Ceragon Networks Q3 2023 Earnings Call Transcript

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November 6, 2023

There are 6 speakers on the call.

Operator

Thank you, operator, and good morning, everyone. Hosting today's call is Doron Razi, Ceragon's Chief Executive Officer and Ronen Stein, Chief Financial Officer. Before we begin, I would like to remind participants that certain statements made on this call, including projected financials, results and the company's future initiatives, future events, business outlook, development efforts and their potential outcome, anticipated progress and plans and results and timelines and other matters constitute forward looking statements within the meaning of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended in the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and, as amended, the Safe Harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Ceragon intends forward looking terminology such as believes, expects, may, will, should, anticipates, plans or similar expressions to identify forward looking statements. Such statements reflect only current beliefs, expectations and assumptions of Ceragon's management.

Operator

Actual results or achievements may differ materially as they are subject to certain risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected in such forward looking statements. Such risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, uncertainties as the occurrence and timing of the consummation of the transaction with Seqlu potential failure to satisfy the conditions of closing of such transaction, the effects of the evolving nature of the recent war in Gaza, as well as other risks and uncertainties that are described in Ceragon's most recent annual report on Form 20F and is updated from time to time in Ceragon's other filings with the SEC, including today's filing of the earnings press release, all of which are expressly incorporated hereon and by reference. Forward looking statements relate to the date additionally made and are not intended to be predictions of future events or results. There can be no assurance that they will prove to be accurate and Ceragon takes no obligation to update them. Ceragon's public filings are available on the Securities and Exchange Commission's website atsec.gov and may also be obtained from Ceragon's website at ceragon.com.

Operator

Also, today's call will include certain non GAAP financial measures. For a reconciliation between GAAP and non GAAP results, Please see the table attached to the press release that was issued earlier today, which is posted on the Investor Relations section of Ceragon's website. With all that said, I can now turn the call over to Doron. Doron, the call is yours.

Speaker 1

Thank you, Rob, and good morning, everyone. Ceragon Networks delivered another strong quarter, our 3rd solid quarter in what is expected to be the strongest year of non GAAP operating and net profit since 2018. Our strategy to increase market share within the private networks and with smaller service providers is bearing fruit. Since the start of this year, we have received initial orders from 20 new customers in these categories And we expect our performance in these growth markets will be reinforced by the pending acquisition of Cichlou. Cyclo's strengths align well with our strategy to diversify our business beyond our core of T1 and T2 service providers With a broader range of solutions that can help us expand our addressable market, further pursuing private networks and Small Service Providers' Opportunities to Accelerate Revenue Growth and Expand Margins.

Speaker 1

Ceragon continues to successfully navigate macroeconomic challenges affecting our industry, demonstrating the durable demand for our solutions primarily in North America and India. Similarly, the ongoing hostilities in the Gaza Strip have not had any material impact on our business to date. While we are proud to be a company headquartered in Israel, the majority of Ceragon employees are based outside of Israel, close to the customers and partners. The vast majority of our manufacturing and our suppliers are also located outside of Israel. We have a detailed contingency plan which anticipates conflicts in the region, And this planning has enabled us to minimize the impact of the current events.

Speaker 1

Following the horrific terrorist attacks of October 7th, approximately 3.5% of our total employee base has been called up to active duty in the Israeli Defense Force. Based on our analysis, we don't anticipate this level of, to materially Change and don't expect it to disrupt our operations in any meaningful way. For now, our offices in Israel are open and some employees are working there while others are working remotely. We are following the same type of protocols we used during the pandemic. We are in constant communication with our team, and our priority is the safety and well-being of our employees and their families.

Speaker 1

These are challenging times, but Israelis are resilient and we have a devoted team. We continue to see robust demand, particularly in India and North America, And we are executing well in the face of geopolitical and economic concerns impacting others. This demonstrates the durability of our business. We believe our growth strategy involving Spending our addressable market beyond Tier 1 and Tier 2 customers that have historically been our base is coming into clear focus. And the acquisition of SIKLU, which we expect to close later this quarter, will only accelerate this initiative.

