NVDA, §1A diff (2016 → 2017)

ITEM 1A. RISK FACTORS In evaluating NVIDIA and our business, the following factors should be considered in addition to the other information in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. Before you buy our common stock, you should know that making such an investment involves risks including, but not limited to, the risks described below. Any one of the following risks could harm our business, financial condition and results of operations, which could cause our stock price to decline. Additional risks, trends and uncertainties not presently known to us or that we currently deem immaterial may also harm our business. Risks Related to Our Business, Industry and Partners If we fail to meet the evolving needs of our markets, identify new products, services or technologies, or successfully compete in our target markets, our revenue and financial results will be adversely impacted. NVIDIA-branded solutions and services are visual computing and accelerated computing platforms that address four large markets: Gaming, Professional Visualization, Datacenter, and Automotive. Our success depends to a significant extent on our ability to meet the evolving needs of these markets and to enhance our existing products, services and technologies. In addition, our success depends on our ability to identify emerging industry trends and to develop new products, services and technologies. Our existing markets and products and new markets and products may require a considerable investment of technical, financial, compliance, sales and marketing resources. We are currently devoting significant resources to the development of technologies and business offerings in markets where our operating history is less extensive, such as the automotive market. We cannot assure you that our strategic direction will result in innovative products and technologies that provide value to our customers and partners. If we fail to anticipate the changing needs of our target markets and emerging technology trends, or adapt that strategy as market conditions evolve, in a timely manner to exploit potential market opportunities our business will be harmed. In addition, if demand for products and services from these growth markets is below our expectations, if we fail to achieve consumer or market acceptance of them or if we are not able to develop these products and services in a cost effective or efficient manner, we may not realize benefits from our strategy. Our target markets remain extremely competitive, and we expect competition to intensify as current competitors expand their product and/or service offerings, industry standards continue to evolve and new competitors enter these markets. If we are unable to successfully compete in our target markets, including in significant international markets such as China, demand for our products, services and technologies could decrease which would cause our revenue to decline and our financial results to suffer. Our competitors’ products, services and technologies may be less costly, or may offer superior functionality or different features, than ours. In addition, many of our competitors operate and maintain their own fabrication facilities and have longer operating histories, greater name recognition, larger customer bases, and greater financial, sales, marketing and distribution resources than we do. These competitors may be able to more effectively identify and capitalize upon opportunities in new markets and end user customer trends, quickly transition their semiconductor products to increasingly smaller line width geometries and obtain sufficient foundry capacity and packaging materials, which could harm our business. If we are unable to successfully compete in our target markets or introduce new offerings in light of the competitive environment, our results of operations could suffer. If our products fail to achieve expected manufacturing yields, our financial results could be adversely impacted. Manufacturing yields for our products are a function of product design, which is developed largely by us, and process technology, which typically is proprietary to the foundry. Low yields may result from either product design or process technology failure. We do not know whether a yield problem will exist until our design is actually manufactured by the foundry. As a result, yield problems may not be identified until well into the manufacturing process and require us and the foundry to cooperate to resolve the problem. Because of our potentially limited access to wafer foundry capacity, any decrease in manufacturing yields could result in higher manufacturing costs and require us to allocate our available product supply among our customers and partners. Lower than expected yields could harm customer or partner relationships and our financial results. System security and data protection breaches, as well as cyber-attacks, could disrupt our operations, reduce our expected revenue and increase our expenses, which could adversely affect our stock price and damage our reputation. Security breaches, computer malware and cyber-attacks have become more prevalent and sophisticated in recent years. These attacks have occurred on our systems in the past and are expected to occur in the future. Experienced computer programmers, hackers and employees may be able to penetrate our security controls and misappropriate or compromise our confidential information, or that of our employees or third parties. These attacks may create system disruptions or cause shutdowns. These hackers may also develop and deploy viruses, worms and other malicious software programs that attack or otherwise exploit security vulnerabilities in our products, including consumer and automotive products, where we utilize over-the-air updates to improve functionality over time. For portions of our IT