Ondas Q2 2023 Earnings Call Transcript

Quartr
Provided by Quartr
August 14, 2023

There are 9 speakers on the call.

Operator

Welcome to the

Speaker 1

Andres Holdings Inc. 2nd Quarter 2023 Conference Call. All participants will be in a listen only mode. Before we begin, the company would like to remind you that this call may contain forward looking statements. While these forward looking statements reflect Honest' best current judgment, They are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those implied by these forward looking statements.

Speaker 1

These risk factors are discussed in Onus' periodic SEC filings and in the earnings press release issued today, which are both available on the company's website. Onus undertakes No obligation to revise or update any forward looking statements to reflect future events or circumstances, except as required by law. During this call, the company will refer to certain non GAAP financial measures. These non GAAP measures are not prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. A reconciliation of the non GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable GAAP measures is shown in our press release issued earlier today, which is available at the Investor Relations section of our website.

Speaker 1

This non GAAP information is provided as a supplement to, not as a substitute for or as superior to Measures of financial performance prepared in accordance with GAAP. However, management believes these non GAAP measures provide investors with valuable information on the underlying trends of our business. Please also note that this event is being recorded today. I would now like to turn the presentation over to Eric Brock, Chairman, CEO and President. Please go ahead.

Speaker 2

Well, thank you, operator, and good morning. I want to get started by welcoming everyone to our 2nd quarter investor call. As always, we appreciate the time you're spending with us and your interest in our company. I'm happy to be joined today by Derek Rysfield, Our CFO as well as Stuart Cantor, the Founder, President and CFO of Andas Networks and Mayer Kleiner, the Founder and CEO of Aerobotics and the President of Andas Today, we plan to review our financial performance and strategic progress for the recently completed second quarter and discuss our outlook for the second half of twenty twenty three and beyond. Now let's turn to the agenda.

Speaker 2

We will start today's call with some brief comments about the Q2 performance and the significant progress we have made in advancing the adoption of our technology platforms. I will also spend some time reviewing the recent financings we announced in July. I will then hand the call over to Derek for a detailed review of our 2nd quarter financial As part of the financial review, I will discuss our balance sheet and liquidity position and then provide an update on our outlook for the rest of 2023. Then we will transition and provide a business unit update for Andas Networks in Andas Autonomous Systems, I will ask Stuart and Mary to provide commentary around current business activity. We will then wrap the call and open the floor for investor questions.

Speaker 2

As we move through the Q2, we continue to pick up momentum with our customers at both Andas Networks and Andas Autonomous Systems. We are now driving platform adoption, which we expect to broaden with both existing customers and with new customers and ecosystem partners globally. This momentum was evidenced by top line revenue reaching $5,000,000 in the 2nd quarter. This quarterly performance brings first half revenue to $8,000,000 which is an eightfold increase versus just $1,000,000 for the first half of The momentum also allowed us to secure $25,000,000 in additional funding from sophisticated private and institutional investors. I will discuss the financing in more detail shortly, though I will highlight that these investors have performed substantial diligence on our technology and market opportunity.

Speaker 2

In my opinion, this capital raise reflects confidence in the value of our proprietary technology platforms and the end markets and customers we are targeting for growth. Regarding these end markets, Andas Networks is now deep in field activity with specific rail customers in advance of what we believe is the beginning of major volume orders in the 900 Megahertz network. This activity is focused on identifying locations and applications for initial volume deployments. In addition, Siemens is negotiating key turns with While this work is advancing, the migration of APCS to the new 900 megahertz Critical. Stuart will share more details around our work with Siemens and the Class 1 rail customers and the outlook for 900 megahertz deployments.

Speaker 2

At OAS, fleet adoption continues to move along with the completion of the proof of concept in Abu Dhabi and as Aerobotics executes commercial fleet orders for the Optima system We also announced expansion into 2 new large markets, that being firstly in India, We entered into a partnership with Arrow AtoZ, a firm with deep local knowledge and with a particular strength in government, security and defense markets. We also announced a partnership in Saudi Arabia with Saudi Excellence, and I am particularly excited about this opportunity. Saudi Excellence is heavily involved in the Saudi Vision Saudi excellence comes on the heels of our successes in the UAE and allows us to bring our Optima system to a large, fast growing Saudi market. Of course, since closing the Aerobotics acquisition in January, we have invested time and energy to introduce the Optimus system to industrial and government markets here in the United States with a particular focus on public safety, smart city and oil and gas customers. As evidenced by our customer and partner announcements with Mass DOT Aeronautical and Critical Infrastructure and SkyFire and Public Safety, These efforts in the U.

