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UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

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FORM 10-Q

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(Mark One)

⌧ QUARTERLY REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

For the quarterly period ended April 3, 2021

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or

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◻ TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

For the transition period from _____ to _____

Commission file number: 001-33170

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NETLIST, INC.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

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​

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(949) 435-0025

(Registrant’s telephone number, including area code)

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Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act: None

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Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days.  Yes ⌧    No ◻

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Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files). Yes ⌧    No ◻

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Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company,” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.

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Large accelerated filer ◻	Accelerated filer ◻	Non-accelerated filer ⌧	Smaller reporting company ⌧
​	​		Emerging growth company ◻

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If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ◻

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Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act).  Yes ◻   No ⌧

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As of May 11, 2021, there were 215,600,939 outstanding shares of the registrant’s common stock.

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NETLIST, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES

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Form 10-Q

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For the Quarter Ended April 3, 2021

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

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Table of Contents

NETLIST, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES

​

Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations (Unaudited)

(in thousands, except per share amounts)

​

​

​	​	​	​	​	​	​
​	​	Three Months Ended
​	​	April 3,		​	March 28,
​		2021			2020
Net sales	​	$	14,897	​	$	14,631
Cost of sales	​	​	13,396	​	​	12,522
Gross profit	​	​	1,501	​	​	2,109
Operating expenses:	​	​	​	​	​	​
Research and development	​	​	1,124	​	​	654
Intellectual property legal fees	​	​	2,287	​	​	625
Selling, general and administrative	​	​	1,957	​	​	2,221
Total operating expenses	​	​	5,368	​	​	3,500
Operating loss	​	​	(3,867)	​	​	(1,391)
Other expense, net:	​	​	​	​	​	​
Interest expense, net	​	​	(147)	​	​	(148)
Other expense, net	​	​	(2)	​	​	(3)
Total other expense, net	​	​	(149)	​	​	(151)
Loss before provision for income taxes	​	​	(4,016)	​	​	(1,542)
Provision for income taxes	​	​	1	​	​	—
Net loss	​	$	(4,017)	​	$	(1,542)
​	​	​	​	​	​	​
Net loss per common share:	​	​	​	​	​	​
Basic and diluted	​	$	(0.02)	​	$	(0.01)
Weighted-average common shares outstanding:	​	​	​	​	​	​
Basic and diluted	​	​	205,680	​	​	169,719

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See accompanying notes.

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NETLIST, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES

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Condensed Consolidated Statements of Stockholders’ Equity (Deficit) (Unaudited)

(in thousands)

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​

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​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

Additional

​

​

​

​

Total

​

​

Common Stock

​

Paid-in

​

Accumulated

​

Stockholders'

​

Shares

Amount

Capital

Deficit

Equity (Deficit)

Balance, January 2, 2021

​

195,978

​

$

195

​

$

192,071

​

$

(194,886)

​

$

(2,620)

Net loss

​

—

​

​

—

​

​

—

​

​

(4,017)

​

​

(4,017)

Issuance of common stock, net

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11,700

​

​

12

​

​

9,349

​

​

—

​

​

9,361

Exercise of stock options

​

476

​

​

—

​

​

376

​

​

—

​

​

376

Exercise of warrants

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6,508

​

​

7

​

​

3,975

​

​

—

​

​

3,982

Stock-based compensation

​

—

​

​

—

​

​

338

​

​

—

​

​

338

Restricted stock units vested and distributed

​

501

​

​

1

​

​

(1)

​

​

—

​

​

—

Tax withholdings related to net share settlements of equity awards

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(150)

​

​

—

​

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(276)

​

​

—

​

​

(276)

Balance, April 3, 2021

​

215,013

​

$

215

​

$

205,832

​

$

(198,903)

​

$

7,144

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Additional

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​

​

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Total

​

​

Common Stock

​

Paid-in

​

Accumulated

​

Stockholders'

​

Shares

Amount

Capital

Deficit

Deficit

Balance, December 28, 2019

​

169,539

​

$

169

​

$

179,086

​

$

(187,618)

​

$

(8,363)

Net loss

​

—

​

​

—

​

​

—

​

​

(1,542)

​

​

(1,542)

Issuance of commitment shares

​

1,529

​

​

2

​

​

(2)

​

​

—

​

​

—

Stock-based compensation

​

—

​

​

—

​

​

206

​

​

—

​

​

206

Restricted stock units vested and distributed

​

362

​

​

—

​

​

—

​

​

—

​

​

—

Tax withholdings related to net share settlements of equity awards

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(135)

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​

—

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​

(32)

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​

—

​

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(32)

Balance, March 28, 2020

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171,295

​

$

171

​

$

179,258

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$

(189,160)

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$

(9,731)

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See accompanying notes.

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NETLIST, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES

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Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows (Unaudited)

(in thousands)

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​	​	​	​	​	​	​
​	​	Three Months Ended
​	​	April 3,		​	March 28,
​		2021			2020
Cash flows from operating activities:	​	​	​	​	​	​
Net loss	​	$	(4,017)	​	$	(1,542)
Adjustments to reconcile net loss to net cash used in operating activities:	​	​	​	​	​	​
Depreciation and amortization	​	​	33	​	​	39
Interest accrued on convertible promissory notes	​	​	76	​	​	75
Amortization of debt discounts	​	​	53	​	​	53
Non-cash lease expense	​	​	112	​	​	136
Stock-based compensation	​	​	338	​	​	206
Changes in operating assets and liabilities:	​	​	​	​	​	​
Accounts receivable	​	​	(998)	​	​	(1,444)
Inventories	​	​	(5,358)	​	​	(2,478)
Prepaid expenses and other assets	​	​	(196)	​	​	(26)
Accounts payable	​	​	5,777	​	​	623
Accrued payroll and related liabilities	​	​	(13)	​	​	97
Accrued expenses and other liabilities	​	​	(98)	​	​	(119)
Net cash used in operating activities	​	​	(4,291)	​	​	(4,380)
Cash flows from investing activities:	​	​	​	​	​	​
Acquisition of property and equipment	​	​	(41)	​	​	(12)
Net cash used in investing activities	​	​	(41)	​	​	(12)
Cash flows from financing activities:	​	​	​	​	​	​
Net borrowings under line of credit	​	​	962	​	​	1,459
Payments on note payable	​	​	(83)	​	​	(138)
Proceeds from issuance of common stock, net	​	​	9,361	​	​	—
Proceeds from exercise of stock options and warrants	​	​	4,358	​	​	—
Payments for taxes related to net share settlement of equity awards	​	​	(276)	​	​	(32)
Net cash provided by financing activities	​	​	14,322	​	​	1,289
Net change in cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash	​	​	9,990	​	​	(3,103)
Cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash at beginning of period	​	​	16,526	​	​	11,716
Cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash at end of period	​	$	26,516	​	$	8,613
​	​	​	​	​	​	​
Reconciliation of cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash at end of period:	​	​	​	​	​	​
Cash and cash equivalents	​	$	21,616	​	$	5,713
Restricted cash	​	​	4,900	​	​	2,900
Cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash at end of period	​	$	26,516	​	$	8,613

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See accompanying notes.