infrastructure, including business management and communication software products, we rely on products and services provided by third parties. These providers may also experience breaches and attacks to their products which may impact our systems. Data security breaches may also result from non-technical means, such as actions by an employee with access to our systems. Actual or perceived breaches of our security measures or the accidental loss, inadvertent disclosure or unapproved dissemination of proprietary information or sensitive or confidential data about us, our partners, our customers or third parties could expose the parties affected to a risk of loss, or misuse of this information, resulting in litigation and potential liability, damage to our brand and reputation or other harm to our business. Our efforts to prevent and overcome these challenges could increase our expenses and may not be successful. We may experience interruptions, delays, cessation of service and loss of existing or potential customers. Such disruptions could adversely impact our ability to fulfill orders and interrupt other critical functions. Delayed sales, lower margins or lost customers as a result of these disruptions could adversely affect our financial results, stock price and reputation. If our products contain significant defects, we could incur significant expenses to remediate such defects, our reputation could be damaged and we could lose market share. Our products are complex and may contain defects or experience failures or unsatisfactory performance due to any number of issues in design, fabrication, packaging, materials and/or use within a system. Our products are used by a variety of industries, including the automotive industry. Failure of our products to perform to specifications, or other product defects, could lead to substantial damage to the products we sell directly to customers, the end product in which our device has been integrated by OEMs, ODMs, AIBs and Tier 1 automotive suppliers, and to the user of such end product. Any such defect may cause us to incur significant warranty, support and repair or replacement costs, cause us to lose market share, and divert the attention of our engineering personnel from our product development efforts to find and correct the issue. In addition, an error or defect in new products or releases or related software drivers after commencement of commercial shipments could result in failure to achieve market acceptance or loss of design wins and harm our relationships with customers and partners and consumers’ perceptions of our brand. Also, we may be required to reimburse our customers, partners or consumers, including costs to repair or replace products in the field. A product recall, particularly an automotive recall, or a significant number of product returns could be expensive, damage our reputation, result in the shifting of business to our competitors and result in litigation against us such as product liability suits. If a product liability claim is brought against us, the cost of defending the claim could be significant and would divert the efforts of our technical and management personnel, and harm our business. Further, our business liability insurance may be inadequate or future coverage may be unavailable on acceptable terms, which could adversely impact our financial results. If we do not replace our Intel licensing revenues, our financial results may be adversely affected. In January 2011, we entered into a patent cross licensing agreement under which Intel agreed to pay us an aggregate of $1.50 billion over six years. The final $200 million payment under this agreement was received in January 2016. We will be recognizing revenue under this agreement through the first quarter of fiscal year 2018. If we do not enter into new licensing agreements or if the Intel agreement is not offset by other growth in income our financial results may be adversely affected. We depend on third parties and their technology to manufacture, assemble, test and/or package our products, which reduces our control over product quantity and quality, development, enhancement and product delivery schedule and could harm our business. We do not manufacture the silicon wafers used for our GPUs and Tegra processors and do not own or operate a wafer fabrication facility. Instead, we are dependent on industry-leading foundries, such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited and Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., to manufacture our semiconductor wafers using their fabrication equipment and techniques. Similarly, we do not assemble, test or package our products, but instead rely on independent subcontractors, such as Advanced Semiconductor Engineering, Inc., BYD Auto Co., Ltd., Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd., JSI Logistics, Ltd., King Yuan Electronics Co. and Siliconware Precision Industries Co. Ltd. We do not have long-term commitment contracts with these foundries or subcontractors. As a result, we face several significant risks which could have an adverse effect on our ability to meet customer demand and/or negatively impact our business operations, gross margin, revenue and/or financial results, including: • a lack of guaranteed supply of wafers and other components and potential higher wafer and component prices due to supply constraints; • a failure by our foundries to procure raw materials or to provide or allocate adequate manufacturing or test capacity for our products; • a failure to develop, obtain or successfully implement high quality, leading-edge process technologies, including transitions to smaller geometry process technologies such as 16nm FinFET, and memory designs such as CoWoS, needed to manufacture our products profitably or on a timely basis; • loss of a supplier and additional expense and/or production