Cash equivalents, which are classified as equity securities, restricted cash, and equity securities consisted of the following (in thousands):

⁽¹⁾ The Company’s equity securities included in other assets consisted of its investment in a privately held company. The Company recognizes its private company equity securities at cost minus impairments, plus or minus changes resulting from observable price changes in orderly transactions for the identical or similar investment of the same issuer. No such impairments or changes were noted for any period presented.

At September 30, 2022 and December 31, 2021, the Company had no short-term investments. The Company classifies all investments as available-for-sale securities, as the sale of such investments may be required prior to maturity to implement management strategies. These investments are carried at amortized cost which approximates fair value. A decline in the market value of any short-term investment below cost that is determined to be other-than-temporary will result in a revaluation of its carrying amount to fair value. The impairment is charged to earnings and a new cost basis for the security is established. No such impairment charges were recorded for any period presented.

Realized gains and losses from the sale of short-term investments, if any, are determined on a specific identification basis. Realized gains and losses and declines in value judged to be other-than-temporary, if any, on available-for-sale securities are included in other income or expense on the consolidated statements of operations. Realized and unrealized gains and losses during the periods presented were immaterial. Premiums and discounts are amortized or accreted over the life of the related security as an adjustment to yield using the straight-line method and are included in interest income on the consolidated statements of operations. Interest and dividends on securities classified as available-for-sale are included in interest income on the consolidated statements of operations. 

The carrying amounts of cash and cash equivalents, prepaid and other assets, accounts payable and accrued liabilities are considered to be representative of their respective fair values because of the short-term nature of those instruments. Based on the borrowing rates currently available to the Company for loans with similar terms, which is considered a Level 2 input, the Company believes that the fair value of long-term debt approximates its carrying value.

The accounting guidance defines fair value, establishes a consistent framework for measuring fair value and expands disclosure for each major asset and liability category measured at fair value on either a recurring or nonrecurring basis. Fair value is defined as an exit price, representing the amount that would be received to sell an asset or paid to transfer a liability in an orderly transaction between market participants. As such, fair value is a market-based measurement that should be determined based on assumptions that market participants would use in pricing an asset or liability. As a basis for considering such assumptions, the accounting guidance establishes a three-tier fair value hierarchy, which prioritizes the inputs used in measuring fair value as follows:

Assets and liabilities are classified based on the lowest level of input that is significant to the fair value measurements.

None of the Company’s non-financial assets or liabilities are recorded at fair value on a non-recurring basis. No transfers between levels have occurred during the periods presented.

The fair values of the Company’s assets and liabilities, which are measured at fair value on a recurring basis, were determined using the following inputs (in thousands):