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NETLIST, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES

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Notes to Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements (Unaudited)

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Note 1—Description of Business

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Netlist, Inc. and its wholly-owned subsidiaries (collectively the “Company” or “Netlist”) provides high-performance modular memory subsystems to customers in diverse industries that require enterprise and storage class memory solutions to empower critical business decisions. The Company has a history of introducing disruptive new products, such as one of the first load-reduced dual in-line memory modules (“LRDIMM”) based on its distributed buffer architecture, which has been adopted by the industry for DDR4 LRDIMM. The Company was also one of the first to bring NAND flash memory (“NAND flash”) to the memory channel with its NVvault non-volatile dual in-line memory modules using software-intensive controllers and merging dynamic random access memory integrated circuits (“DRAM ICs” or “DRAM”) and NAND flash to solve data bottleneck and data retention challenges encountered in high-performance computing environments. The Company has introduced a new generation of storage class memory products called HybriDIMM to address the growing need for real-time analytics in Big Data applications, in-memory databases, high performance computing and advanced data storage solutions. The Company's NVMe SSD portfolio provides industry-leading performance offered in multiple capacities and form factors. The Company also resells SSD, NAND flash, DRAM products and other component products to end-customers that are not reached in the distribution models of the component manufacturers, including storage customers, appliance customers, system builders and cloud and datacenter customers.

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Note 2—Summary of Significant Accounting Policies

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Basis of Presentation

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The accompanying unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“U.S. GAAP”). Certain information and footnote disclosures normally included in the consolidated financial statements prepared in accordance with U.S. GAAP have been condensed or omitted pursuant to the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”). These condensed consolidated financial statements should be read in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements and notes thereto as of and for the year ended January 2, 2021, included in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC on March 26, 2021 (the “2020 Annual Report”).

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In the opinion of management, all adjustments for the fair presentation of the Company’s condensed consolidated financial statements have been made. The adjustments are of a normal recurring nature except as otherwise noted. The results of operations for the interim periods are not necessarily indicative of the results to be expected for other periods or the full fiscal year. The Company has evaluated events occurring subsequent to April 3, 2021, through the filing date of this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q and concluded that there were no events that required recognition and disclosures, other than those discussed elsewhere in the notes hereto.

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Principles of Consolidation

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The accompanying condensed consolidated financial statements include the accounts of Netlist, Inc. and its wholly-owned subsidiaries. All intercompany balances and transactions have been eliminated in consolidation.

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Fiscal Year

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The Company’s fiscal year is the 52- or 53-week period that ends on the Saturday nearest to December 31. The Company’s fiscal year 2021 will include 52 weeks and ends on January 1, 2022 and its fiscal year 2020 included 53 weeks and ended on January 2, 2021. The four quarters of fiscal year 2021 each includes 13 weeks. The first three quarters of fiscal year 2020 each included 13 weeks and the fourth quarter included 14 weeks. Unless otherwise stated,

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references to particular years, quarters, months and periods refer to the Company’s fiscal years ended in January and the associated quarters, months and periods of those fiscal years.

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Use of Estimates

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The preparation of the accompanying condensed consolidated financial statements in conformity with U.S. GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the amounts reported. Actual results may differ materially from those estimates.

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Recently Adopted Accounting Guidance

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In the first quarter of 2021, the Company adopted the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB” Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) No. 2019-12, Income Taxes (Topic 740) Simplifying the Accounting for Income Taxes, which eliminates certain exceptions related to the approach for intraperiod tax allocation, the methodology for calculating income taxes in an interim period and the recognition of deferred tax liabilities for outside basis differences. This ASU also clarifies and simplifies other aspects of the accounting for income taxes. The adoption of this ASU did not have an impact on the Company’s condensed consolidated financial statements.

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Recently Issued Accounting Guidance

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In August 2020, the FASB issued ASU No. 2020-06, Debt—Debt with Conversion and Other Options (Subtopic 470-20) and Derivatives and Hedging—Contracts in Entity’s Own Equity (Subtopic 815-40): Accounting for Convertible Instruments and Contracts in an Entity’s Own Equity. This ASU amends the guidance on convertible instruments and the derivatives scope exception for contracts in an entity's own equity, and also improves and amends the related earnings per share guidance for both Subtopics. The ASU will be effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2023, including interim periods within those fiscal years and early adoption is permitted. The Company is currently evaluating the impact this guidance will have on its condensed consolidated financial statements.

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Note 3—Supplemental Financial Information

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Inventories

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Inventories consisted of the following (in thousands):

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​	​	​	​	​	​	​
​	​	April 3,		​	January 2,
​		2021		​	2021
Raw materials	​	$	2,352	​	$	578
Work in process	​	​	820	​	​	2
Finished goods	​	​	5,384	​	​	2,618
​	​	$	8,556	​	$	3,198

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Net Loss Per Share

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The following table shows the computation of basic and diluted net loss per share of common stock (in thousands, except per share data):

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​	​	​	​	​	​	​
​	​	Three Months Ended
​	​	April 3,		​	March 28,
​		2021			2020
Numerator: Net loss	​	$	(4,017)	​	$	(1,542)
Denominator: Weighted-average common shares outstanding—basic and diluted	​	​	205,680	​	​	169,719
Net loss per share—basic and diluted	​	$	(0.02)	​	$	(0.01)

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The table below shows potentially dilutive weighted average common share equivalents, consisting of shares issuable upon the exercise of outstanding stock options and warrants using the treasury stock method, shares issuable upon conversion of the SVIC Note (see Note 5) using the “if-converted” method, and the vesting of restricted stock units (“RSUs”). These potential weighted average common share equivalents have been excluded from the diluted net loss per share calculations above as their effect would be anti-dilutive (in thousands):

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Disaggregation of Net Sales

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The following table shows disaggregated net sales by major source (in thousands):

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​	​	​	​	​	​	​
​	​	Three Months Ended
​	​	April 3,		​	March 28,
​		2021		​	2020
Resales of third-party products	​	$	11,358	​	$	10,896
Sale of the Company's modular memory subsystems	​	​	3,539	​	​	3,735
Total net sales	​	$	14,897	​	$	14,631

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Major Customers and Products

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The Company’s net sales have historically been concentrated in a small number of customers. The following table sets forth the percentage of net sales made to customers that each comprise 10% or more of total net sales:

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*

Less than 10% of net sales during the period.

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As of April 3, 2021, two customers represented 26% and 17% of aggregate gross receivables, respectively. As of January 2, 2021, one customer represented approximately 50% of aggregate gross receivables. The loss of the significant customers or a reduction in sales to or difficulties collecting payments from these customers could significantly reduce the Company’s net sales and adversely affect its operating results. The Company mitigates risks associated with foreign receivables by purchasing comprehensive foreign credit insurance.

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The Company resells certain component products to end-customers that are not reached in the distribution models of the component manufacturers, including storage customers, appliance customers, system builders and cloud and datacenter customers. For the three months ended April 3, 2021 and March 28, 2020, resales of these products represented approximately 76% and 74% of net sales, respectively.

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Note 4—Credit Agreement

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On October 31, 2009, the Company and Silicon Valley Bank (“SVB”) entered into a credit agreement (as the same may from time to time be amended, modified, supplemented or restated, the “SVB Credit Agreement”), which provides for a revolving line of credit up to $5.0 million. The borrowing base is limited to 85% of the eligible accounts receivable, subject to certain adjustments. As of April 3, 2021, the borrowings under the SVB Credit Agreement bore interest based on the Wall Street Journal prime rate (“Prime Rate”) plus 2.75%. On April 9, 2021, the Company entered into an amendment to the SVB Credit Agreement to accrue interest on borrowings at a per annum rate equal to the greater of 2.25% above the Prime Rate or 5.50% and to extend the maturity date to December 30, 2021. The amount

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available for borrowing may be increased to $7.0 million and the maturity date will be extended to April 29, 2022 upon the Company’s request, if the Company meets certain conditions.

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The SVB Credit Agreement requires letters of credit to be secured by cash, which is classified as restricted cash in the accompanying condensed consolidated balance sheets. As of April 3, 2021 and January 2, 2021, (i) outstanding letters of credit were $4.9 million and $3.2 million, respectively, (ii) outstanding borrowings were $4.6 million and $3.7 million, respectively, and (iii) availability under the revolving line of credit was $0.4 million and $0.1 million, respectively.

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On April 12, 2017, the Company and SVB entered into an amendment to the SVB Credit Agreement to, among other things, obtain SVB’s consent in connection with the Company’s rights agreement with Computershare Trust Company, N.A., as rights agent (see Note 8), and make certain administrative changes in connection with the Company’s funding arrangement with TR Global Funding V, LLC, an affiliate of TRGP Capital Management, LLC (“TRGP”) (see Note 7).

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For all periods before April 20, 2017, all obligations under the SVB Credit Agreement were secured by a first priority security interest in the Company’s tangible and intangible assets, other than its patent portfolio, which was subject to a first priority security interest held by Samsung Venture Investment Co.(“SVIC”) (see Note 5). On May 3, 2017, TRGP entered into an intercreditor agreement with each of SVIC and SVB, and on April 20, 2017, SVIC and SVB entered into an intercreditor agreement with each other (such intercreditor agreements, collectively, the “Intercreditor Agreements”). Pursuant to the terms of the Intercreditor Agreements, SVB’s security interests in the Company’s assets have been modified as follows: SVB has a first priority security interest in all of the Company’s tangible and intangible assets other than its patent portfolio and its claims underlying and any proceeds it may receive from its legal proceedings against SK hynix, Inc. a South Korean memory semiconductor supplier (“SK hynix”); a second priority security interest in the Company’s patent portfolio other than the patents that are the subject of the SK hynix proceedings; and a third priority security interest in the Company’s patents that are the subject of the SK hynix proceedings (see Note 7).

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The SVB Credit Agreement subjects the Company to certain affirmative and negative covenants, including financial covenants with respect to the Company’s liquidity and restrictions on the payment of dividends. As of April 3, 2021, the Company was in compliance with its covenants under the SVB Credit Agreement.

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Note 5—Debt

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The Company’s debt consisted of the following (in thousands):

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​	​	​	​	​	​	​
​	​	April 3,		​	January 2,
​		2021			2021
Secured convertible note, due December 2021, including accrued interest of $1,613 (2021) and $1,538 (2020), respectively	​	$	16,613	​	$	16,538
Paycheck protection program loan, due April 2022, including accrued interest of $6 (2021) and $4 (2020), respectively	​	​	643	​	​	641
Notes payable	​	​	167	​	​	251
Unamortized debt discounts and issuance costs	​	​	(175)	​	​	(228)
Total debt	​	​	17,248	​	​	17,202
Less: amounts due within one year	​	​	(17,207)	​	​	(17,056)
Long-term debt	​	$	41	​	$	146

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Secured Convertible Note

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On November 18, 2015, in connection with entering into the Joint Development and License Agreement with Samsung, the Company issued to SVIC a secured convertible note (“SVIC Note”) and stock purchase warrant (“SVIC Warrant”). The SVIC Note has an original principal amount of $15.0 million, accrues interest at a rate of 2.0% per year, is due and payable in full on December 31, 2021, and is convertible into shares of the Company’s common stock at a conversion price of $1.25 per share, subject to certain adjustments, on the maturity date of the SVIC Note. Upon a change of control of the Company prior to the maturity date of the SVIC Note, the SVIC Note may, at the Company’s option, be assumed by the surviving entity or be redeemed upon the consummation of such change of control for the principal and accrued but unpaid interest as of the redemption date. The SVIC Warrant grants SVIC a right to purchase 2,000,000 shares of the Company’s common stock at an exercise price of $0.30 per share, subject to certain adjustments, is only exercisable in the event the Company exercises its right to redeem the SVIC Note on or prior to its maturity date, and expires on December 31, 2025.

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The SVIC Warrant was valued at $1.2 million, based on its relative fair value, and was recorded as a debt discount. The Company also recorded $0.2 million of debt issuance costs as a debt discount for professional services fees rendered in connection with the transaction. These amounts are being amortized to interest expense over the term of the SVIC Note using the interest method. For the three months ended April 3, 2021, interest expense related to the amortization of the issuance costs associated with the liability component was not material. The effective interest rate, including accretion of the SVIC Note to par and amortization of debt issuance costs, was approximately 3.4%. As of April 3, 2021, the outstanding principal and accrued interest on the SVIC Note was $16.6 million, and the outstanding SVIC Note balance, net of unamortized debt discounts and issuance costs, was $16.4 million.

​

In connection with the SVIC Note, SVIC was granted a first priority security interest in the Company’s patent portfolio and a second priority security interest in all of the Company’s other tangible and intangible assets. Upon issuance of the SVIC Note, the Company, SVB and SVIC entered into an Intercreditor Agreement pursuant to which SVB and SVIC agreed to their relative security interests in the Company’s assets. In May 2017, SVIC, SVB and TRGP entered into additional Intercreditor Agreements to modify certain of these lien priorities (see Note 7). Additionally, upon issuance of the SVIC Note and the SVIC Warrant, the Company and SVIC entered into a Registration Rights Agreement pursuant to which the Company is obligated to register with the Securities and Exchange Commission, upon demand by SVIC, the shares of the Company’s common stock issuable upon conversion of the SVIC Note or upon exercise of the SVIC Warrant.

​

The SVIC Note subjects the Company to certain affirmative and negative operating covenants. As of April 3, 2021, the Company was in compliance with its covenants under the SVIC Note.

​

Paycheck Protection Program Loan

​

On April 23, 2020, the Company entered into an unsecured promissory note with a principal amount of $0.6 million through Hanmi Bank under the Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP”) (“PPP Loan”) administered by the Small Business Administration (“SBA”) and established as part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act. The PPP Loan bore interest at 1.0% per annum and would mature on April 23, 2022 with the first six months of interest and principal payments deferred. The amount borrowed under the PPP Loan was guaranteed by the SBA and was eligible for forgiveness in an amount equal to the sum of the eligible costs, including payroll, benefits, rent and utilities, incurred by the Company during the 24-week period beginning on the date the Company received the proceeds. The PPP Loan contained customary events of default, and the occurrence of an event of default might result in a claim for the immediate repayment of all amounts outstanding under the PPP Loan. In May 2021, the full amounts outstanding under the PPP Loan was forgiven.

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Note 6—Leases

​

The Company has operating and finance leases primarily associated with office and manufacturing facilities and certain equipment. The determination of which discount rate to use when measuring the lease obligation was deemed a significant judgment.

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Lease cost and supplemental cash flow information related to operating leases was as follows (in thousands):

​

​

For the three months ended April 3, 2021 and March 28, 2020, finance lease costs and cash flows from finance lease were immaterial.

​

Supplemental balance sheet information related to leases was as follows (in thousands):

​

​

The following table includes supplemental information:

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Maturities of lease liabilities as of April 3, 2021 were as follows (in thousands):

​

​

On April 28, 2021, the Company entered into a lease agreement for its corporate headquarters with a term of five years in Irvine, CA with future payments of approximately $2.0 million. The lease is estimated to commence during 2021 and provides one three-year renewal option.