Speaker 2

S. Are beginning to gain traction. As we increase Optima Systems inventory, we expect additional customer announcements in the second half of twenty twenty three. Meyer will share details around the continued advances in fleet operations, the new partnerships in India and Saudi Arabia and the progress we are making in the United States. So to wrap up the introduction, we are now beginning to scale at both Andas Networks and OAS.

Speaker 2

I am happy with how we are positioned to grow our business in the coming quarters, supported by our recently fortified balance sheet. We are continuing to focus on driving orders, customer adoption and revenue growth in addition to maintaining cost discipline as we work to drive down cash burn and move towards profitability. Before I hand the call to Derek To review our Q2 results, I want to take a moment to provide some details around the $25,000,000 we raised in the 2 recently announced funding transactions. As I mentioned at the outset, in a difficult funding market, we are fortunate to be supported by 2 groups of well funded investors, whereby we were able to firstly secure $15,000,000 to deliver on the Onondos Networks growth plan and then $10,000,000 at the holding company to scale our drone platforms and fund public company costs. As we are all aware, these financings removed a significant overhang for the company as our need for capital was weighing on our shares.

Speaker 2

Yandex Networks' investment was led by Charles and Potomac, and last Friday, we completed the final closing for their $15,000,000 investment. The C and P Groups includes Sophisticated investors, some with extensive senior level wireless and rail backgrounds and their investment was made after extensive independent diligence on our I believe that the CMP investment is a significant validation of the potential value creation ahead at Andas Networks as the CMP Group is putting their own personal capital behind our company. Importantly, we believe this capital injection into Andas Networks will fully fund the growth plan there, while allowing our shareholders to maintain control and benefit from the significant value creation we see over the next few years. In addition, the C and P Group may become a large investor in OnDeck Holdings given the warrants they received as part of this transaction. This further aligns the incentives of our public shareholders with a large supportive financial partner.

Speaker 2

At the holding company, our existing convertible note investor exercised their right to invest another $10,000,000 in gross proceeds from new convertible notes, which have a 2 year maturity. I will provide additional details on the terms of the convertible note and the C and P Group investment when we discuss our balance sheet. Net net, these financings put Andas on a much firmer ground, and I'm pleased with the outcome and excited about our ability to execute from here for our shareholders. I'm now going to hand the call to Derek for the financial review. Derek?

Speaker 2

Thanks, Eric. As I get started, I want to remind our investors that our financial statements reflect the early stage of platform adoption For both Onondas Networks and OAS and the preparation for larger commercial rollouts, we expect significant operating leverage as revenues grow, though today's revenue levels do not yet cover our operating expenses. Revenue for the periods presented have been generated by both Andas Networks and the OAS business units And totaled approximately $5,500,000 for the Q2 of 2023, which was a significant increase from the $600,000 of revenue generated in the Q2 of 2022. Quarter over quarter revenues also showed robust growth of more than 100% from the $2,600,000 in revenue reported in the Q1 of 2023. Growth was primarily the result of both higher product at Hondas Networks and deployments of Optimus systems related to customer activity for OAS in the UAE.

Speaker 2

Gross profit for the Q2 of 2023 was approximately $3,100,000 a tenfold increase from the same period in 2022 When gross profit was approximately $300,000 Operating expenses declined slightly to approximately 11 point Despite the larger business operations, which now includes a full quarter of Aerobotics expenses. Cash operating expenses were equal to approximately $8,800,000 which was about in line with expectations. Over the next few quarters, we believe that we will realize additional benefits from the OAS integration on the cost side. Non cash expenses, including stock based compensation and depreciation and amortization, totaled approximately $2,900,000 for the This is up slightly from the non cash expenses of $2,600,000 in the Q2 of 2022. The company realized an operating loss of approximately $8,500,000 for the Q2 of 2023 as compared to $11,400,000 for the Q2 of 2022.