Speaker 1

For the Q1 in a row, revenue surpassed $80,000,000 And we remain solidly profitable, generating significant cash from operations and investing activities. Our performance in the 1st 9 months of 2023 combined with improving visibility Into the Q4, which is only dependent on smooth delivery and absent surprises, has given us the confidence to further narrow and raise the midpoint of our annual revenue guidance range. We believe we will end the year with a strong Q4, giving us significant momentum As we move into 2024, which we expect to be another growth year for Ceragon. We are executing well, de risking our business and reinforcing our competitive advantages. While the timing of bookings is not in our full control and we are susceptible To shift in orders, we also believe that we will end the year with a book to bill ratio above 1, increasing the strong backlog we had at the beginning of the year.

Speaker 1

Revenue for the quarter was $87,000,000 up 10.9% year over year. Demand remains strong primarily in India and North America. Revenue in India reached quarterly highs Since Q2 of 2018. And this was the 3rd consecutive quarter with North America revenues exceeding $20,000,000 New leadership in Europe in particular and in other regions are putting initiatives in place to drive improvements in 2024. In addition, We believe the pending Seqlu acquisition will provide new capabilities to meet customer demands and help fueling growth, not only in North America and Europe where Siglu has established significant presence, but also in other regions, especially in South America and Asia.

Speaker 1

We are encouraged by the initial reaction from assisting Ceragon customers to this acquisition. Based on this feedback, we are optimistic that we will have opportunities to integrate Seclue's products into solutions for some of our existing customers for specific use cases. Additionally, Synchronoss Technologies broadens our addressable market by opening up the fixed wireless This portion to an end to end solution, particularly for private networks and small service providers. For each of these reasons, we see the pending Ciplu acquisition as an important strategic transaction providing approximately $25,000,000 to $29,000,000 in revenue incremental to Ceragon's stand alone plan for 2024, which is expected to be another year of organic growth. We also believe that this pending acquisition will be a catalyst for accelerated revenue and earnings growth over the next several years and think that it will accelerate our path to achieving and potentially exceeding Our $500,000,000 revenue target currently anticipated by 2027.

Speaker 1

Following the closing of this and the finalization of our 2024 AOP process, We intend to provide guidance for 2024 and discuss long term plans. Simultaneously, Our existing core business remained solidly profitable. We delivered $0.04 in GAAP earnings per and $0.06 on a non GAAP basis. Importantly, strong collections enabled to generate nearly $11,000,000 in cash flow from operations and investing activities in the quarter. This reinforces our expectations that we will grow revenue and be profitable for 2023, generating cash and demonstrating that our business is self sustaining.

Speaker 1

We have no current plans to raise money, And we do not believe we need additional capital to execute on our existing opportunities. As I mentioned, we have not encountered any significant impacts from supply chain disruption in the quarter. And while we continue to carefully manage the supply chain, component availability continues to improve. I do want to call attention to the increase in inventory that we amassed during the quarter And note that this increase is directly related to current orders that are in hand and in the process of being fulfilled. We continue to advance the productization of our new system on a chip Technology.

Speaker 1

During the Q3, we surpassed approximately 50% of our testing plan with no bugs or issues That would delay our plans for production of the system on a chip. To date, Our efforts are advancing according to plan. And while there is still much work to be done, we believe we remain on track to launch our new product line using the new system on a chip in 2024. In addition, We are in the final stage of productization of 2 new products featuring a lower total cost of ownership. These two products are expected to be available for commercial use during Q1 2024.

Speaker 1

We believe these new additional products will help us further expand our market presence and offer tangible benefits to our customers. In addition, they are expected to also help us with our long term goal of improving gross margins. I'd now like to overview our Q3 highlights by region. Noting that on today's call, We'll focus primarily on activities in North America and India, the two regions that have and we expect will continue to have The greatest impact on our results in the near term. In North America, we have continued to receive orders from major carriers, with one customer driving a significant portion of our volume.