​

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Note 7—Commitments and Contingencies

​

TRGP Agreement and Related Intercreditor Agreements

​

On May 3, 2017, the Company and TRGP entered into an investment agreement (the “TRGP Agreement”), which generally provided that TRGP directly fund the costs incurred by or on behalf of the Company in connection with the Company’s first action in the U.S. International Trade Commission (“ITC”) and its U.S. district court proceedings, but excluding all other proceedings (all such funded costs, collectively, the “Funded Costs”). In exchange for such funding, the Company agreed that, if the Company recovered any proceeds in connection with the funded SK hynix proceedings relating to certain patents, it would pay to TRGP the amount of the Funded Costs paid by TRGP plus an escalating premium based on when any such proceeds are recovered. In addition, pursuant to the terms of a separate security agreement between the Company and TRGP dated May 3, 2017 (the “Security Agreement”), the Company granted to TRGP (i) a first priority lien on, and security in, the claims of certain patents underlying the funded SK hynix proceedings and any proceeds that may be received by the Company in connection with these proceedings relating to certain patents, and (ii) a second priority lien on, and security in, certain of the Company’s patents that are the subject of the funded SK hynix proceedings. The TRGP Agreement and its amendment do not impose financial covenants on the Company. On January 23, 2020, the Company and TRGP entered into an amendment to the TRGP Agreement to alter the recovery sharing formula related to claims against SK hynix for alleged infringement of the Company’s patents.

​

In connection with the TRGP Agreement, in May 2017, TRGP, SVIC and SVB entered into the Intercreditor Agreements. Pursuant to the terms of the Intercreditor Agreements, TRGP, SVB and SVIC have agreed to their relative security interest priorities in the Company’s assets, such that: (i) TRGP has a first priority security interest in the Company’s claims underlying the funded SK hynix proceedings related to certain patents and any proceeds that may be received by the Company in connection with these proceedings related to certain patents, and a second priority security interest in certain of the Company’s patents that are the subject of the funded SK hynix proceedings, (ii) SVIC has a first priority security interest in the Company’s complete patent portfolio and a second priority security interest in all of the Company’s other tangible and intangible assets (other than the Company’s claims underlying and any proceeds it may receive from the SK hynix proceedings funded under the TRGP Agreement), and (iii) SVB has a first priority security interest in all of the Company’s tangible and intangible assets other than its patent portfolio and its claims underlying and any proceeds it may receive from the SK hynix proceedings funded under the TRGP Agreement, a second priority security interest in the Company’s patent portfolio other than the patents that are the subject of the SK hynix proceedings funded under the TRGP Agreement, and a third priority security interest in the Company’s patents that are the subject of the SK hynix proceedings funded under the TRGP Agreement. The Company consented and agreed to the terms of each of the Intercreditor Agreements.

​

Legal expenses incurred by the Company but paid by TRGP pursuant to the terms of the TRGP Agreement are excluded from the condensed consolidated financial statements. During the years ended December 29, 2018 and December 30, 2017, the Company excluded legal expenses of $1.8 million and $10.2 million, respectively, as a result of TRGP’s payment of these expenses under the TRGP Agreement. No further legal expenses will be paid by TRGP under

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this agreement. Any settlement or other cash proceeds the Company may recover in the future in connection with the funded SK hynix proceedings may be reduced by the aggregate amount of legal expenses excluded by the Company as a result of TRGP’s payment of these expenses under the TRGP Agreement, plus the premium amount due to TRGP under the terms of the amended TRGP Agreement at the time of any such recovery. The Company believes that the SK hynix License Agreement falls outside the scope of the TRGP Agreement (see below SK hynix Litigation).

​

Litigation and Patent Reexaminations

​

The Company owns numerous patents and continues to seek to grow and strengthen its patent portfolio, which covers various aspects of the Company’s innovations and includes various claim scopes. The Company plans to pursue avenues to monetize its intellectual property portfolio, in which it would generate revenue by selling or licensing its technology, and it intends to vigorously enforce its patent rights against alleged infringers of such rights. The Company dedicates substantial resources to protecting and enforcing its intellectual property rights, including with patent infringement proceedings it files against third parties and defense of its patents against challenges made by way of reexamination and review proceedings at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”) and Patent Trial and Appeal Board (“PTAB”). The Company expects these activities to continue for the foreseeable future, with no guarantee that any ongoing or future patent protection or litigation activities will be successful, or that the Company will be able to monetize its intellectual property portfolio. The Company is also subject to litigation based on claims that it has infringed on the intellectual property rights of others.

​

Any litigation, regardless of its outcome, is inherently uncertain, involves a significant dedication of resources, including time and capital, and diverts management’s attention from other activities of the Company. As a result, any current or future infringement claims or patent challenges by or against third parties, whether or not eventually decided in the Company’s favor or settled, could materially adversely affect the Company’s business, financial condition and results of operations. Additionally, the outcome of pending or future litigation and related patent reviews and reexaminations, as well as any delay in their resolution, could affect the Company’s ability to continue to sell its products, protect against competition in the current and expected markets for its products or license or otherwise monetize its intellectual property rights in the future.

​

Google Litigation

​

On December 4, 2009, the Company filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Google, Inc. (“Google”) in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California (the “Northern District Court”), seeking damages and injunctive relief based on Google’s alleged infringement of the Company’s U.S. Patent No. 7,619,912 (the “‘912 patent”), which relates generally to technologies to implement rank multiplication. In February 2010, Google answered the Company’s complaint and asserted counterclaims against the Company seeking a declaration that the patent is invalid and not infringed, and claiming that the Company committed fraud, negligent misrepresentation and breach of contract based on the Company’s activities in the Joint Electron Device Engineering Council (“JEDEC”) standard-setting organization. The counterclaim seeks unspecified compensatory damages. Accruals have not been recorded for loss contingencies related to Google’s counterclaim because it is not probable that a loss has been incurred and the amount of any such loss cannot be reasonably estimated. In October 2010, Google requested and was later granted an Inter Partes Reexamination of the ‘912 patent by the USPTO. The reexamination proceedings are described below. In connection with the reexamination request, the Northern District Court granted the Company’s and Google’s joint request to stay the ‘912 patent infringement lawsuit against Google until the completion of the reexamination proceedings. On January 31, 2019, the PTAB, in response to Google’s rehearing request, denied rehearing of the PTAB’s previous decision upholding the validity of claims in Netlist’s ‘912 patent. On April 16, 2019, Google filed an appeal to this decision. On June 15, 2020, the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed the PTAB’s previous decision upholding the validity of claims in Netlist’s ‘912 patent. The Google litigation is now resuming with issuance of the ‘912 reexamination certificate and the scheduling of a Markman hearing for March 9, 2022.

​

Inphi Litigation

​

On September 22, 2009, the Company filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Inphi Corporation (“Inphi”) in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California (the “Central District Court”). The complaint, as amended,

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alleges that Inphi is contributorily infringing and actively inducing the infringement of U.S. patents owned by the Company, including the ‘912 patent, U.S. Patent No. 7,532,537 (the “‘537 patent”), which relates generally to memory modules with load isolation and memory domain translation capabilities, and U.S. Patent No. 7,636,274 (the “‘274 patent”), which is related to the ‘537 patent and relates generally to load isolation and memory domain translation technologies. The Company is seeking damages and injunctive relief based on Inphi’s use of the Company’s patented technology. Inphi denied infringement and claimed that the three patents are invalid. In June 2010, Inphi requested and was later granted Inter Partes Reexaminations of the ‘912, ‘537 and ‘274 patents by the USPTO. The reexamination proceedings are described below (except for the reexamination proceeding related to the ‘537 patent, which have concluded with the confirmation of all of the claims of such patent). In connection with the reexamination requests, Inphi filed a motion to stay the patent infringement lawsuit with the Central District Court until completion of the reexamination proceedings, which was granted. On April 16, 2019, Inphi filed an appeal to the PTAB’s January 31, 2019 decision upholding the validity of claims in Netlist’s ‘912 patent. On June 15, 2020, the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed the PTAB’s previous decision upholding the validity of claims in Netlist’s ‘912 patent.

​

SK hynix Litigation

​

On September 1, 2016, the Company filed legal proceedings for patent infringement against SK hynix in the ITC (the “First ITC Action”) and the Central District Court. These proceedings are based on the alleged infringement by SK hynix’s registered dual in-line memory module (“RDIMM”) and LRDIMM enterprise memory products of six of the Company’s U.S. patents. On October 31, 2017, the Company filed additional legal proceedings for patent infringement against SK hynix in the ITC (the “Second ITC Action”) based on the alleged infringement by SK hynix’s RDIMM and LRDIMM products of two additional U.S. patents owned by the Company. In all of the ITC proceedings, the Company has requested exclusion orders that direct U.S. Customs and Border Protection to stop allegedly infringing SK hynix RDIMM and LRDIMM products from entering the United States. In the Central District Court proceedings, the Company is primarily seeking damages. The First and Second ITC Actions are no longer pending and the parallel Central District Court infringement proceedings are currently stayed pending further order of the court.

​

On March 17, 2020, Netlist filed legal proceedings alleging patent infringement against SK hynix in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas based on the infringement of Netlist U.S. Patent No. 9,858,218 and U.S. Patent No. 10,474,595 by SK hynix RDIMM and LRDIMM memory products. The case was assigned to the Hon. Alan D. Albright and is Case No. 6:20-cv-00194-ADA. The Markman hearing in this case occurred on March 4, 2021 and the trial was scheduled for July 6, 2021. Case No. 6:20-cv-00194-ADA was dismissed on April 20, 2021 following Netlist’s settlement with SK hynix set forth below.

​

On June 15, 2020, Netlist filed a second round of legal proceedings alleging patent infringement against SK hynix in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas based on the infringement of Netlist U.S. Patent No. 10,217,523 by SK hynix LRDIMM memory products. The case was assigned to the Hon. Alan D. Albright and is Case No. 6:20-cv-00525-ADA. The Markman hearing in this case occurred on March 4, 2021 and the trial was scheduled for July 6, 2021. Case No. 6:20-cv-00525-ADA was dismissed on April 20, 2021 following Netlist’s settlement with SK hynix set forth below.

​

On April 5, 2021, Netlist entered into a Strategic Product Supply and License Agreement (the “License Agreement”) and Product Purchase and Supply Agreement with SK hynix. Both agreements have a term of 5 years. Under the License Agreement, (a) Netlist has granted to SK hynix fully paid, worldwide, non-exclusive, non-assignable licenses to certain of its patents covering memory technologies and (b) SK hynix has granted to Netlist fully paid, worldwide, non-exclusive, non-assignable licenses to its patent portfolio. In addition, the License Agreement provides for the settlement of all pending intellectual property proceedings between Netlist and SK hynix with the settlement fee of $40 million payable to us by SK hynix, and the parties have agreed to collaborate on certain technology development activities.

​

Other Contingent Obligations

​

In the ordinary course of its business, the Company has made certain indemnities, commitments and guarantees pursuant to which it may be required to make payments in relation to certain transactions. These include, among others:

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(i) intellectual property indemnities to the Company’s customers and licensees in connection with the use, sale and/or license of Company products; (ii) indemnities to vendors and service providers pertaining to claims based on the Company’s negligence or willful misconduct; (iii) indemnities involving the accuracy of representations and warranties in certain contracts; (iv) indemnities to directors and officers of the Company to the maximum extent permitted under the laws of the State of Delaware; (v) indemnities to TRGP, SVIC and SVB pertaining to all obligations, demands, claims, and liabilities claimed or asserted by any other party in connection with transactions contemplated by the applicable investment or loan documents, as applicable; and (vi) indemnities or other claims related to certain real estate leases, under which the Company may be required to indemnify property owners for environmental and other liabilities or may face other claims arising from the Company’s use of the applicable premises. The duration of these indemnities, commitments and guarantees varies and, in certain cases, may be indefinite. The majority of these indemnities, commitments and guarantees do not provide for any limitation of the maximum potential for future payments the Company could be obligated to make. Historically, the Company has not been obligated to make significant payments as a result of these obligations, and no liabilities have been recorded for these indemnities, commitments and guarantees in the accompanying condensed consolidated balance sheets.

​

Note 8—Stockholders’ Equity

​

Serial Preferred Stock

​

The Company’s authorized capital stock includes 10,000,000 shares of serial preferred stock, with a par value of $0.001 per share. No shares of preferred stock were outstanding as of April 3, 2021 or January 2, 2021.

​

On April 17, 2017, the Company entered into a rights agreement (as amended from time to time, the “Rights Agreement”) with Computershare Trust Company, N.A., as rights agent. In connection with the adoption of the Rights Agreement and pursuant to its terms, the Company’s board of directors authorized and declared a dividend of one right (each, a “Right”) for each outstanding share of the Company’s common stock to stockholders of record at the close of business on May 18, 2017 (the “Record Date”), and authorized the issuance of one Right for each share of the Company’s common stock issued by the Company (except as otherwise provided in the Rights Agreement) between the Record Date and the Distribution Date (as defined below).

​

Each Right entitles the registered holder, subject to the terms of the Rights Agreement, to purchase from the Company, when exercisable and subject to adjustment, one unit consisting of one one-thousandth of a share (a “Unit”) of Series A Preferred Stock of the Company (the “Preferred Stock”), at a purchase price of $6.56 per Unit, subject to adjustment. Subject to the provisions of the Rights Agreement, including certain exceptions specified therein, a distribution date for the Rights (the “Distribution Date”) will occur upon the earlier of (i) 10 business days following a public announcement that a person or group of affiliated or associated persons (an “Acquiring Person”) has acquired or otherwise obtained beneficial ownership of 15% or more of the then-outstanding shares of the Company’s common stock, and (ii) 10 business days (or such later date as may be determined by the Company’s board of directors) following the commencement of a tender offer or exchange offer that would result in a person or group becoming an Acquiring Person. The Rights are not exercisable until the Distribution Date and, unless earlier redeemed or exchanged by the Company pursuant to the terms of the Rights Agreement (as amended on April 16, 2018, April 16, 2019 and August 14, 2020) will expire on the close of business on April 17, 2024.

​

In connection with the adoption of the Rights Agreement, the Company’s board of directors approved a Certificate of Designation of the Series A Preferred Stock (the “Certificate of Designation”) designating 1,000,000 shares of its serial preferred stock as Series A Preferred Stock and setting forth the rights, preferences and limitations of the Preferred Stock. The Company filed the Certificate of Designation with the Secretary of State of the State of Delaware on April 17, 2017.

​

2019 Lincoln Park Purchase Agreement

​

On June 24, 2019, the Company entered into a purchase agreement (the “2019 Purchase Agreement”) with Lincoln Park Capital Fund, LLC (“Lincoln Park”), pursuant to which the Company has the right to sell to Lincoln Park up to an aggregate of $10 million in shares of its common stock subject to the conditions and limitations set forth in the

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2019 Purchase Agreement. As consideration for entering into the 2019 Purchase Agreement, the Company issued to Lincoln Park 818,420 shares of its common stock as initial commitment shares in a noncash transaction on June 24, 2019 and will issue up to 818,420 additional shares of its common stock as additional commitment shares on a pro rata basis in connection with any additional purchases. The Company will not receive any cash proceeds from the issuance of these additional commitment shares.