Speaker 2

The decline in operating losses Was primarily due to higher revenue and gross profit generated during this quarter. Excluding the non cash expenses, the company generated an EBITDA loss of $5,600,000 in the Q2 of 2023, which was an improvement compared with an $8,800,000 EBITDA loss for the Q2 of 2022. The company realized a net loss of $9,000,000 for the Q2 of 2023 as compared to a $11,400,000 loss in the Q2 of 2022. The lower loss was due to higher revenues and gross profits during the quarter. Now let's turn to the balance sheet.

Speaker 2

We ended the Q1 with $3,100,000 in cash prior to closing the $25,000,000 funding transactions announced in July. Pro form a for the funding transactions, OnDeck's cash Balance was approximately $27,100,000 We will provide more details on the pro form a balance sheet in a moment. The cash burn in the first half reflects ongoing investment in the business. So the burn was elevated due to certain one off and non Restructuring costs related to the acquisition of AeroBotics and the integration of AeroBotics and American Robotics into the OAS business unit. In addition to the integration costs, we used approximately $11,600,000 of cash for working capital and debt repayment alone in the first half of twenty twenty three, which included approximately $6,100,000 in working capital investment, including inventory and receivables in the first half and cash debt repayments of approximately $5,500,000 related to the convertible note amortization and retirement of a loan at Aerobotics.

Speaker 2

As Eric will outline next, our businesses remain capital light from a CapEx perspective, And we believe that as we grow revenues and gross profits, while controlling expenses, our cash burn will decline in the coming quarters. I will now hand the call back to Eric. Thank you, Derek. As described previously, The recent funding has substantially fortified our balance sheet and placed us on strong footing to execute our growth plan. Pro form a for the funding, Andas had $27,100,000 in cash as of June 30.

Speaker 2

Between the original and new convertible notes, we have approximately $31,000,000 in outstanding loan balances Now we will look to equitize as soon as we can. The way to drive equitization of the notes and by extension a deleveraging of our We and the investor also agreed to extend the maturity of the original convertible notes from October 2024 to April 2025. This works to reduce the monthly amortization of that original note. Note that the exchange price for the notes to convert into shares prior to maturity is now approximately $1.45 per share. The convertible preferred shares at Andas Networks, which provide the C and P Group Investors Effective 28% equity interest in our Andas Network subsidiary are reflected as a minority interest in the consolidated balance sheet.

Speaker 2

Let's now move to discuss the financial outlook before turning to a review of our business units. Firstly, we are poised to have a very strong year at Andas as both business units transition to generating revenue growth. In 2023, we are demonstrating real demand for our technology platforms and that they are commercially ready and scalable. We expect the growth this year to continue in 2024 and beyond, and we believe our expectations for substantial multiyear growth remain achievable. With that said, our trajectory can be lumpy and difficult to forecast as our adoption curves are just beginning.

Speaker 2

For the full year 2023, We expect to fall short of the ambitious revenue targets we laid out at the beginning of the year. This is largely the result of a slower production ran at Onbus Networks initially due to component availability challenges we identified on our last conference call, which were exacerbated by a tight working capital position that constrained our ability to make component purchase commitments. More recently, component availability has improved and of course, with the recent financings, We have working capital to accelerate production. As such, we have launched plans to increase production activity from here. However, given 6 month lead times from production to shipment, catching up on our original revenue targets via product shipments is going to be difficult.

Speaker 2

We will certainly try. With respect to OAS, our outlook remains unchanged as we execute with customers and drive additional order activity in both international markets as well as in the United States. Despite the shortfall versus earlier targets, we still see significant growth in the second half 2023 and into 2024 and 2025 across both business units. We expect to generate at least $7,000,000 in revenue over the second half of 2023, which brings a new target for revenue to approximately $15,000,000 for the full year. I want to reiterate, We are tracking meaningful volume orders with Siemens in the advancing fieldwork and expect to share an update on the order front as available.