delays as a result of qualifying a new foundry or subcontractor and commencing volume production or testing in the event of a loss of or a decision to add or change a supplier; • a lack of direct control over delivery schedules or product quantity and quality; and • delays in product shipments, shortages, a decrease in product quality and/or higher expenses in the event our subcontractors or foundries prioritize our competitors’ orders over our orders or otherwise. We also rely on third-party software development tools to assist us in the design, simulation and verification of new products or product enhancements, and to bring such new products and enhancements to market in a timely manner. In the past, we have experienced delays in the introduction of products and enhancements as a result of the inability of then available software development tools to fully simulate the complex features and functionalities of our products. The design requirements necessary to meet consumer demands for more features and greater functionality from our products may exceed the capabilities of available software development tools. If we miss design cycles or lose design wins due to the unavailability of such software development tools, we could lose market share and our revenues could decline. If we fail to achieve design wins for our products, our business will be harmed. For our products that we do not sell directly to consumers, achieving design wins is an important success factor. Our OEM, ODM, and AIB and motherboard manufacturers' customers typically introduce new system configurations as often as twice per year, typically based on spring and fall design cycles or in connection with trade shows. If OEMs, ODMs, and AIB and motherboard manufacturers do not include our products in their systems, they will typically not use our products in their systems until at least the next design configuration. In order to achieve design wins, we must: •anticipate the features and functionality that customers and consumers will demand; • incorporate those features and functionalities into products that meet the exacting design requirements of our customers; and •price our products competitively. Unanticipated changes in industry standards could render our products incompatible with products developed by major hardware manufacturers and software developers. Further, if our products are not in compliance with prevailing industry standards, our customers may not incorporate our products into their design strategies. Business disruptions could harm our business, lead to a decline in revenues and increase our costs. Our worldwide operations could be disrupted by earthquakes, telecommunications failures, power or water shortages, outages at cloud service providers, tsunamis, floods, hurricanes, typhoons, fires, extreme weather conditions, medical epidemics or pandemics and other natural or man-made disasters, catastrophic events or climate change. The occurrence of any of these disruptions could harm our business and result in significant losses, a decline in revenue and an increase in our costs and expenses. Any of these business disruptions could require substantial expenditures and recovery time in order to fully resume operations. Our corporate headquarters, and a portion of our research and development activities, are located in California, and other critical business operations and some of our suppliers are located in Asia, near major earthquake faults known for seismic activity. In addition, a majority of our principal IT datacenters are located in California, making our operations vulnerable to natural disasters or other business disruptions occurring in this geographical area. The manufacture of product components, the final assembly of our products and other critical operations are concentrated in certain geographic locations, including Taiwan, China and Korea. Our operations could be harmed if manufacturing, logistics or other operations in these locations are disrupted for any reason, including natural disasters, high heat events or water shortages, information technology system failures, military actions or economic, business, labor, environmental, public health, regulatory or political issues. The ultimate impact on us, our third-party foundries and other suppliers and our general infrastructure of being located near major earthquake faults and being consolidated in certain geographical areas is unknown. In the event of a major earthquake or other disaster or catastrophic event, our revenue could decline and our business may be harmed. We receive a significant amount of our revenue from a limited number of customers within our partner network and our revenue could be adversely affected if we lose any of these customers. We receive a significant amount of our revenue from a limited number of customers within our partner network. With several of these partners, we are selling multiple target market platforms through their channels. As a result, revenue from significant customers, those representing 10% or more of total revenue, was 12%, 11%, and 11% of our total revenue from one customer in fiscal years 2017, 2016, and 2015, respectively. Our operating results in the foreseeable future will continue to depend on sales within our partner network, as well as the ability of these partners to sell products that incorporate our GPUs and Tegra processors. In the future, these partners may decide to purchase fewer products than they did in the past, not to incorporate our products into their ecosystem, or to alter their purchasing patterns in some other way, particularly because: • most of our sales are made on a purchase order basis, which permits our customers to cancel, change or delay product purchase commitments with little or no notice to us and without penalty; • our partners may develop their own solutions; • our