MICROVISION, INC. Q4 FY2024 earnings call

• Customer engagements: Focused on automotive OEM programs with seven RFQs, industrial areas like AGVs, AMRs, collaborative robots, and military/commercial mobile autonomous robots. Made progress in industrial engagements with ZF, and started working on expanding partnerships in military applications.
• Cost management: Adjusted workforce to focus on near-term revenue opportunities, with cash burn one of the lowest in the marketplace. Secured world-class leadership with Glenn DeVoss joining as CTO.
• Balance sheet: Finished the year with $75 million in cash and cash equivalents, access to $235 million through various components including ATM facility, convertible notes, and new equity capital, extending cash runway into 2026.

For the fourth quarter, revenue was $1.7 million. This was primarily driven by customers in the industrial vertical. Excluding one-time Microsoft revenue from the prior year, year-over-year revenue grew from $0.5 million to $1.7 million. The revenue from industrial verticals contributed significantly, with the company having secured production commitments from ZS to fulfill anticipated demand from customer projects, expecting this to be in the $30 to $50 million range over the next twelve to eighteen months from the industrial vertical alone.

• Expect $30 to $50 million revenue from industrial vertical over next 12-18 months from production commitments with ZS.
• Actively pursuing opportunities in defense vertical due to expected expansion in defense spending, leveraging existing technologies in AR, space systems, and perceptive lidar solutions.

• Delays in automotive OEM engagements as OEMs adjust timelines for product launch. Competition from Chinese companies in automotive space affecting OEM decisions. Technical challenges in fully qualifying industrial and military solutions for customer adoption.

Q: How much of the $1.7 million in Q4 was commercial shipments versus R&D work?

A: The $1.7 million was primarily revenue from sale of sensors to customers with very minimal NRE, and NRE expected to be pushed to 2025 due to customer decision.

Q: Is defense opportunity related to ground-based or aerial objects?

A: Primarily ground-based, directly related to soldiers, and the company works with partners in defense programs.

Q: How many commercial customers were there in Q4?

A: Less than ten multiple customers, focusing on high-volume industrial customers for higher ROI.

Q: When can automotive RFQs convert to revenue generating contracts?

A: Timelines are uncertain as OEMs adjust product launch timelines, with technical reviews and commercial aspects involved, and no clear prediction on exact timelines.

Q: Any strategic opportunities to accelerate growth through acquisition?

A: Focus is on organic growth and homegrown development, but open to opportunities if they support customer acquisition and revenue growth, with existing perception technology and software being mature but open to complementary acquisitions if beneficial