Speaker 2

As we scale adoption and deliver revenue growth, we will remain focused on controlling expenses as we drive towards improved profitability. We expect cash operating expenses to be approximately $9,000,000 for the Q3 of 2023, which is consistent with targets In the recently completed quarter, we are continuing to manage OpEx efficiently and we will look to maintain cost discipline going forward. Now we will transition to a review of our business units and ask Stuart Cantor and Merrick Kleiner to share updates on recent activity in the field with customers And Industry Partners, we will start with Stuart, who will update us on the current status with the rails on dot 16 adoption and focus

Speaker 3

Great. Thank you, Eric. At Onus Networks, we had a record revenue quarter driven by shipments for customers. We delivered $1,500,000 in product and development revenue in the second quarter with a new record delivery and product shipments to Siemens. This is coming off a solid Q1 of approximately $1,000,000 in revenue with the previous record amount of shipments.

Speaker 3

Moreover, we're fully engaged with Siemens in the Class 1 rails to further prepare for large scale commercial deployments at 900 megahertz. And with the adoption of the standard in March 2023, we see increasing amounts of deployment planning among the Class 1s. We are now working hand in hand on deployments with key rail personnel with direct budget responsibility. Specifically, in July, we commenced work with a major rail, visiting their critical ATCS locations and completing detailed site surveys As we shared on our last call, the announcement by the American Association of Railroads in March That the Dot 16 platform was chosen for deployment in the greenfield 900 Megahertz network, combined with the approaching deadlines to retire the legacy 900 Megahertz network by September 2025 is advancing the formal activity of the rails around migrating the network. Our initial deployments are focused on critical network and high traffic locations, as well as new vital communications Endpoints such as rail crossings.

Speaker 3

We believe this work and the areas of focus reflect positively on how the rails come to value the 900 Megahertz opportunity. Simultaneously to this work, Siemens is actively negotiating Purchase orders with select rails. In terms of development and standardization, MXV Rail, which is a Subsidiary of the AAR is thoroughly engaged on the point 16 network integration plans with a continued focus on the new network controller and critical point 16 functionality, including key high demand features like peer to peer networking. We expect our activity with MXV to continue to expand as new use cases and additional frequency bands are targeted for 802.16 Integration. On the production side, after early challenges in obtaining key components Described earlier by Eric, we have alleviated many of the constraints which impacted our first two quarters of shipments.

Speaker 3

And our recent financing gives us the necessary working capital to continue to build inventory and transition to contract manufacturers, which will allow us to ramp production. And as we ramp production, lead times may limit our ability to ship as much product With the new capital secured, we intend to move forward aggressively on obtaining new orders and growing our production capabilities. We have recently engaged a new U. S. Contract manufacturer, who we believe is capable of allowing us We see a need to build inventory with Siemens in front of what we continue to believe Will be a significant network build out across the Class 1 rails in 2024 2025.

Speaker 3

To be clear, We are seeing some migration on 900 Megahertz this year as the rails begin to move and that will drive revenue growth in the second half, tempered of course by the aforementioned early production bottlenecks. So despite the slower production ramp, We expect Andas Networks will still grow revenue in Q3 and Q4. At the same time, we will continue to foster our existing And new development programs. The Siemens locomotive program previously announced for Europe is well advanced and has recently expanded in scope. And we have now responded to 2 major passenger and transit network proposals, which appear to be very promising.

Speaker 3

As we grow, we will pay close attention to spending levels on operating costs as we drive towards profitability. As revenue and gross profits grow with increasing demand and shipments, we expect to be increasingly self funding as we move through the year and into 2024. Now, I'll hand the call back to Eric. Eric?

Speaker 2

Thank you, Stuart. I will now ask Mayor Kleiner to take the floor and update us on progress with customers at Andas Autonomous Systems and provide some insight into the outlook for the rest of 2023. Maier?

Speaker 4

Thank you, Eric. We continue to build momentum at ondas autonomous system in the 2nd quarter with revenue reaching $4,000,000 a substantial increase over Q1 revenues of $1,500,000 Our team continues to execute well as evidenced by the successful completion of our proof of concept in Abu Dhabi, UEE and the ongoing advancement of activity with existing customers as well as new customers and partners globally. In Dubai, we are continuing to expand our relationship with the government. We secured an additional service agreement for our deployed Systems and plan to expand OAS operation and footprint in the city later this year. We anticipate study growth throughout 2023 and into 2024, with ongoing fleet in Abu Dhabi, Dubai and other countries in the region as we welcome new customers.