​

Pursuant to the 2019 Purchase Agreement, on any business day and as often as every other business day over the 36-month term of the 2019 Purchase Agreement, the Company has the right, from time to time, at its sole discretion and subject to certain conditions, to direct Lincoln Park to purchase up to 400,000 shares of its common stock, with such amount increasing as the closing sale price of its common stock increases; provided Lincoln Park’s obligation under any single such purchase will not exceed $1.0 million, unless the Company and Lincoln Park mutually agree to increase the maximum amount of such single regular purchase. If the Company directs Lincoln Park to purchase the maximum number of shares of common stock it then may sell in a regular purchase, then in addition to such regular purchase, and subject to certain conditions and limitations in the 2019 Purchase Agreement, the Company may direct Lincoln Park to purchase an additional amount of common stock that may not exceed the lesser of (i) 300% of the number of shares purchased pursuant to the corresponding regular purchase or (ii) 30% of the total number of shares of its common stock traded during a specified period on the applicable purchase date as set forth in the 2019 Purchase Agreement. Under certain circumstances and in accordance with the 2019 Purchase Agreement, the Company may direct Lincoln Park to purchase shares in multiple accelerated purchases on the same trading day.

​

The Company controls the timing and amount of any sales of its common stock to Lincoln Park. There is no upper limit on the price per share that Lincoln Park must pay for the Company’s common stock under the 2019 Purchase Agreement, but in no event will shares be sold to Lincoln Park on a day the closing price is less than the floor price specified in the 2019 Purchase Agreement. In all instances, the Company may not sell shares of its common stock to Lincoln Park under the 2019 Purchase Agreement if that would result in Lincoln Park beneficially owning more than 9.99% of its common stock.

​

The 2019 Purchase Agreement does not limit the Company’s ability to raise capital from other sources at the Company’s sole discretion, except that, subject to certain exceptions, the Company may not enter into any Variable Rate Transaction (as defined in the Purchase Agreement, including the issuance of any floating conversion rate or variable priced equity-like securities) during the 36 months after the date of the 2019 Purchase Agreement. The Company has the right to terminate the 2019 Purchase Agreement at any time, at no cost to the Company.

​

During the three months ended April 3, 2021, Lincoln Park purchased an aggregate of 1,669,429 shares of the Company’s common stock for a net purchase price of $1.6 million under the 2019 Purchase Agreement. In connection with the purchases, the Company issued to Lincoln Park an aggregate of 129,468 shares of its common stock as additional commitment shares in noncash transactions.

​

2020 Lincoln Park Purchase Agreement

​

On March 5, 2020, the Company entered into a purchase agreement (the “2020 Purchase Agreement”) with Lincoln Park, pursuant to which the Company had the right to sell to Lincoln Park up to an aggregate of $20 million in shares of its common stock over the 36-month term of the 2020 Purchase Agreement subject to the conditions and limitations set forth in the 2020 Purchase Agreement. As consideration for entering into the 2020 Purchase Agreement, the Company issued to Lincoln Park 1,529,052 shares of its common stock as initial commitment shares in a noncash transaction on March 6, 2020 and would issue up to 917,431 additional shares of its common stock as additional commitment shares on a pro rata basis in connection with any additional purchases. The Company would not receive any cash proceeds from the issuance of these additional commitment shares.

​

Pursuant to the 2020 Purchase Agreement, on any business day and as often as every other business day over the 36-month term of the 2020 Purchase Agreement, the Company had the right, from time to time, at its sole discretion and subject to certain conditions, to direct Lincoln Park to purchase up to 400,000 shares of its common stock, with such amount increasing as the closing sale price of its common stock increases; provided Lincoln Park’s obligation under any single such purchase would not exceed $1.0 million, unless the Company and Lincoln Park mutually agreed to increase

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the maximum amount of such single regular purchase. If the Company directed Lincoln Park to purchase the maximum number of shares of common stock it then might sell in a regular purchase, then in addition to such regular purchase, and subject to certain conditions and limitations in the 2020 Purchase Agreement, the Company might direct Lincoln Park to purchase an additional amount of common stock that might not exceed the lesser of (i) 300% of the number of shares purchased pursuant to the corresponding regular purchase or (ii) 30% of the total number of shares of its common stock traded during a specified period on the applicable purchase date as set forth in the 2020 Purchase Agreement. Under certain circumstances and in accordance with the 2020 Purchase Agreement, the Company might direct Lincoln Park to purchase shares in multiple accelerated purchases on the same trading day.

​

The Company controlled the timing and amount of any sales of its common stock to Lincoln Park. There was no upper limit on the price per share that Lincoln Park must pay for the Company’s common stock under the 2020 Purchase Agreement, but in no event would shares be sold to Lincoln Park on a day the closing price was less than the floor price specified in the 2020 Purchase Agreement. In all instances, the Company might not sell shares of its common stock to Lincoln Park under the 2020 Purchase Agreement if that would result in Lincoln Park beneficially owning more than 9.99% of its common stock.

​

The 2020 Purchase Agreement did not limit the Company’s ability to raise capital from other sources at the Company’s sole discretion, except that, subject to certain exceptions, the Company might not enter into any Variable Rate Transaction (as defined in the 2020 Purchase Agreement, including the issuance of any floating conversion rate or variable priced equity-like securities) during the 36 months after the date of the 2020 Purchase Agreement. The Company had the right to terminate the 2020 Purchase Agreement at any time, at no cost to the Company.

​

During the three months ended April 3, 2021, Lincoln Park purchased an aggregate of 9,544,595 shares of the Company’s common stock for a net purchase price of $7.8 million under the 2020 Purchase Agreement. In connection with the purchases, during the three months ended April 3, 2021, the Company issued to Lincoln Park an aggregate of 356,843 shares of its common stock as additional commitment shares in noncash transactions. In February 2021, the Company completed the sales under the 2020 Purchase Agreement.

​

Warrants

​

Warrant activity for the three months ended April 3, 2021 is as follows:

​

​	​	​	​	​	​	​
​	​	​	​	​	Weighted
​	​	Number of		​	Average
​	​	Shares		​	Exercise
​		(in thousands)			Price
Outstanding as of January 2, 2021	​	​	13,911	​	$	0.59
Granted	​	​	—	​	​	—
Exercised	​	​	(6,579)	​	​	0.63
Expired	​	​	—	​	​	—
Outstanding as of April 3, 2021	​	​	7,332	​	​	0.56

​

During the three months ended April 3, 2021, the Company issued (i) 6,078,754 shares of its common stock upon the exercise of 6,078,754 of its warrants for total cash proceeds of $4.0 million and (ii) 429,496 shares of its common stock upon the cashless exercise of 500,000 of its warrants.

​

​

​

​

Note 9—Stock-Based Awards

​

As of April 3, 2021, the Company had 982,822 shares of common stock reserved for future issuance under its Amended and Restated 2006 Incentive Plan (“Amended 2006 Plan”). Stock options granted under the Amended 2006 Plan generally vest at a rate of at least 25% per year over four years and expire 10 years from the grant date. RSUs granted for employees and consultants generally vest semi-annually from the grant date over a four-year term, and RSUs granted for independent directors fully-vest on the grant date.

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Stock Options

​

The following table summarizes the activity related to stock options during the three months ended April 3, 2021:

​

​	​	​	​	​	​	​
​	​	​	​	​	Weighted-
​	​	Number of		​	Average
​	​	Shares		​	Exercise
​	​	(in thousands)			Price
Outstanding as of January 2, 2021	​	​	7,519	​	$	1.12
Granted	​	​	1,760	​	​	0.76
Exercised	​	​	(476)	​	​	0.79
Expired or forfeited	​	​	(540)	​	​	2.17
Outstanding as of April 3, 2021	​	​	8,263	​	​	0.99

​

Restricted Stock Units

​

The following table summarizes the activity related to RSUs during the nine months ended April 3, 2021:

​

​	​	​	​	​	​	​
​	​	​	​	​	Weighted-
​	​	​	​	​	Average
​	​	Number of		​	Grant-Date
​	​	Shares		​	Fair Value
​	​	(in thousands)		​	per Share
Outstanding as of January 2, 2021	​	​	3,037	​	$	0.53
Granted	​	​	100	​	​	0.72
Vested	​	​	(501)	​	​	0.54
Forfeited	​	​	—	​	​	—
Outstanding as of April 3, 2021	​	​	2,636	​	​	0.53

​

Stock-Based Compensation

​

The following table summarizes the stock-based compensation expense by line item in the condensed consolidated statements of operations (in thousands):

​

​	​	​	​	​	​	​
​		Three Months Ended
​	​	April 3,		​	March 28,
​	​	2021		​	2020
Cost of sales	​	$	3	​	$	3
Research and development	​	​	110	​	​	47
Selling, general and administrative	​	​	225	​	​	156
Total	​	$	338	​	$	206

​

As of April 3, 2021, the Company had approximately $2.8 million, net of estimated forfeitures, of unearned stock-based compensation, which it expects to recognize over a weighted-average period of approximately 2.9 years.