customers may purchase products from our competitors; or • our partners may discontinue sales or lose market share in the markets for which they purchase our products. The loss of any of our large customers or a significant reduction in purchases by them would likely harm our financial condition and results of operations, and any difficulties in collecting accounts receivable could harm our operating results and financial condition. We maintain an allowance for doubtful accounts for estimated losses resulting from the inability of certain of our customers to make required payments and obtain credit insurance over the purchasing credit extended to these customers. In the future, we may have to record additional provisions or write-offs and/or defer revenue on certain sales transactions, which could negatively impact our financial results, and we may not be able to acquire credit insurance on the credit we extend to these customers or in amounts that we deem sufficient. Our gross margin depends on a number of factors and changes in any of these factors could adversely affect our gross margin. Our gross margin for any period depends on a number of factors, including the mix of our products sold, average selling prices, introduction of new products and services, process node transitions, product transitions, sales discounts, pricing actions by our competitors, the cost of product components and the yield of wafers produced by the foundries that manufacture our products. We are focused on improving our gross margin and if we are not able to control or estimate the impact of the above factors or other factors we do not foresee, our gross margins may be negatively impacted. If we fail to estimate customer demand properly, our financial results could be harmed. We manufacture our GPUs and Tegra processors based on estimates of customer demand. In order to have shorter shipment lead times and quicker delivery schedules for our customers, we may build inventories for anticipated periods of growth which do not occur, or may build inventory anticipating demand for a product that does not materialize. In estimating demand, we make multiple assumptions, any of which may prove to be incorrect. Situations that may result in excess or obsolete inventory include: •changes in business and economic conditions, including downturns in our target markets and/or overall economy; •changes in consumer confidence caused by changes in market conditions, including changes in the credit market; •a sudden and significant decrease in demand for our products; •a higher incidence of inventory obsolescence because of rapidly changing technology or customer requirements; •our introduction of new products resulting in lower demand for older products; •less demand than expected for newly-introduced products; or •increased competition, including competitive pricing actions. In addition, the cancellation or deferral of customer purchase orders could result in our holding excess inventory, which could adversely affect our gross margins. In addition, because we often sell a substantial portion of our products in the last month of each quarter, we may not be able to reduce our inventory purchase commitments in a timely manner in response to customer cancellations or deferrals. We could be required to write-down our inventory to the lower of cost or market or write-off excess inventory, and we could experience a reduction in average selling prices if we incorrectly forecast product demand, any of which could harm our financial results. Conversely, if we underestimate our customers' demand for our products, our foundry partners may not have adequate lead-time or capacity to increase production and we may not be able to obtain sufficient inventory to fill customers' orders on a timely basis. Even if we are able to increase production levels to meet customer demand, we may not be able to do so in a cost-effective or timely manner. If we fail to fulfill our customers' orders on a timely basis, or at all, our customer relationships could be damaged, we could lose revenue and market share and our reputation could be damaged. We are subject to risks and uncertainties associated with international operations which may harm our business. We conduct our business worldwide and we have offices in various countries outside of the United States. Our semiconductor wafers are manufactured, assembled, tested and packaged by third parties located outside of the United States and Other Americas. We also generate a significant portion of our revenue from sales to customers outside the United States and Other Americas. Revenue from sales to customers outside of the United States and Other Americas accounted for 80%, 79% and 75% of total revenue for fiscal years 2017, 2016 and 2015, respectively. The global nature of our business subjects us to a number of risks and uncertainties, including: • international economic and political conditions, such as political tensions between countries in which we do business; • unexpected changes in, or impositions of, legislative or regulatory requirements; • differing legal standards with respect to protection of intellectual property and employment practices; • local business and cultural factors that differ from our normal standards and practices, including business practices that we are prohibited from engaging in by the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and other anticorruption laws and regulations; • exporting or importing issues related to export or import restrictions, tariffs, quotas and other trade barriers and restrictions; • financial risks such as longer payment cycles, difficulty in collecting accounts receivable and foreign exchange rate fluctuations; and • increased costs due to imposition of climate change regulations, such as carbon taxes, fuel or energy taxes, and pollution limits. If sales to any of our customers outside of the United States and Other Americas are delayed or cancelled because of any of the above factors, our revenue may be negatively impacted. We may not be able to realize the potential financial or strategic benefits of business acquisitions or strategic investments and we may not be able to successfully integrate acquisition targets, which could hurt our ability to grow our business, develop new products or sell our products. We have in the past acquired and invested in, and may continue to acquire and invest in, other businesses that offer products, services and technologies that we believe will help expand or enhance our existing products and business. Any of the following risks associated with past or future acquisitions or investments could impair our ability to grow our business, develop new products or sell our products, and ultimately could have a negative impact on our growth or our financial results: • difficulty in combining the technology, products, operations or workforce of the acquired business with our business; • diversion of capital and other resources, including management's attention; • assumption of liabilities; • incurring amortization expenses, impairment charges to goodwill or write-downs of acquired assets; • potential failure of our due diligence processes to identify significant issues with product quality, architecture and development, or legal and financial contingencies, among other things; and • impairment of relationships with, or loss of our or our target’s, employees, vendors and customers, as a result of our acquisition or investment. Risks Related to Regulatory, Legal, Our Common Stock and Other Matters Actions to adequately protect our intellectual property rights could result in substantial costs to us and our ability to compete could be harmed if we are unsuccessful in doing so or if we are prohibited from making or selling our products. We have in the past, currently are, and may in the future become involved in lawsuits or other legal proceedings alleging patent infringement or other intellectual property rights violations by us, our employees or parties that we have agreed to indemnify for certain claims of infringement. An unfavorable ruling in any such intellectual property related litigation could include significant damages, invalidation of a patent or family of patents, indemnification of customers, payment of lost profits, or, when it has been sought, injunctive relief. We may commence litigation or other legal proceedings in order to protect our intellectual property rights. Such proceedings may increase our operating expenses, which could negatively impact our operating results. Further, we could be subject to countersuits as a result of our initiation of litigation. If infringement claims are made against us or our products are found to infringe a third party’s patent or intellectual property, we or one of our indemnitees may have to seek a license to the third party’s patent or other intellectual property rights. However, we may not be able to obtain licenses at all or on terms acceptable to us particularly from our competitors. If we or one of our indemnitees is unable to obtain a license from a third party for technology that we use or that is used in one of our products, we could be subject to substantial liabilities or have to suspend or discontinue the manufacture and sale of one or more of our products. We may also have to make royalty or other payments, or cross license our technology. If these arrangements are not concluded on commercially reasonable terms, our business could be negatively impacted. Furthermore, the indemnification of a customer or other indemnitee may increase our operating expenses which could negatively impact our operating results. We rely primarily on a combination of patents, trademarks, trade secrets, employee and third-party nondisclosure agreements, licensing arrangements, and the laws of the countries in which we operate to protect our intellectual property in the United States and internationally. The laws of certain foreign countries may not protect our products or intellectual property rights to the same extent as the laws of the United States. This makes the possibility of piracy of our technology and products more likely. We continuously assess whether and where to seek formal protection for existing and new innovations and technologies, but cannot be certain whether our applications for such protections will be approved, and, if approved, whether we will be able to enforce such protections. Our operating results have in the past fluctuated and may in the future fluctuate, and if our operating results are below the expectations of securities analysts or investors, our stock price could decline. Our operating results have in the past fluctuated and may in the future continue to fluctuate due to numerous factors. For example, our operating expenses represent a significant portion of total revenue and are largely independent of revenue in any particular period. In particular, our research and development expenses reflect multi-year programs for the development of new products and enhancements that will not result in revenue, if any, until future periods. Therefore, investors should not rely on quarterly comparisons of our results of operations as an indication of our future performance. Factors that could affect our results of operations in the future include: • demand and market acceptance for our products and services and/or our customers’ products; • the successful development and volume production of our next-generation products; • our inability to adjust spending to offset revenue shortfalls due to the multi-year development cycle for some of our products and services; • new product and service announcements or product and service introductions by our competitors; • our