Speaker 4

We provided investors an important update in July on our type certification activities with the FAA As we approach receiving FAA type certification for the OPTIMO system, our focus is qualifying and acquiring customers in the United We have secured an agreement with the Massachusetts Department of Transportation, MasDOT Aeronautical Department for proof of concept program, which includes demonstrations to relevant stakeholders across the state. These demonstrations may attract Other government agencies from Massachusetts and beyond, we are excited to showcase our Optimus system, With state of the art capabilities and functionality, which can enter the various use cases desired by the public agency In charge of providing critical services to the state of Massachusetts. Additionally, We have made significant progress in our partnership with Skyfire, a leading consulting firm into drone public safety field, By combining Skyfire's expertise in POLICE 1 programs in various states with our type certificate OPTIMO system, We have made game changing advantage. We and Skyfire believe the market for drone first responder or DFR is very large And that spending on drone solutions in public safety markets is now growing rapidly. Again, we are very excited to bring Optimus to the U.

Speaker 4

S. Market, Where we see significant demand and firmly believe in the substantial opportunity to drive fleet adoption as one infrastructure. On the strategic side, as previously announced, the Okimo system has successfully completed its noise certification, Which was the last test required by the FAA to obtain a type certificate for the system. Our dedicated team is currently finalizing the last reports and submissions to the FAA, and we can see this certification process coming to its conclusion I would like to take a moment to explain why the type certification is such an important milestone for OAS. In the United States, anyone who wants to operate ADRONE for capturing data or pulse delivery purposes Must comply with certain requirements.

Speaker 4

The most common one is flying the drone in line of sight of a pilot. Additionally, Duans are not allowed to fly over people at night over sensitive infrastructure and more. To contact drone flights outside of these requirements, The operator must apply for a waiver for each specific area and time, and waivers are not always granted by the FAA. For a system like the Optimus, which can launch hundreds of lights every week with no human involvement, The FAA needs to understand the awardiness level of the aircraft, just like in manned aircraft. The type certification process aims to establish solid criteria that the FAA can rely on to understand the engineering And concept of operations of the OPTIMO system.

Speaker 4

When the type certification process is completed, Robotics will be able to work with the FAA on complex operations, similar to what we are conducting in the UAE. For example, Flights for public safety and municipal use cases, which include flying over people, roads, critical infrastructure like government buildings and power plants As well as other urban features. Based on the OPTIMO system and its new Certification, American Robotics, along with our new partners in the U. S, will be able to offer one of the world's best solutions In addition to our growing efforts to enter the U. S.

Speaker 4

Market, We have been working on OAS' global expansions to other regions. We announced our partnership with Aero Atoz, An Indian company specialized in security and defense systems and presented the Optimus and Ionron radar systems At the designated expo in India, which stimulated significant interest from the local industry, We are optimistic that this partnership will produce growth opportunity. Additionally, We have initiated a new relationship with Saudi Excellence Corp, a leading Saudi company providing next generation security and defense technologies To Saudi Government and Enterprises accorded the KSA. Together, we will work on establishing a local office in the Kingdom And a strategic alliance to offer our solutions in this growing market. We see numerous opportunities within the We expect to share more details on our entrance into the Indian and Saudi markets in the coming months.

Speaker 4

Lastly, Eric's appointment to the Board of Directors of the Commercial Duan Alliance, CDA, was an important achievement for the company. The CDA is an important industry body that collaborates closely with the key policymakers at the FAA, DOT, White House and conquest to promote 1 Business in various industries in the USA. We continue to expect more fleet deployments during 2023 and anticipate achieving additional milestones related to the expansion of Optimus and Irant1 in the U. S. And other countries.

Speaker 4

Progressing as planned, we are successfully delivering on fleet deployments in the UAE and look forward to announcing additional orders in the country. In addition, we are actively advancing new market expansion with local partners in Saudi Arabia and India. We remain focused on accelerating U. S. Business development by leveraging American Robotics' U.

Speaker 4

S. Footprint To penetrate public safety, smart city, construction and other industrial markets. To achieve this, we are Spending our sales team and pre sales activities to engage with a large number of customers and ecosystem partners. Additionally, we are building inventory and expect to complete manufacturing and deliver 10 new Optimus systems by the end of 2023. We have a total of 15 Optimus systems on order.