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​

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Table of Contents

Overview

​

We provide high-performance modular memory subsystems to customers in diverse industries that require enterprise and storage class memory solutions to empower critical business decisions. We have a history of introducing disruptive new products, such as one of the first load reduced dual in-line memory modules ("LRDIMM") based on our distributed buffer architecture, which has been adopted by the industry for DDR4 LRDIMM. We were also one of the first to bring NAND flash memory ("NAND flash") to the memory channel with our NVvault non-volatile dual in-line memory modules ("NVDIMM") using software-intensive controllers and merging dynamic random access memory integrated circuits (“DRAM ICs” or "DRAM") and NAND flash to solve data bottleneck and data retention challenges encountered in high-performance computing environments. We also offer storage class memory products called HybriDIMM to address the growing need for real-time analytics in Big Data applications, in-memory databases, high performance computing and advanced data storage solutions. We are continuously developing and improving upon the HybriDIMM product while exploring opportunities with strategic partners. Our NVMe SSD portfolio provides industry-leading performance offered in multiple capacities and form factors.

​

Due to the ground-breaking product development of our engineering teams, we have built a robust portfolio of over 130 issued and pending U.S. and foreign patents, many seminal, in the areas of hybrid memory, storage class memory, rank multiplication and load reduction. Since our inception, we have dedicated substantial resources to the development, protection and enforcement of technology innovations we believe are essential to our business. Our early pioneering work in these areas has been broadly adopted in industry-standard registered dual in-line memory modules (“RDIMM”), LRDIMM and in NVDIMM. Our objective is to continue to innovate in our field and invest further in our intellectual property portfolio, with the goal of monetizing our intellectual property through a combination of product sales and licensing, royalty or other revenue-producing arrangements, which may result from joint development or similar partnerships or defense of our patents through enforcement actions against parties we believe are infringing them.

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We also resell SSD, NAND flash, DRAM products and other component products to end-customers that are not reached in the distribution models of the component manufacturers, including storage customers, appliance customers, system builders and cloud and datacenter customers.

​

During the first quarter of 2021, we recorded net sales of $14.9 million, gross profit of $1.5 million and net loss of $4.0 million. We have historically financed our operations primarily with proceeds from issuances of equity and debt securities and cash receipts from revenues. We have also funded our operations with a revolving line of credit and term loans under a bank credit facility. See “Recent Developments” and “Liquidity and Capital Resources” below for more information.

​

Recent Developments

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SK hynix License Agreement and Supply Agreement

​

On April 5, 2021, we entered into a Strategic Product Supply and License Agreement (the “License Agreement”) and Product Purchase and Supply Agreement with SK hynix, Inc., a South Korean memory semiconductor supplier (“SK hynix”). Both agreements have a term of 5 years. Under the License Agreement, (a) we have granted to SK hynix fully paid, worldwide, non-exclusive, non-assignable licenses to certain of our patents covering memory technologies and (b) SK hynix has granted to us fully paid, worldwide, non-exclusive, non-assignable licenses to its patent portfolio. In addition, the License Agreement provides for the settlement of all pending intellectual property proceedings between us and SK hynix with the settlement fee of $40 million payable to us by SK hynix, and the parties have agreed to collaborate on certain technology development activities.

​

Amendment to SVB Credit Agreement

​

On April 9, 2021, we entered into an amendment to a credit agreement dated October 31, 2009 with Silicon Valley Bank (“SVB”) (as the same may from time to time be amended, modified, supplemented or restated, the “SVB Credit Agreement”) to accrue interest on advances at a per annum rate equal to the greater of 2.25% above the Wall Street Journal prime rate (“Prime Rate”) or 5.50% and to extend the maturity date to December 30, 2021. The amount

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available for borrowing may be increased to $7.0 million and the maturity date will be extended to April 29, 2022 upon our request, if we meet certain conditions.

​

2019 Lincoln Park Purchase Agreement

​

On June 24, 2019, we entered into a purchase agreement (the “2019 Purchase Agreement”) with Lincoln Park Capital Fund, LLC (“Lincoln Park”), pursuant to which we have the right to sell to Lincoln Park up to an aggregate of $10 million in shares of our common stock over the 36-month term of the Purchase Agreement subject to the conditions and limitations set forth in the 2019 Purchase Agreement. During the first quarter of 2021, Lincoln Park purchased an aggregate of 1,669,429 shares of our common stock for a net purchase price of $1.6 million under the 2019 Purchase Agreement. In connection with the purchases, during the first quarter of 2021, we issued to Lincoln Park an aggregate of 129,468 shares of our common stock as commitment shares in noncash transactions.

​

2020 Lincoln Park Purchase Agreement

​

On March 5, 2020, we entered into another purchase agreement (the “2020 Purchase Agreement”) with Lincoln Park, pursuant to which we have the right to sell to Lincoln Park up to an aggregate of $20 million in shares of our common stock over the 36-month term of the 2020 Purchase Agreement subject to the conditions and limitations set forth in the 2020 Purchase Agreement. During the first quarter of 2021, Lincoln Park purchased an aggregate of 9,544,595 shares of our common stock for a net purchase price of $7.8 million under the 2020 Purchase Agreement. In connection with the purchases, during the first quarter of 2021, we issued to Lincoln Park an aggregate of 356,843 shares of our common stock as commitment shares in noncash transactions. In February 2021, we completed the sales under the 2020 Purchase Agreement.

​

Paycheck Protection Program Loan

​

On April 23, 2020, we entered into an unsecured promissory note with a principal amount of $0.6 million through Hanmi Bank under the Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP”) (“PPP Loan”) administered by the Small Business Administration (“SBA”) and established as part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (“CARES Act”). The PPP Loan bore interest at 1.0% per annum and would mature in April 2022 with the first six months of interest and principal payments deferred. The amount borrowed under the PPP Loan was eligible for forgiveness if we would meet certain conditions. In May 2021, the full amounts outstanding under the PPP Loan was forgiven.

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Economic Conditions, Challenges and Risks

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Our performance, financial condition and prospects are affected by a number of factors and are exposed to a number of risks and uncertainties. We operate in a competitive and rapidly evolving industry in which new risks emerge from time to time, and it is not possible for us to predict all of the risks we may face, nor can we assess the impact of all factors on our business or the extent to which any factor or combination of factors could cause actual results to differ from our expectations. See the discussion of certain risks that we face under “Risk Factors” in Part II, Item 1A of this report.

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Impact of COVID-19 on our Business

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The impact of the coronavirus disease (“COVID-19”) pandemic will have on our consolidated results of operations is uncertain. Although we initially observed demand increases in our products, we anticipate that the global health crisis caused by COVID-19 may negatively impact business activity across the globe. We will continue to actively monitor the situation and may take further actions altering our business operations that we determine are in the best interests of our employees, customers, suppliers, and stakeholders, or as required by federal, state, or local authorities. It is not clear what the potential effects of such alterations or modifications may have on our business, consolidated results of operations, financial condition, and liquidity.