Speaker 1

Service Providers are standardizing on higher transport capacity and investing in upgrading existing sites in parallel to network expansion and densification. We expect this upgrade need will continue creating demand for our high end solutions Even as build out for 5 gs new sites is slowing down. Encouragingly, We are participating in additional opportunities with smaller carriers and private networks in line with our strategy. These also revolve around new use cases that we had not historically been involved with as the need for Ubiquitous Connectivity intensifies and is not fully addressed by fiber. There are multiple enterprise use cases, including autonomous vehicles and IoT, where fiber is either not an option or cannot be delivered fast enough to support the business.

Speaker 1

Again, Seclo may help us penetrate this growing market with a larger set of connectivity solutions. To date, our business in North America remains Weighted toward large carriers, but this is beginning to shift. As it relates to the multi year contract with the City of Cincinnati, we have started deployment, which will include long term maintenance and support plans. In parallel, we are already identifying various expansion opportunities. The expansion of availability for 5 gs frequencies as well as the evolving need for heterogeneous services Profiles continue to serve as durable catalysts for our business.

Speaker 1

This is leading to a growing number of RFPs covering all segments of our addressable market, including Tier 1 operators, rural ISPs and Small Carriers as well as Private Networks. Some of these opportunities, particularly in the rural broadband and critical infrastructure segments, may take longer to mature as they are also supported by federal and state funding plans. However, Rural broadband and infrastructure projects remain an important opportunity for Ceragon, contributing to our revenue growth and Diversification. Our digital twin software solution is also getting traction with several significant customers in North America. With some, we are about to start proof of concept shortly.

Speaker 1

This solution is a differentiator in providing managed services to help customers optimize their multi vendor, Multi Technology Networks. We won our 1st managed services engagement in North America earlier this year, and we are building a nice funnel of opportunities for additional engagements in the telco and private networks. We believe we are increasingly well positioned to capitalize on all of these opportunities when they mature. We also continue to increase other services business in the region, which often can double the value of the equipment we sell. In India, telcos continue to aggressively invest in 4 gs technology and 5 gs expansions Depending on the region, with larger cities adding 5 gs and 4 gs being used in more rural areas.

Speaker 1

We continue to work with operators in the market for 4 gs rollout as 4 gs continues to be the dominant subscription type in India as well as delivering our e band multi band solution for 5 gs Networks at an Increased Pace. Bookings were modest in India during the quarter, but This was a factor of timing, not demand. In fact, bookings have accelerated in the 1st weeks of the Q4 and we expect a strong end to the year in India from a booking perspective. We have not seen a reduction in demand, and headwinds described by certain major equipment manufacturers have not had an impact on our business. Demand has remained robust.

Speaker 1

To summarize, We continue to deliver solid execution, including revenue growth, advancing our strategy and driving profitability and cash flow. Conditions continue to improve both on the macro and the micro level, especially in regards to the supply chain. Demand for our solutions is strong and we are participating in RFPs for new opportunities. We believe we can deliver similar revenue trajectory for the foreseeable future and that we can be profitable on a non GAAP basis for each quarter this year. With that, I'll turn the call over to Ronen Stein, our CFO, to discuss the results in more detail.

Speaker 1

Ornan, over to you.

Speaker 2

Thank you, Doron, and good morning, everyone. As Doron outlined, this was another strong quarter for Ceragon. Though it is important to keep in mind that we are a project driven business And as such, there is inherent variability in results from quarter to quarter. Because of this, We analyze our bookings revenue and gross margins as well as other key performance indicators over a 12 month period, a duration which we believe better reflects the underlying business trends. In addition, to help you understand the results, I will be referring primarily to non GAAP financials.

Speaker 2

For more information regarding our use of non GAAP financial measures, Including reconciliations of these measures, we refer you to today's press release. Let me now review the actual results. Revenues were $87,300,000 up 10.9 percent from $78,600,000 in Q3 2022 and 1.3% compared to $86,200,000 in Q2 2023. When we take the trailing 12 months view, Our revenue was $332,400,000 an increase compared to last quarter's Trailing 12 months revenue of $323,700,000 Our strongest regions in terms of revenues for the quarter were India and North America with $29,900,000 $22,500,000 respectively, in line with the continuous Strong demand we see in these regions. Our 3rd strongest region in terms of revenues was Latin America with $12,900,000 We had 2 customers in the 3rd quarter that contributed more than 10% of our revenues.