introduction of new products in accordance with OEMs’ design requirements and design cycles; • changes in the timing of product orders due to unexpected delays in the introduction of our customers’ products; • the level of growth or decline of the PC industry in general; • seasonal fluctuations associated with the PC and consumer products market; • contraction in automotive and consumer end-market demand due to adverse regional or worldwide economic conditions; • slower than expected growth of demand for new technologies; • fluctuations in the availability of manufacturing capacity or manufacturing yields; • our ability to reduce the manufacturing costs of our products; • competitive pressures resulting in lower than expected average selling prices; • product rates of return in excess of that forecasted or expected due to quality issues; • rescheduling or cancellation of customer orders; • the loss of a significant customer; • substantial disruption in the operations of our foundries or other third-party subcontractors, as a result of a natural disaster, equipment failure, terrorism or other causes; • supply constraints for and changes in the cost of the other components incorporated into our customers’ products, including memory devices; • costs associated with the repair and replacement of defective products; • unexpected inventory write-downs or write-offs; • legal and other costs related to defending intellectual property and other types of lawsuits; • availability of software and technology licenses at commercially reasonable terms for the continued sale or development of new products; • customer bad debt write-offs; • changes in our effective tax rate as a result of changes in the mix of earnings in countries with differing statutory tax rates, applicable tax laws or interpretations of tax laws; • any unanticipated costs associated with environmental liabilities; • unexpected costs related to our ownership of real property; • costs to comply with new government regulations and regulatory enforcement actions; • costs to maintain effective internal control over financial reporting; • changes in financial accounting standards or interpretations of existing standards; and • general macroeconomic events and factors affecting the overall semiconductor industry and our target markets. Any one or more of the factors discussed above could prevent us from achieving our expected future financial results. Any such failure to meet our expectations or the expectations of our investors or security analysts could cause our stock price to decline or experience substantial price volatility and, as a result, investors may suffer losses. In the past, securities class action litigation has often been brought against a company following periods of volatility in the market price of its securities. We have been in the past, and may be in the future, the target of securities litigation. Such lawsuits generally result in the diversion of management's time and attention away from business operations, which could harm our business. In addition, the costs of defense and any damages resulting from litigation, a ruling against us, or a settlement of the litigation could adversely affect our cash flow and financial results. Privacy concerns relating to our products and services could damage our reputation and deter current and potential users from using our products and services. Our products and services may provide us with access to sensitive, confidential or personal data or information that is subject to privacy and security laws and regulations. Concerns about our practices with regard to the collection, use, retention, security or disclosure of personal information or other privacy-related matters, even if unfounded, could damage our reputation and adversely affect our operating results. Worldwide regulatory authorities are considering various legislative proposals concerning data protection. In addition, the interpretation and application of consumer and data protection laws in the United States, Europe and elsewhere are often uncertain and fluid, and may be interpreted and applied in a manner that is inconsistent with our data practices. If so, we may be ordered to change our data practices and/or be fined. Complying with these changing laws could cause us to incur substantial costs, which could have an adverse effect on our business and results of operations. We are subject to risks associated with development and construction of our headquarters building under an operating lease financing arrangement. In fiscal year 2016, we began to construct a new headquarters building in Santa Clara, California, which is currently targeted for completion in the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2018. We may encounter unanticipated occurrences or conditions during construction that may increase the expense of the project. We may also encounter unanticipated delays in the construction of the new building and final city approval for occupancy may be delayed. We are financing this construction under an operating lease arrangement described below. Delays and cost overruns during construction could result in a default under the operating lease financing arrangement which could result in liabilities and expenses and could harm our business, prospects, financial condition and results of operations. Additionally, any such difficulties could result in our default under the operative agreements entered into with a syndicate of banks that are participants to the operating lease financing arrangement to finance development and construction of our headquarters. We have pledged our assets that relate to the new headquarters building in order to secure our obligations under the operating lease financing arrangement. We will need to maintain compliance with the requirements governing such agreements, including compliance