Speaker 4

As we look ahead, we firmly believe that what we are witnessing today In the U. S. Drone market is only the tip of the iceberg. The concept of drone in a box and substantial benefits of autonomous drones Has become a consensus understanding and many entities are seeking to remove drawn operators from rooftops. As processes like type certification come together, we envision this market growing exponentially And OES is well positioned to lead this revolution.

Speaker 4

This completes my formal remarks. Eric, I'm going to hand the call back to you now.

Speaker 2

Thank you, Maher. Before we turn the call over to Q and A, I want to reiterate that we remain bullish on the outlook for Andas and believe our business is strengthening considerably. We have worked extremely hard to position for growth, though as we all know, we and our investors have had a bumpy 12 months. The challenges we have faced, which included extended timelines, particularly on the rail side with Onondis Networks, have been exacerbated by a more difficult funding backdrop for small emerging technology companies. Nonetheless, I believe we are clearly on the path to monetize the significant investments we have made in our Foamax and Optimus platform technologies.

Speaker 2

Of course, this growth plan is now supported by our strength and balance sheet. The Class 1 rails are now engaged deeply in formal planning for the 900 megahertz network migration, And we believe visibility in the big ramp ahead is improving dramatically. We will look for volume orders as we move through the fall and in parallel work to scale production to be prepared At OAS, fleet deployments are validating the safety and reliability of our OPTIMA system as well as the value our automated drone services provide. This is driving faster engagement with a broader set of partners and customers across the globe, including in new markets such as India and Saudi Arabia, and of course, in the United States as well. The broader engagement for both Networks and OAS is exactly what you want to see When you're in the early stage of technology adoption, it is evidence that we are in the initial stage on the edge curve of exponential growth.

Speaker 2

We expect to grow orders and deliveries in the second half, which will allow us to maintain the momentum we have built coming into 2023 With a significant ramp in 2024 and beyond, this growth combined with continued cost discipline will allow us to reward our shareholders. From here, I firmly believe the outlook for Andes is only getting better and better. With that said, let's see if there are any questions. Operator?

Operator

Operator?

Speaker 1

At this time, we will take our first question, which will come from Tim Horan with Oppenheimer. Please go ahead.

Speaker 5

Hey, guys. Thanks for the time. Can you give us a sense of how much in order you've received from the rails? And just trying to understand the process or maybe it seems like most of the orders have to come in, in the next 9 to 12 months if it's going to be 6 months To deliver. And then can you just talk about the gross margins on the rail equipment?

Speaker 5

And I guess related to this, if you can't talk about how many orders now, can you give us a sense How much in orders you expect in the next 12 months? And then are you basically can you talk about what you're Like are you starting to build equipment in front of the orders? And can you talk about how much equipment you've ordered here? And then the working capital, is that still a problem or do you think you kind of totally solved that at this point? I know that's a mix of questions.

Speaker 5

Just trying to understand the whole process on the rails here from what orders you receive, when do you put in the When do you start making the equipment? And then basically, have you started making equipment in front of the orders? Thanks.

Operator

Great. Thanks, Tim. I'll start with the gross margin question First, and then we'll talk about the ordering process and expectations of how we'll build into over the next few quarters. So gross margins on the OnDeck Networks system side are targeted at 50% to 60%. You'll see that bounce Around a little bit until we get these bigger volumes, but of course, we do see the volumes ramping.

Operator

But that's what it looks like at margin on the margins. And we'll give more clarity on that as we get the volume revenue pull through. In terms of the order and inventory building process, What we're doing in the field today with customers is really working hand in hand with Siemens, discussing with customers And in and around that, of course, we're talking about volumes and pricing, etcetera. Siemens is handling the bulk of the negotiations on that front. And what we do with Siemens is in parallel, we're planning for production and capacity ramp.

Operator

So as we're Moving through this year, we are targeting significant orders and having conversations with Stephens about the timing of our So the dynamic is with these what we do expect to be a big build out in 2024 20 25 meet deadlines that we need to start ramping production now, and we're doing that in front of what we think is We expect to receive orders over the balance of the year. So we'll be building inventory for Siemens and we think returning into 2024, the demand for even more buildings will certainly increase.