Speaker 2

Gross profit for the Q3 on a non GAAP basis was $30,400,000 an increase of 8.8 percent compared to $28,000,000 in Q3 2022 and essentially unchanged compared to $30,400,000 in Q2 2023. Our non GAAP gross margin was 34.9% compared to 35.5 percent in Q3 2022 and 35.3% in Q2 2023. We continue to achieve high gross margins, mainly as revenues from North America continue to maintain its high level and product mix continue to be favorable, while we keep costs under control, although this was offset to some extent by inventory write offs as we prepare to launch new products. Our gross margins continue to fluctuate from quarter to quarter due to changes in product and regional mix. When we take the trailing 12 months view, Our non GAAP gross margin was 34.3%, slightly lower from last quarter's trailing 12 months Gross margin of 34.5%.

Speaker 2

As for our operating expenses, Research and development expenses for the Q3 on a non GAAP basis We're $7,300,000 up from $7,200,000 in Q3 2022 and slightly lower from the $7,600,000 in Q2 2023. As a percentage of revenue, Our R and D expenses were 8.3% in the 3rd quarter compared to 9.1% in the 3rd quarter last year. Sales and marketing expenses for the Q3 on a non GAAP basis were $9,700,000 up from $8,300,000 in Q3 2022 and also up from $9,400,000 in Q2 2023. As a percent of revenues, sale and marketing expenses were 11.1% in the 3rd quarter compared to 10.5% in the Q3 last year. General and administrative expenses For the Q3, on a non GAAP basis, were $5,500,000 down from 6 dollars 1,000,000 in Q3 2022 and down from $6,100,000 in Q2 2023.

Speaker 2

As a percent of revenues, G and A expenses were 6.2% in the 3rd quarter compared to 7.8% in the Q3 last year. We intend to continue being disciplined in our operating expenses, while leveraging our strong results to further invest in certain areas to support continuous growth. Primarily, it is our intention to increase our sales and marketing expenses to support acceleration in our penetration to private networks and small service providers. Therefore, we expect our operating expenses in the 4th quarter To slightly exceed $23,000,000 we believe that such investments can better position us who will see further growth in these segments in 2024. Operating profit for the Q3 on a non GAAP basis was $8,000,000 up from the $6,400,000 reported in the last year's Q3 and also up from $7,400,000 reported in Q2 2022.

Speaker 2

Financial and other expenses for the Q3 on a non GAAP basis were $2,100,000 in line with expectations and prior periods. Our tax expenses for the Q3 on an on GAAP basis We are just under $1,000,000 Net income on a non GAAP basis for the quarter was $5,000,000 or $0.06 per diluted share compared to net income of $4,100,000 or $0.05 per share in the Q3 last year. The Q3 GAAP net income was $3,400,000 or $0.04 per diluted share compared to a net loss of $900,000 for a loss of $0.01 per share for the Q3 last year. As for our balance sheet, Our cash position at the end of the Q3 was $34,000,000 compared to $22,900,000 at the end of 20 22. Short term loans were $38,200,000 compared to $37,500,000 As of December 31, 2022, we believe we have cash and facilities that are sufficient for operations and working capital needs.

Speaker 2

Our inventory at the end of Q3 2023 was $70,100,000 down from the $72,000,000 at the end of December 2022. We continue to monitor inventory levels, taking into consideration the improvements in availability of components and expected changes in demand. As Doron mentioned, inventory levels increased slightly compared Sequentially to the Q2, reflecting firm orders we are scheduled to deliver in the Q4 and the Q1. As such, we expect inventory levels to normalize in the near term. Our trade receivables are at $104,600,000 as compared to $100,000,000 at the end of December 2022.

Speaker 2

Our DSO now stands at 115 days. As for our cash flow, net Cash flow generated by operations and investing activities in Q3 2023 was $10,800,000 We expect to generate positive cash from operations for the full year. As Doron indicated, at the top of this call, Demand in our business continues to be strong and we are encouraged by our backlog, which gives us Good visibility into the Q4. Based on our results and as our visibility improves, We are updating and raising the midpoint of our full year revenue outlook from 334,000,000 to $348,000,000 to $338,000,000 to $346,000,000 346 $1,000,000 and reaffirming expectations for full year profitability. The outlook we are providing today is based on our current visibility.

