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Nature of the Business and Operations and Liquidity | 12 Months Ended
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Mar. 31, 2016
Organization Consolidation And Presentation Of Financial Statements [Abstract] |
Nature of the Business and Operations and Liquidity | 1. Nature of the Business and Operations and Liquidity Nature of the Business and Operations American Superconductor Corporation (together with its subsidiaries, “AMSC” or the “Company”) was founded on April 9, 1987. The Company is a leading provider of megawatt-scale solutions that lower the cost of wind power and enhance the performance of the power grid. In the wind power market, the Company enables manufacturers to field wind turbines through its advanced engineering, support services and power electronics products. In the power grid market, the Company enables electric utilities and renewable energy project developers to connect, transmit and distribute power through its transmission planning services and power electronics and superconductor-based products. The Company’s wind and power grid products and services provide exceptional reliability, security, efficiency and affordability to its customers. The Company’s consolidated financial statements have been prepared on a going concern basis in accordance with United States generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”) and the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (“SEC”) instructions to Form 10-K. The going concern basis of presentation assumes that the Company will continue operations and will be able to realize its assets and discharge its liabilities and commitments in the normal course of business. On March 24, 2015, the Company effected a 1-for-10 reverse stock split of its common stock. Trading of the Company’s common stock reflected the reverse stock split beginning on March 25, 2015. Unless otherwise indicated, all historical references to shares of common stock, shares of restricted stock, restricted stock units, shares underlying options, warrants or calculations that use common stock for per share financial reporting have been adjusted for comparative purposes to reflect the impact of the 1-for-10 reverse stock split as if it had occurred at the beginning of the earliest period presented. Liquidity The Company has experienced recurring operating losses and as of March 31, 2016, the Company had an accumulated deficit of $928.2 million. In addition, the Company has experienced recurring negative operating cash flows. At March 31, 2016, the Company had cash and cash equivalents of $39.3 million. Cash used in operations for the year ended March 31, 2016 was $4.6 million. From April 1, 2011 through the date of this filing, the Company has reduced its global workforce substantially. The Company has taken actions to consolidate certain business operations to reduce facility costs. As of March 31, 2016, the Company had a global workforce of 369 persons. The Company plans to closely monitor its expenses and, if required, expects to further reduce operating costs and capital spending to enhance liquidity. Over the last several years, the Company has entered into several debt and equity financing arrangements in order to enhance liquidity. Since April 1, 2012, the Company has generated aggregate cash flows from financing activities of $71.0 million. This amount includes proceeds from an April 2015 equity offering, which generated net proceeds of approximately $22.3 million, after deducting underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses payable by the Company. See Note 9, “Debt”, and Note 12 “Stockholders’ Equity” for further discussion of these financing arrangements. The Company believes that it is in compliance with the covenants and restrictions included in the agreements governing its debt arrangements as of March 31, 2016. In December 2015, the Company entered into a set of strategic agreements valued at approximately $210.0 million with Inox, which includes a multi-year supply contract pursuant to which the Company will supply electric control systems to Inox Wind Ltd. (“Inox”) and a license agreement allowing Inox to manufacture a limited number of electrical control systems over the next three to four years. After this initial three to four year period, Inox agreed that the Company will continue as Inox’s preferred supplier and Inox will be required to purchase from the Company a majority of its electric control systems requirements for an additional three-year period. During the fourth quarter of fiscal 2015, Inox made the upfront payment of $6.0 million required under the license agreement, but as of the date of this Annual Report it has not made the $2.0 million advance payment required under the supply contract. These agreements are expected to provide a foundation for the business as the Company pursues its longer-term objectives. On October 6, 2015, 100% of the outstanding common stock of Blade Dynamics Limited (“Blade Dynamics”) was acquired by a subsidiary of General Electric Company. After deducting transaction expenses, the Company received net proceeds of $2.8 million from the sale, which was recorded as a gain in the fiscal year ended March 31, 2016. Additionally, under the terms of the purchase agreement, the Company may be entitled to receive up to an additional $1.2 million in proceeds, upon the successful achievement of certain milestones by Blade Dynamics over the next three years. On March 11, 2016, the Company sold 100% of its minority share investment in Tres Amigas LLC (“Tres Amigas”) to an investor for $0.6 million. The Company received $0.3 million according to the terms of the purchase agreement upon closing, which was recorded as a gain during the three months ended March 31, 2016. The final $0.3 million is to be paid when Tres Amigas achieves the earlier of certain agreed-upon financing conditions, which is expected to occur during the first half of fiscal 2016. See Note 15, “Minority Investments”, for further information about such investment. The Company believes it has sufficient liquidity to fund its operations, capital expenditures and scheduled cash payments under its debt obligations for the next twelve months. The Company’s liquidity is highly dependent on its ability to increase revenues, its ability to control its operating costs, its ability to maintain compliance with the covenants and restrictions on its debt obligations (or obtain waivers from the lender in the event of non-compliance), and its ability to raise additional capital, if necessary. There can be no assurance that the Company will be able to continue to raise additional capital from other sources or execute on any other means of improving liquidity described above.

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- Definition The entire disclosure for the nature of an entity's business, major products or services, principal markets including location, and the relative importance of its operations in each business and the basis for the determination, including but not limited to, assets, revenues, or earnings. For an entity that has not commenced principal operations, disclosures about the risks and uncertainties related to the activities in which the entity is currently engaged and an understanding of what those activities are being directed toward. + References Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 275 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 2 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=51801978&loc=d3e6003-108592 Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 275 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 2A -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=51801978&loc=SL51803626-108592 + Details
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