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Results of Operations

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Net Sales and Gross Profit

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Net sales, cost of sales and gross profit for the three months ended April 3, 2021 and March 28, 2020 were as follows (dollars in thousands):

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Net Sales

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Net sales include resales of certain component products, including SSDs and DRAM products, and sales of our high-performance memory subsystems.

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Net sales increased by $0.3 million during the first quarter of 2021 compared to the same quarter of 2020 primarily as a result of a $1.1 million increase in sales of other small outline dual in-line memory module (“SODIMM”) and RDIMM products, partially offset by a $0.6 million overall decrease in sales of NAND flash products (including a $0.7 million decrease in resales of NAND flash products and a $0.1 million increase in Netlist’s SSD products), a $0.2 million decrease in sales of our very low profile memory subsystem products and a $0.1 million increase in sales discount. Net sales in all periods presented were impacted by the change in the product mix and fluctuating customer concentrations.

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Gross Profit and Gross Margin

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Gross profit decreased during the first quarter of 2021 compared to the same quarter of 2020 due primarily to lower gross profits on the sales of SODIMM and RDIMM products and sales of enterprise SSD products. Gross margin (or gross profit as a percentage of net sales) fluctuates based on the change in our product mix over periods and the relative cost of the factory.

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Operating Expenses

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Operating expenses for the three months ended April 3, 2021 and March 28, 2020 were as follows (dollars in thousands):

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​	​	​	​	​	​	​	​	​
​	​	Three Months Ended					​	​
​	​	April 3,		​	March 28,		​	%
​		2021			2020			Change
Research and development	​	$	1,124	​	$	654	​	72%
Percentage of net sales	​	​	8%	​	​	4%	​	​
Intellectual property legal fees	​	$	2,287	​	$	625	​	266%
Percentage of net sales	​	​	15%	​	​	4%	​	​
Selling, general and administrative	​	$	1,957	​	$	2,221	​	(12)%
Percentage of net sales	​	​	13%	​	​	15%	​	​

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Research and Development

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Research and development expenses increased during the first quarter of 2021 compared to the same quarter of 2020 due primarily to an increase in employee headcount and overhead.

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Intellectual Property Legal Fees

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Intellectual property legal fees consist of legal fees incurred for patent filings, protection and enforcement. Although we expect intellectual property legal fees to generally increase over time as we continue to protect, defend and enforce and seek to expand our patent portfolio, these increases may not be linear but may occur in lump sums depending on the due dates of patent filings and their associated fees and the arrangements we may make with our legal advisors in connection with enforcement proceedings, which may include fee arrangements or contingent fee arrangements in which we would pay these legal advisors on a scaled percentage of any negotiated fees, settlements or judgments awarded to us based on if, how and when the fees, settlements or judgments are obtained. See Note 7 to the condensed consolidated financial statements included in Part I, Item 1 of this report for further discussion.

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Pursuant to the terms of the TRGP Agreement, the legal expenses we incurred for our first action against SK hynix at the ITC and our U.S. district court proceedings that were paid directly by TRGP were excluded in their entirety from our financial statements. As of January 2, 2021, accumulated deficit excluded $1.7 million and $10.2 million of such legal expenses incurred in 2018 and 2017, respectively. No further legal expenses will be paid by TRGP under this agreement. TPGP did not fund the legal expenses incurred for our second ITC action and our proceedings in international courts as well as other District Court proceedings. We believe that the SK hynix License Agreement falls outside the scope of the TRGP Agreement.

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Intellectual property legal fees increased during the first quarter of 2021 compared to the same quarter of 2020 due primarily to higher legal expenses incurred to defend our patent portfolio internationally.

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Selling, General and Administrative

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Selling, general and administrative expenses slightly decreased during the first quarter of 2021 compared to the same quarter of 2020 due primarily to a decrease in outside services.

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Other Expense, Net

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Other expense, net for the three months ended April 3, 2021 and March 28, 2020 was as follows (dollars in thousands):

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​	​	​	​	​	​	​	​	​
​	​	Three Months Ended					​	​
​	​	April 3,		​	March 28,		​	%
​		2021			2020			Change
Interest expense, net	​	$	(147)	​	$	(148)	​	​
Other expense, net	​	​	(2)	​	​	(3)	​	​
Total other expense, net	​	$	(149)	​	$	(151)	​	(1)%

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Interest expense, net, consists primarily of interest expense on the $15 million secured convertible note issued to Samsung Venture Investment Co. (“SVIC”) (“SVIC Note”) in November 2015 and a revolving line of credit under the SVB Credit Agreement, along with the accretion of debt discounts and amortization of debt issuance costs on the SVIC Note. During the first quarter of 2021, other expense was consistent compared with the same quarter of 2020.

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Liquidity and Capital Resources

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Our primary sources of cash are historically proceeds from issuances of equity and debt securities and receipts from revenues. In addition, as a result of our entry into the SK hynix License Agreement, we plan to use the settlement fee received to support our operations. We have also funded our operations with a revolving line of credit under a bank credit facility, a funding arrangement for costs associated with certain of our legal proceedings against SK hynix and, to a lesser extent, equipment leasing arrangements.

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The following tables present selected financial information as of April 3, 2021 and January 2, 2021 and for the first three months of 2021 and 2020 (in thousands):

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During the three months ended April 3, 2021, net cash used in operating activities was primarily a result of net loss of $4.0 million and non-cash adjustments to net loss of $0.6 million, offset by net cash outflows from changes in operating assets and liabilities of $0.9 million driven predominantly by an increase in inventories due to higher purchases to support increased sales, partially offset by an increase in accounts payable. Net cash provided by financing activities during the three months ended April 3, 2021 primarily consisted of $9.4 million in net proceeds from issuance of common stock under the 2020 and 2019 Lincoln Park Purchase Agreements, $4.0 million in proceeds from exercise of warrants, $0.4 million in proceeds from exercise of stock options and a $1.0 million in net borrowings under the SVB Credit Agreement, partially offset by $0.3 million in payments of taxes related to net share settlement of equity awards.

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During the three months ended March 28, 2020, net cash used in operating activities was primarily a result of a net loss of $1.5 million, adjusted for non-cash charges of $0.5 million, offset by net cash outflows from changes in operating assets and liabilities of $3.3 million driven predominantly by increases in accounts receivable due to higher sales and in inventories due to higher purchases to support increased sales, partially offset by an increase in accounts payable. Net cash provided by financing activities during the three months ended March 28, 2020 primarily consisted of $1.5 million in net borrowings under the SVB Credit Agreement, partially offset by $0.1 million in payments of note payable to finance insurance policies.

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Capital Resources

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2019 Lincoln Park Purchase Agreement

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On June 24, 2019, we entered into the 2019 Purchase Agreement with Lincoln Park, pursuant to which we have the right to sell to Lincoln Park up to an aggregate of $10 million in shares of our common stock over the 36-month term of the 2019 Purchase Agreement subject to the conditions and limitations set forth in the 2019 Purchase Agreement. As of April 3, 2021, an aggregate of $2.0 million in shares of our common stock was available for purchases over the remaining term under the 2019 Purchase Agreement.

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2020 Lincoln Park Purchase Agreement

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On March 5, 2020, we entered into the 2020 Purchase Agreement with Lincoln Park, pursuant to which we had the right to sell to Lincoln Park up to an aggregate of $20 million in shares of our common stock over the 36-month term of the 2020 Purchase Agreement subject to the conditions and limitations set forth in the 2020 Purchase Agreement. In February 2021, we completed the sales under the 2020 Purchase Agreement.

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