Unusual Accounting Expenses ‘Not So Unusual’ as Virus Wears On

Microchip Technology Inc. was trying to convey how widespread stay-at-home orders affected its bottom line.

The Chandler, Ariz. chip maker went beyond the numbers in its official financial statement, touting in its press release adjusted income that stripped out the costs of temporarily shuttering manufacturing operations at the start of the pandemic. This unofficial, or non-GAAP, earnings number was more than three times larger than its official income as tallied under U.S. generally accepted accounting principles.

Microchip’s alternate accounting shows the tricky ...