditions in foreign markets, including the revaluation by China of the renminbi, and any future adjustments that China may make to its currency such as any move it might make to a managed float system with opportunistic interventions. We may also experience foreign exchange losses on our non-functional currency denominated receivables and payables.

We currently are using a hedging program to minimize the effects of currency fluctuations relating to the Japanese yen. While we may apply this program to other currencies, such as the Chinese renminbi, our hedging position is partial and may not exist at all in the future. It may not succeed in minimizing our foreign currency fluctuation risks. Our primary objective in holding these instruments is to reduce the volatility of earnings and cash flows associated with changes in foreign currency. The program is not designated for trading or speculative purposes. The Company may choose not to hedge certain foreign exchange exposures for a variety of reasons, including but not limited to accounting considerations and the prohibitive economic cost of hedging particular exposures. However, even with our hedging program, we still experience losses on foreign exchange from time to time.

Interest Rate Risk

Cash and cash equivalents earning interest and certain variable rate debt instruments are subject to interest rate fluctuations. The following table sets forth the probable impact of a 10% change in interest rates (in thousands):

The primary objective of our investment activities is to preserve principal while maximizing income without significantly increasing risk. Financial instruments that potentially subject us to concentration of credit risk consist primarily of cash and cash equivalents, short-term investments, and accounts receivable. We invest primarily in money market accounts, certificates of deposits, corporate bonds and notes, and government securities. We are exposed to credit risks in the event of default by the issuers to the extent of the amount recorded on the consolidated balance sheets. These securities are generally classified as available-for-sale and consequently are recorded on the balance sheet at fair value with unrealized gains or losses reported as a separate component of accumulated other comprehensive income (loss), net of estimated tax, further reduced by a valuation allowance for expected credit losses, if any. Our cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments and long-term investments are in high-quality instruments placed with major banks and financial institutions and commercial paper. We have no investments in auction rate securities.

Credit Risk

We perform ongoing credit evaluations of our customers’ financial condition, and limit the amount of credit extended when deemed necessary, but generally do not require collateral. The credit risk in our accounts receivable is mitigated by our credit evaluation process and the geographical dispersion of sales transactions. No customer accounted for more than 10% of our accounts receivable as of December 31, 2023 and two customers accounted for more than 10% of our accounts receivable as of December 31, 2022.

Equity Risk

As part of our supply chain strategy, we maintain minority investments in privately held raw material companies located in China either invested directly by us and our subsidiaries or through our consolidated joint venture companies. These minority investments are reviewed for other than temporary declines in value on a quarterly basis. These investments are classified as other assets in the consolidated balance sheets and accounted for under either the equity or fair value method, depending on whether we have the ability to exercise significant influence over their operations or financial decisions. We monitor our investments for impairment and record reductions in carrying value when events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying value may not be recoverable. Reasons for other than temporary declines in value include whether the related company would have insufficient cash flow to operate for the next twelve months, significant changes in the operating performance and changes in market conditions. Our minority investment under the fair value method as of December 31, 2023 and 2022 totaled $0.6 million and $0 million, respectively (see Note 6). Our minority investments under the equity method as of December 31, 2023 and 2022 totaled $12.5 million and $14.6 million, respectively.

Inflation Risk

While the historical impact of inflation is difficult to accurately measure due to the imprecise nature of the estimates required, we do not believe the effects of inflation on our consolidated results of operations and financial condition have been material. However, there can be no assurance that our consolidated results of operations and financial condition will not be materially impacted by inflation in the future, including by heightened levels of inflation currently experienced globally. Nonetheless, if our costs were to become subject to significant inflationary pressures, we may not be able to fully offset such higher costs. Our inability or failure to do so could harm our business, consolidated results of operations or financial condition.

Evaluation of Disclosure Controls and Procedures

Our management, with the participation of our Chief Executive Officer and our Chief Financial Officer, evaluated the effectiveness of the design and operation of our disclosure controls and procedures as of the end of the period covered by this Annual Report on Form 10-K. Based upon this evaluation, our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer have concluded that our disclosure controls and procedures as defined under Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e) were effective at the reasonable assurance level to ensure that information required to be disclosed in our Securities Exchange Act reports is recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the time periods specified by the Securities and Exchange Commission and is accumulated and communicated to management, including our Chief Executive Officer and our Chief Financial Officer, as appropriate to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure.

Our disclosure controls and procedures include components of our internal control over financial reporting. Management’s assessment of the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting is expressed at the level of reasonable assurance because a control system, no matter how well designed and operated, can provide only reasonable assurance that the control system’s objectives will be met.

Management’s Report on Internal Control over Financial Reporting

Our management is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting, as such term is defined in Rules 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f) under the Exchange Act. Internal control over financial reporting is a process designed by, or under the supervision of, our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, and implemented by our Board of Directors, management and other personnel to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with U.S. GAAP. Internal control over financial reporting includes those policies and procedures that:

• pertain to the maintenance of records that in reasonable detail accurately and fairly reflect our transactions and dispositions of our assets;
• provide reasonable assurance that transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of financial statements in accordance with U.S. GAAP, and that receipts and expenditures are being made only in accordance with authorizations of our management and directors; and
• provide reasonable assurance regarding prevention or timely detection of unauthorized acquisition, use or disposition of our assets that could have a material effect on the consolidated financial statements.

Because of 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.

Our management, under the supervision and with the participation of our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, has assessed the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2023 based on the criteria established in Internal Control—Integrated Framework (2013) issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO). Management has concluded that our internal control over financial reporting was effective as of December 31, 2023. The Company’s internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2023 has been audited by BPM, the independent registered public accounting firm who also audited the Company’s financial statements. BPM has issued a report on the effectiveness of the Company’s internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2023, which can be found in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Changes in Internal Control over Financial Reporting

There was no change in our internal control over financial reporting during our fourth quarter of fiscal 2023 that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, AXT’s internal control over financial reporting.