Cash and Cash Equivalents, and Investments

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2021

Cash and Cash Equivalents [Abstract]

Cash and Cash Equivalents, and Investment

Cash and Cash Equivalents, and Investments

The following tables show our cash and cash equivalents, and investments’ adjusted cost, unrealized gain, unrealized loss, and fair value as of March 31, 2021 and December 31, 2020 (in thousands):


	March 31, 2021
	Adjusted Cost		Unrealized Gain		Unrealized Loss		Fair Value
Cash and cash equivalents:
Cash	$	24,399	$	—	$	—	$	24,399

Money market funds	532,493		—		—		532,493
Commercial paper	99,277		1		(2)		99,276
Total cash and cash equivalents	$	656,169	$	1	$	(2)	$	656,168
Short-term investments:
Commercial paper	$	605,318	$	78	$	(32)	$	605,364
Corporate debt securities	609,912		938		(270)		610,580


Total short-term investments	$	1,215,230	$	1,016	$	(302)	$	1,215,944
Long-term investments:
Corporate debt securities	$	673,029	$	118	$	(921)	$	672,226

Agency bonds	38,996		4		(2)		38,998
Total long-term investments	$	712,025	$	122	$	(923)	$	711,224


	December 31, 2020
	Adjusted Cost		Unrealized Gain		Unrealized Loss		Fair Value
Cash and cash equivalents:
Cash	$	15,054	$	—	$	—	$	15,054
Money market funds	464,799		—		—		464,799

Total cash and cash equivalents	$	479,853	$	—	$	—	$	479,853
Short-term investments:
Commercial paper	$	204,152	$	24	$	(6)	$	204,170
Corporate debt securities	459,967		1,478		(48)		461,397


Total short-term investments	$	664,119	$	1,502	$	(54)	$	665,567
Long-term investments:
Corporate debt securities	$	484,275	$	605	$	(283)	$	484,597

Agency bonds	38,995		36		—		39,031
Total long-term investments	$	523,270	$	641	$	(283)	$	523,628

The following table shows our cash equivalents and investments' adjusted cost and fair value by contractual maturity as of March 31, 2021 (in thousands):


	Adjusted Cost		Fair Value
Due in 1 year or less	$	1,314,507	$	1,315,220
Due in 1-2 years	712,025		711,224
Investments not due at a single maturity date	532,493		532,493
Total	$	2,559,025	$	2,558,937

Investments not due at a single maturity date in the preceding table consisted of money market funds.

As of March 31, 2021, we determined that the declines in the market value of our investment portfolio were not driven by credit related factors. When evaluating whether an investment's unrealized losses are related to credit factors, we review factors such as the extent to which fair value is below its cost basis, any changes to the credit rating of the security, adverse conditions specifically related to the security, changes in market interest rates and our intent to sell, or whether it is more likely than not we will be required to sell, before recovery of cost basis. We invest in highly rated securities with a minimum credit rating of A- and a weighted average maturity of less than twelve months. In addition, our investment policy limits the amount of our credit exposure to any one issuer or industry sector. The policy requires investments to be investment grade, with the primary objective of preserving capital and maintaining liquidity. Fair values were determined for each individual security in the investment portfolio. During the three months ended March 31, 2021 and 2020, we did not recognize any losses on our investments due to credit related factors.

Strategic Investments

In March 2020, we completed an investment of $2.0 million in TAPD, Inc., also known as Frank, a U.S.-based service that helps students access financial aid. Additionally, we previously invested $3.0 million in a foreign entity to explore expanding our reach internationally. During the three months ended March 31, 2021, we sold our investment in a foreign entity for total consideration of $8.3 million, resulting in a $5.3 million gain included within other (expense) income, net on our condensed consolidated statements of operations. We received a cash payment, net of taxes withheld, of $6.8 million included within cash flows from investing activities on our condensed consolidated statements of cash flows. We did not record any impairment charges on our strategic investments during the three months ended March 31, 2021 and 2020, as there were no significant identified events or changes in circumstances that would be considered an indicator for impairment. We considered general market conditions as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic in our impairment analysis. There were no observable price changes in orderly transactions for the identical or similar investments of the same issuers during the three months ended March 31, 2021 and 2020.