Speaker 5

Can you talk about the dollar amount of orders you've kind of you've placed in? If you're going to get like 200,000,000 orders in the next 12 to 18 I mean, it would suggest you need like $100,000,000 of working capital at a 50% gross margin. How do you kind of plan on funding that?

Operator

So we do have we are expecting to have payment arrangements to Siemens to help support component inventory So that's one aspect of it. And we also expect to have very attractive payment terms in terms of And when we ship and bill and receive payments. So we think that's going to help us quite a bit on working capital. Was there another element of that question?

Speaker 5

Great. And can you talk about how much like the rough size of orders you've placed at this point.

Speaker 2

So yes, I don't want

Operator

to do that just yet. I mean, part of this conversation with Siemens and the railroads is we're negotiating. And we certainly, as you can understand, want to work to get to firm commitments on this upfront and to the extent we're Sort of signaling that we want to build inventory in front of that. I would not want to put a number on that because that would delay some of the Invictus on getting those firm commitments. So I want to sort of defer on that question at the moment.

Speaker 5

And do you have a sense of when the orders will really start kicking in? Is it Q3 this year, Q4, Q1 of next year? And then the revenues, I'm guessing, are 6 to 9 months after the orders kind of kick in. But do you have a sense when the orders will really start flowing?

Operator

Yes. So a couple of these. So the orders that team secures then turns to us, we do expect over the balance of the year. And I think, I'll say in the next few months, I don't want to put a specific timing on it again, given where we are in these discussions Competitive standpoint. But of course, having the visibility we do on the expected ramp Knowing that we need equipment, we can start ramping now.

Operator

And I think that's where we're going to be building capacity through the year. So I can't

Speaker 5

Okay, got it. But it seems like you kind of expect any orders really ramp in the 4th quarter and the first And then the revenues really ramp 2nd Q3 of next year. Is that fair to say? Your best guess at this point.

Operator

It is fair to say when we think about Very large revenue numbers that we believe are ahead of us, but I do think that if we're moving through the year into Q1, I think Q1 will be See a nice uptick as well.

Speaker 5

Got it. So you kind of expect to receive revenues from these orders And Q1 will be a pretty good uptick? Okay.

Operator

Yes.

Speaker 2

And so can you give

Speaker 5

us a sense of how much you've received in order so far, if you're expecting I know you had some guidance on bookings for the at the beginning of the year for this year. Can you give us a sense where you're tracking the bookings?

Operator

Well, we didn't yes, so we haven't we didn't give We gave targets for revenues and of course we've updated that today. And I don't want to go further on the booking side. As we're moving into the second half, we'll update you as we can.

Speaker 5

Okay. Thank

Speaker 6

you.

Speaker 1

Our next question will come from Matthew Galinko with Maxim Group. Please go ahead. Matthew Galinko, your line is open. Please check if it is muted.

Speaker 6

Hey, good morning. Thanks for taking my question. I'll be brief. I wanted to maybe get a little bit more color on the contract manufacturer That you're engaged with now, any fixed commitments there? And Just to the extent that you do expect these volume orders from rails in the next year or 2, is this Manufacturer in a place to meet that capacity or do you expect to have to do more work to get to that point?

Operator

I'm going to ask Stuart to share more details. On this contract manufacturer, this is a firm that we've been working with Qualify for quite some time now. And it's we've been doing that in parallel with Siemens. And again, it was So Stuart, what would you add to that?

Speaker 3

Yes, Matthew. So we This is the contract manufacturer in the U. S. Is one we qualified with Siemens and They support Siemens in many of their product lines. So we feel they're very capable.

Speaker 3

And as we secured the new working capital, we've now engaged them and have turned over some critical Boards in our development that have been a bottleneck in the past. So They are prepared to ramp and are well qualified. We also have another manufacturer In Canada, that's supporting us for some other key components. So I think we feel very confident with them.

Speaker 6

Got it. Thank you. And maybe just on a help me understand the type Certification and how that factors into timing On the pipeline build and engagement with U. S. Entities and It doesn't seem like you've needed it to ramp up engagement, but just

Operator

Thank you.

Speaker 6

If you could help me understand

Speaker 7

a little bit

Speaker 6

better, is it a question of, hey, we get the certification and You expect U. S. Orders imminently or still several months post for Additional evaluation before you get to something in volume in the U. S.

Operator

Thanks, Matt. So the type certification itself has or lack thereof we I think what you'll do is that in our marketing efforts, it's a lot easier to have these conversations. And it's easier for customers to engage more quickly when we have this level of quality That's being validated by things like such as type certification as well as the experience we're able to point to all the flight hours, for example, Commercial deployment in urban environments in the UAE. So I think you can think of it as an accelerant Of the activity with customers, maybe it's going to be more efficient and the sales process will be shorter as a result. Maher, would you add anything to that?

Speaker 7

Yes. So we finished the last step that we need to do with the And now we're waiting for the final approval. In our opinion, it's going to make a game changer in the industry because And this is the first time that anyone will get this approval to fly above people without the need with specific waiver. And as Eric mentioned, it will give us the ability to accelerate and scale As they operate deal with clients in more quickly, because we will have this approval and we can open new markets in United States To build a drone infrastructure in urban area and not only in remote area.

Speaker 6

Got it. That's helpful. All right. I appreciate it. I'll jump back in the queue.

Operator

Thank you,

Speaker 1

Our next question will come from William Morrison with B. Riley. Please go ahead.

Speaker 8

Good morning, Eric. Hi, Bill.

Operator

Good, good.

Speaker 8

Good. You wouldn't have to be particularly insightful to understand that there might be inventory shortages Going out so what exactly went wrong? Because like the last five times we've talked about this, it was under control. So what changed like Who dropped the ball?

Operator

Well, Bill, we did I'll refer back to our last conference call, we highlighted some of the component Bottlenecks that we had been experiencing as we really ramping up volume production for First time, so we've done a lot of work to qualify suppliers with components, but the first time you bought you enter into these volume orders with them, They can catch them off guard. So as Stuart had mentioned, we believe those specific bottlenecks. And today, we believe the supply chain is in pretty good shape for us. We're going to be particularly active sort of focusing on advanced purchases certain components, in addition to qualifying other component vendors for diversification. But That's kind of how we've dealt with it, but we did highlight this on the last call.

Operator

I'd say a bigger issue has been particularly as we're moving to Contract manufacturer has been having the working capital base to make commitments to Volume purchases of the components to ramp production. And we as you know, we completed the financing in July. We were trying to get that financing in A bit earlier, but these things could sometimes take some time. So we really have just started to ramp, as we And given the lead times, the ability to pull that through the supply, the production is means that Some of that will go into Q1. Yes.

Speaker 8

And how much of this is applicable to AOS?

Operator

No, OAS is we're talking specifically about OnDeck Networks related to the Supply chain ramp. OAS has we entered the year as As you recall, we closed the Aerobotics acquisition in January. And at that time, we ordered 15 new Optimus systems. We were expecting to receive PENN in the second half of this year and we're still on track for that.

Speaker 8

And then what about major fleet orders? We've been kind of looking for those for a while, not like 10, but 100 of systems.

Operator

I think we got to give us a little time on 100 per When we came into the year with the Optimates system, we spoke of the activity in the way those customers We're furthest along in commercial adoption, fleet adoption, and we've targeted or we've highlighted that the customers have I've been publicly discussing in the UAE at least 50 units over the course of through 2025. We're kind of working with them to build that out. Elsewhere, when we're talking about new markets India, Saudi Arabia and of course in the United States, we've identified early customers and partners. We're going to work with them, but you'll see them sort of start to ramp in More deliberate way, right, to take maybe a couple of systems up to 5, build those out. And then from there, we can scale more quickly As they get the experience that we do in terms of perfecting how we deliver the solution, so and gain the valuable experience.

Operator

So I guess we'll see how we do think we're on that path in the UAE. And as you'll as we were able to share with you

Speaker 1

And with that, this will conclude our question and answer session. I'd like to turn the conference back over to Eric Brock for any closing remarks.

Speaker 2

Okay. Thank you, operator. I'm just going

Operator

to close the call today by thanking you again for attending. As always, we have a lot of work ahead and we're going to get right back at it. And We look forward to staying in touch and keeping you informed on our progress. So have a great day. Thank you.

Speaker 1

The conference has now concluded. Thank you for attending today's presentation. You may now disconnect your lines.

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Earnings Conference Call
Ondas Q2 2023
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