Speaker 2

With that, I now open the call for your questions. Operator?

Speaker 3

Thank you. In order to ask a question, please raise your hand using your mobile or desktop application and wait for your name to be announced. Our first question today comes from the line of Alex Henderson of Needham. Please go ahead.

Speaker 4

Great. Thank you so much for letting me ask a question here, and my thoughts are with you guys given The horrible terrorist attack that's, earned you guys into war. Hope everybody's safe and and, your families are okay. I wanted to hit a couple of quick questions. The first one is, can you give us some sense of the Size of the inventory write down in the quarter, and is that now Completed or do you expect a similar kind of write down in the Q4 as you anticipate launching the products in the Q1 of next year.

Speaker 2

Regarding the level of write offs, I would say that there was approximately $1,600,000 of a write off that is beyond the regular write offs. So it is in total, it's around $2,000,000 We do not anticipate any additional write offs, But this is being monitored every quarter. So I cannot say that we know now about any expected write offs Expect from the regular, model that we have.

Speaker 4

So if I adjust For that write off, your gross margins would have come in at 36.7%. Can you talk about why that Would not be the case again in the December quarter?

Speaker 2

Well, the impact of the inventory is just Something that we cannot anticipate exactly the mixture in the next quarter. There could be different paths to achieve our targets for the next quarter. And as you see, we still have some room of Changing the revenues. So, it can be higher. It can be a little bit lower.

Speaker 2

We cannot anticipate that exactly and provide guidance on that.

Speaker 4

Again, if I back out the $1,600,000 you're 36.7, is it reasonable to think that you're in the 35% plus range, Not only in the Q4, but for that matter, with these new products launching having higher margins in 24, shouldn't your margins be of 35% Plus going

Speaker 2

forward? So we have shown that we can reach higher numbers of higher percentage of margins Even to 35.5 percent and we even discussed that we can reach even 36%. But this is something that we have to make some room also for any other changes in mixture of products, Software, yes or no, and other mixture of Revenues from different regions. So as long as we don't know exactly the final revenues mixture, It's very difficult to predict it. Usually, there are something that can take us down, As you can see to the level of 35%, 36%.

Speaker 2

But yes, in the last few quarters, we have been In the 30, the high 34 to the low to the high 35.

Speaker 4

Okay. So looking out, into the 24 time frame and just looking back at the 2023 window, Just to be clear, the supply chain problems, did not cause a boom bust in your revenue recognition, And the timing of your revenue. So we're not looking at an overage on 2023 that's Then setting up a tougher comp in 24, which has been expressed by some of the companies that are in the same category. Is that a fair statement?

Speaker 2

Sorry, I couldn't hear you well. Can you repeat the question, please?

Speaker 4

Sure. So A number of companies have understated revenues in prior periods because they couldn't get parts. Then when the supply chain improved, they overshipped relative to demand and have very tough comps. I don't believe that that happened with Saragun. Saragun's, 23 numbers are normal demand numbers.

Speaker 4

Correct? There is no Boom bust in the, or bust boom in the shipments because of supply chain. Is that a fair statement?

Speaker 1

Let me take this, Alex. If you are talking business wise, as I said, We expect book to bill ratio in this year to be above 1. And that means that Probably the short answer is that we don't feel that we overshipped or over delivered This year relative to the true demand that we are seeing now from the market.

Speaker 4

Perfect. So you made the comment on the in in the prepared remarks that you expect Similar levels of growth. You're growing at about a 10% clip now. Is it fair for us to think of 24% as a 10% growth year?

Speaker 1

I think I did not make the exact comment like you got it. I think that We do expect to grow next year as well organically, setting aside Sypro's contribution. I think we can get to high single digit, maybe touch 10%. But let's not forget that this This year is a year of very, very strong demand where we started with a relatively low baseline in 2023. So all in all, I think we can be in high single digit growth touching 10%, maybe slightly below And that's in terms of organic growth.

Speaker 4

Looking at the Q4, just to nail it down a little bit, You talked about $23,000,000 in OpEx, which is a pretty good increase sequentially and year over year, quite a substantial increase. I assume that some of that's in the sales and marketing. I assume some of it's in the r and d line for the new products. Is it reasonable to think That the gross margins can be robust enough in 4Q to allow you to produce close to that 10% operating margin again in the quarter or is that stretching?

Speaker 1

You want to take it, Ronen? Just go ahead.

Speaker 2

Yes. We do believe that This investment is important. And as I mentioned primarily in the sales and marketing, we feel that in order to achieve our targets In growing in the specific segments of private networks and small to medium service and Providers. We have to invest and to use our profitability right now in these quarters for some investment to the future. So there may be some fluctuation in the profitability, the operating profit percentage from revenues.

Speaker 2

But as we don't know exactly the gross margin that is expected, hopefully, we will not be Much less than the current operating profit.

Speaker 4

All right. I'll cede the floor and go back in the queue. Thank you, Alex.

Speaker 3

Thank you. As a reminder, in order to ask a question, please raise your hand using your mobile or desktop application And wait for your name to be announced. Our next question today comes from the line of Raimo Biancio of Agis. Please go ahead.

Speaker 5

Good morning. Thank you. And I just want to echo Alex's sentiments as well and wishing you and your families all the best in safety. I wonder if you could thanks. You guys talked about marketing efforts on to reach out to Expand your business with private networks and smaller customers.

Speaker 5

Could you talk about are you adding personnel there? Are there other Sort of more temporary expenses that you'll be incurring in the near term or would there be additional personnel and thus therefore more permanent In addition to the sales and marketing level?

Speaker 1

Thank you. Yeah. Rommel, thanks for this question. It's basically, it's a combination. First of all, We have kind of beefed up our sales force in North America primarily that is focusing on this private network segment.

Speaker 1

So that's one thing for us to stay. And obviously, As these guys start bringing business, it will also help us to grow Our booking and obviously the revenue. The second part is more of a variable part. It's an investment in marketing. Let's not forget that Ceragon is very, very well known brand in the T1, T2 operators across the world.

Speaker 1

We are just building the brand in the private networks and the smaller players. And that requires certain marketing investments. Now this could be Up and down depending on campaigns, depending on the marketing strategy. So that is a part that is more of a variable

Speaker 5

expenditure. Okay. And just on a geographic Focus standpoint, you've obviously made some penetration in North America with the private networks. Looking forward, do you For continued penetration in North America, expansion into Europe potentially, what are some of the geographic regions you want to target there? Thanks, Doron.

Speaker 1

So generally speaking, 1st of all, I mentioned 20 new Customers in the domain of private networks and small operators. One thing is that this is widespread, But definitely North America has a very significant portion in this success. And just for you to understand, we are not accounting every $5,000 new customer. The aggregate amount of these 20 new customers initial orders is amounting to 8 digit booking. So it's not an insignificant amount.

Speaker 1

We see the opportunity in many regions, and we are Actually changing the structure of our sales force to be led by segment rather than by Geography in each and every region. So for example, in Europe, now we have 3 categories. 1 is chasing Tier 1 big operators, 1 is chasing private networks, and 1 is chasing Smaller Transactions via Channels. So the focus on private networks is increasing. And as I said, the wins are not just in North America, although in North America, we are very, so to speak, Pleased with the progress, but this is meant to be a global effort, not just in North America.

Speaker 5

Great. Thank you very much,

Speaker 1

To close, we are encouraged by our year to date results, and we believe that we are well positioned to achieve self sustaining cash flows As we execute our growth strategy, we are excited about the opportunities in front of Ceragon. We have commenced our strategic planning and budgeting process for 2024 and we anticipate achieving organic growth business next year. We announced a pending closing strategic acquisition that we believe will accelerate Ceragon's strategy execution and can provide incremental growth opportunities and extend our margin expansion efforts. We expect to communicate our guidance for 2024 when we announce Q4 2023 results.

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Ceragon Networks Q3 2023
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