RE:Stand up AuditorsThere are several reasons why there should be no need to writedown goodwill anytime soon.
I'm pretty sure auditors would give consideration to the results of the company as a whole. So let's say you have divisions A, B, and C. A and B are doing well. C is struggling a bit and has goodwill attached to it.
But because of A and B's good results, the company as a whole is profitable. At the very least, this would argue against any need to writedown C's goodwill, especially if there were a decent argument that C's challenges can be seen as temporary.
Note that Quarterhill currently has a Q1-Q3 profit of $22.9 million and comprehensive income over the same period of $40.6 million.
VG, I'm sure you want to see the Apple settlement as an extraordinary item. But why should we? Wilan has a long history of turning disputes into big settlements. And right now Wilan has 20 disputes that they're working on? That doesn't sound like extraordinary items at all.
But even if you look at C in isolation, the decision to writedown goodwill is still a judgment call on the part of the auditors and the company. While ETC's results have been weak, there is certainly a good argument that this should be seen as temporary. Quarterhill makes the case that ETC is working its way through the implementation phase of a range of major projects. Also, they compellingly argue that the company is starting to get past the supply chain issues of mid-2022.