with financial and other covenants, certain of which may be subject to events outside of our control. If we fail to comply with the covenants, we may be unable to obtain or utilize all or a portion of the financing contemplated by the operating lease financing arrangement. Further, noncompliance with such covenants or other event of default could lead to a termination of our lease of the property, and the lenders could have the right to, among other things, foreclose on the collateral for our obligations under the operating lease financing arrangement. A loss of financing for the new headquarters building or foreclosure on the collateral could adversely affect our liquidity and business. Our indebtedness could adversely affect our financial position and prevent us from implementing our strategy or fulfilling our contractual obligations. In September 2016, we issued $1.00 billion of 2.20% notes due September 16, 2021, or the Notes Due 2021, and $1.00 billion of 3.20% notes due September 16, 2026, or the Notes Due 2026 (collectively, the Notes). In December 2013, we issued $1.50 billion of 1.00% convertible senior notes due December 1, 2018, or the Convertible Notes, of which $827 million in principal amount remained outstanding as of January 29, 2017. We have received additional conversion requests of $660 million in principal amount, $502 million of which have already settled, $103 million of which are expected to settle during the first quarter of fiscal year 2018, and $55 million of which are expected to settle during the second quarter of fiscal year 2018. Our indebtedness may limit our ability to use our cash flow or borrow additional funds for working capital, capital expenditures, acquisitions and general corporate and other purposes. Additionally, our obligation to make payments related to the Notes or the Convertible Notes could impact our cash balance and limit our ability to use our cash for our capital return program and our other liquidity needs, including working capital, capital expenditures, acquisitions, investments and other general corporate purposes. The warrants associated with our Convertible Notes, or the Warrants, dilute our net income per share and the settlement or eventual exercise of the Warrants would dilute the ownership interest of our existing shareholders. When the average trading price of our common stock for a fiscal quarter exceeds the adjusted strike price of the Warrants, the number of diluted weighted average shares used in our net income per share calculation increases, which dilutes our net income per share. Any issuance by us of shares upon exercise or any other settlement of the Warrants may dilute the ownership interest of our existing shareholders. In December 2016, we entered into an agreement with a counterparty bank to terminate 63 million of the 75 million Warrants outstanding. In consideration for the termination of these Warrants, we delivered a total of 48 million shares of common stock to the counterparty bank, the amount of which was determined each day based on the daily volume-weighted average price of our common stock during an observation period beginning December 13, 2016 and ending January 31, 2017. As of January 29, 2017, 44 million of the 48 million shares of our common stock had been issued related to the terminated Warrants. The remaining 4 million shares were issued in the beginning of fiscal year 2018. An aggregate of 12 million Warrants remained outstanding, or the Remaining Warrants, as of January 29, 2017. The Remaining Warrants will be deemed to be automatically exercised on certain dates between March 2019 and June 2019, unless the Warrant holder notifies us otherwise. Delaware law and provisions in our certificate of incorporation, our bylaws and our agreement with Microsoft Corporation could delay or prevent a change in control. Our status as a Delaware corporation and the anti-takeover provisions of the Delaware General Corporation Law may discourage, delay, or prevent a change in control by prohibiting us from engaging in a business combination with an interested shareholder for a period of three years after the person becomes an interested shareholder, even if a change of control would be beneficial to our existing shareholders. In addition, our certificate of incorporation and bylaws contain provisions that could make it more difficult for a third party to acquire a majority of our outstanding voting stock. These provisions include the following: •the ability of our Board of Directors to create and issue preferred stock without prior shareholder approval; •the prohibition of shareholder action by written consent; •advance notice requirements for director nominations and shareholder proposals; •the ability of our Board of Directors to increase or decrease the number of directors without shareholder approval; •a super-majority voting requirement to amend some provisions in our certificate of incorporation and bylaws; •the inability of our shareholders to call special meetings of shareholders; and •the ability of our Board of Directors to make, amend or repeal our bylaws. On March 5, 2000, we entered into an agreement with Microsoft in which we agreed to develop and sell graphics chips and to license certain technology to Microsoft and its licensees for use in the Xbox. Under the agreement, if an individual or corporation makes an offer to purchase shares equal to or greater than 30% of the outstanding shares of our common stock, Microsoft may have first and last rights of refusal to purchase the stock. The Microsoft provision and the other factors listed above could also delay or prevent a change in control of NVIDIA. These provisions could also discourage proxy contests and make it more difficult for shareholders to elect directors of their choosing and to cause us to take other corporate actions they desire. ITEM 1B.