NOTE 7.  DERIVATIVE FINANCIAL INSTRUMENTS



The Company’s primary exchange rate risk management objective is to mitigate the uncertainty of anticipated cash flows attributable to changes in foreign currency exchange rates.  The Company primarily focuses on mitigating changes in cash flows resulting from sales denominated in currencies other than the U.S. dollar.  The Company manages this risk primarily by using currency forward and option contracts.  If the anticipated transactions are deemed probable, the resulting relationships are formally designated as cash flow hedges.  The Company accounts for these contracts as cash flow hedges and tests effectiveness by determining whether changes in the expected cash flow of the derivative offset, within a range, changes in the expected cash flow of the hedged item. 



At September 30, 2018, the Company’s derivative contracts had remaining maturities of approximately one year or less.  The counterparty to these transactions had both long-term and short-term investment grade credit ratings.  The maximum net exposure of the Company’s credit risk to the counterparty is generally limited to the aggregate unrealized loss of all contracts with that counterparty.  At September 30, 2018, there was no such exposure to the counterparty.  The Company’s exposure of counterparty credit risk is limited to the aggregate unrealized gain of $614 on all contracts at September 30, 2018.  The Company’s derivative counterparty has strong credit ratings and as a result, the Company does not require collateral to facilitate transactions.



The Company held the following contracts designated as hedged instruments as of September 30, 2018 and December 31, 2017:













For contracts that qualify as effective hedge instruments, the effective portion of gains and losses resulting from changes in fair value of the instruments are included in accumulated other comprehensive income and reclassified to sales in the period the underlying hedged transaction is recognized in earnings.  Gains (losses) of $255 and $(422) were reclassified to sales during the three months ended September 30, 2018 and 2017, respectively, and $(75) and $(36) were reclassified to sales during the nine months ended September 30, 2018 and 2017, respectively.



The following table presents the balance sheet classification and fair value of derivative instruments as of September 30, 2018 and December 31, 2017: