Participants

Edward McGregor; Director - Investor Relations; Vuzix Corp

Paul Travers; President, Chief Executive Officer, Co-Founder, Director; Vuzix Corp

Grant Russell; Co-Founder, Chief Financial Officer, Executive Vice President, Director; Vuzix Corp

Christian Schwab; Analyst; Craig-Hallum Capital Group LLC

Presentation

Operator

Hello, and welcome to the Vuzix fourth quarter and full year ending December 31, 2024, financial results and business update conference call. (Operator Instructions)
As a reminder, this call is being recorded. Now, I would like to turn the call over to Ed McGregor, Director of Investor Relations at Vuzix. Mr. McGregor, you may begin.

Edward McGregor

Thank you, operator, and good afternoon, everyone. Welcome to the Vuzix fourth quarter and 2024 full year ending December 31, financial results and business update conference call. With us today are Vuzix CEO, Paul Travers; and our CFO, Grant Russell.
Before I turn the call over to Paul, I would like to remind you that on this call, management's prepared remarks may contain forward-looking statements, which are subject to risks and uncertainties, and management may make additional forward-looking statements during the question-and-answer session. Therefore, the company claims the protection of the safe harbor for forward-looking statements that are contained in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.
Actual results could differ materially from those contemplated by any forward-looking statements as a result of certain factors, including but not limited to general economic and business conditions, competitive factors, changes in business strategy or development plans, the ability to attract and retain qualified personnel, as well as changes in legal and regulatory requirements.
In addition, any projections as to the company's future performance represent management's estimates as of today, March 13, 2025. USICS assumes no obligation to update these projections in the future as market conditions change. This afternoon, the company issued a press release announcing its financial 2024 results and filed its 10K with the SEC. So participants in this call who may not have already done so may wish to look at those documents as the company will provide a summary of the results discussed on today's call.
Today's call may include certain non-GAAP financial measures. When required, reconciliation to the most directly comparable financial measure calculated and presented in accordance with GAAP and they found the company's form 10K annual filing at sec.gov, which is also available at www.vuzix.com.
I'll now turn the call over to Vuzix CEO Paul Travers, who will give an overview of the company's operating results and business outlook. Paul will then turn the call over to Grant Russell, Vuzix CFO, who will provide an overview of the company's fourth quarter and full year financial results, after which we'll move on to the question-and-answer session. Paul?

Paul Travers

Thank you, Ed. Welcome to the Vuzix Q4 and full year 2024 conference call. In recent years, the wearable computer and AR industry has seen significant changes, progressing in maturity and acceptance. External factors such as COVID-19 have shown the role of these enterprise smart glasses in improving workplace efficiency.
As the industry has developed, Vuzix has continued to invest and adjust its strategy to align with the future direction of the market. On the technology front, Vuzix has been discussing hours and the industry's progress on waveguides and the micro displays that drive them for years. We're now approaching a pivotal moment which should increase adoption greatly.
Innovation in these technologies has finally enabled the development performance displays in industry first. mostly within a Despite the noise and pace of change in the industry, Vuzix remains focused on its pursuit to develop the best mousetrap to solve and support the enterprise and other markets we address as they unfold. We continue to enhance the performance, the features that matter, and of course the cost competitiveness of our waveguides, arguably the establishment of a strategic partnership with leading ODM supplier, Quanta Computer. based on reinforced by their $20 million multi-phase investment underscores our shared vision. The AR and A- first 10 million trots of this investment was TS 2025.
These binocular, full-color, see-through glasses powered by Qualcomm's AR1 processor fill a critical gap in the... based maker of featuring This reference design supporting the Active Look ecosystem will enable third-party eyewear manufacturers to create diverse smart glasses models for sports and outdoor applications that require is aimed at building an ecosystem attracting early adopters. strategically reduce the price of the Z100.
This move has led to increased demand and follow-on orders. Z100 is being selected for its all-day wearability, seamless heads-up display integration, and competitive pricing, which supports high-volume sales. The Vuzix Z100 smart glasses are being focused on white label and OEM customers, and we are actively fielding multiple RFQ opportunities based on this platform. As we have previously indicated, have been steadily pivoting towards the ODM slash OEM side of our We have strengthened our presence in the defense and industrial sectors where our differentiated solutions are meeting mission critical these new solutions will be white labeled and and evolve. and packing workflows to engage with our stable ISV partners to drive broader adoption of smart glasses in the enterprise sector.
We've been working with these ISVs for some time now as you all know and they are seeing the business opportunities finally coming to fruition also. Together integrating hardware and software to draw. As we have repeatedly stated, the primary differentiator for Vuzix is our ability to make a quality waveguide and volume at an affordable cost. With our proprietary technologies, we can process in a timely fashion hundreds of waveguides per single run, while the bulk of our competitors are cash. standard 300 millimeter width. This advantage comes... extensive experience, and developed IP enabling us to quickly design and manufacture smart classes and add new features.
To bolster this edge, our patent portfolio has grown by 50 % in the past two years to over 425 patents and pending patents, covering a wide range of optical, waveguide, and wearable computing technologies, solidifying our AR industry leadership. Our ODM scaling production our OEDM slash OEM business will grow.
We anticipate an increase in our reference designs and OEM customer count and are actively involved in multiple projects with Quanta that have potential to create significant business opportunities for both entities. Quanta's extensive scale and expertise in electronic product manufacturing combined with the USIX proprietary waveguides and smart glasses technology that this collaboration will result in high In 2025, Vuzix anticipates significant growth in customer wins across our OEM and enterprise businesses as the industry stabilizes and expands.
We expect multiple design wins for both consumer and enterprise OEM products, where Vuzix will supply optical waveguides and display engines. In the defense and security markets, we foresee multiple programs with current OEMs and defense contractors, leading to production engagements and orders for customized designs. in enterprise, are nurturing numerous customer wins. customer benchmarks by an order of magnitude.
In parcel processing, example, Moviance newly introduced a nobilium application running on Vuzix smart glasses is seeing parcel scanning to bin placement speeds clocked at a fraction of the current methods from frontline workers. For new workers where turnover is high, we are seeing scan to bin placement improvements of upwards of 250 % in some instances. In typical warehouse with 80 pickers each picking 300 items per day from pallets, a 15 to 20 % improvement in efficiency would enable the same workforce to pick an additional 3,600 to 4,800 items per day, significantly increasing daily throughput without adding staff.
Summarized, as a result of these fully demonstrated KPIs, key performance indicators, which stand up on their own, we expect these customers will be placing follow-on orders that have the potential to effectively consume all of our existing M400s. conversion of our existing M-series inventory into cash, Vuzix is well on its way to introducing next generation purpose-built products based directly on the customer feedback in the field and our network of ISV partners and resellers. We have also recently received a commercial order for Vuzix Shield which consumes our remaining inventory. assume a remaining M4.
Let me add, Vuzix enters 2025 with a strong financial foundation. $18 million in cash and cash equivalents, reflecting our disciplined cost management and capital raising efforts. This includes $8.2 million raised through our At-The-Market facility in Q4, providing additional flexibility to support our growth initiatives. Additionally, we are making strong progress towards meeting milestones required for the remaining $10 million investment from Quantacomputer. the aforementioned business unfolds, expect a large portion of Grant will now take you through our financial numbers.

Grant Russell

Thank you, Paul. As Ed mentioned, the 10K we filed this afternoon with the SEC offers a detailed explanation of our annual financials. So I'm just going to provide you with a bit of color on some of the full year as well as quarterly numbers. For the three months ended December 31, 2024, we reported $1.3 million in total revenues as compared to $1.1 million in the prior year's comparable fourth quarter. The revenue increase was primarily due to a higher unit sales of our M400 smart glasses.
For the full year ended December 31st, 2024, Musix reported $5.8 million in total revenues as compared to $12.1 million for the prior year. Product sales decreased by 58 % year over year as unit sales of our M400 product declined compared to the previous year when two major distributors placed significant stocking orders in the first half of 2023, representing 54 % of our total product sales. sales of engineering services for the year ended December 31, 2024, where $1.3 million as compared to $1.4 million in 2023, a decrease of 7%.
Please note, as disclosed in our 10K, we have $2.1 million worth of remaining performance obligations over revenues already recognized under a current waveguide development project. For the full year ended December 31st, 2024, there was an overall gross loss of 5.6 million as compared to a loss of 2.6 million for 2023. The larger gross loss for 2024 was primarily driven by further inventory obsolescent reserves included in cost of sales and increased unapplied manufacturing overhead costs of 2.1 million due to reduced further bills of the M400. finished goods in the second half of 2024. The larger additional inventory reserve amounts were related to the affected surplus components and obsolescent provision in excess of currently planned existing future product builds in 2025 and early 2026. And all part of our planned transition to expected new smart glasses models now being developed.
No finished goods have been included in these inventory reserves. And as the ultimate Realizable value of these excess components that may not be used in future products billed as unknown at this time. 100 % obsolescence provision was accrued.
Research and development expenses for 2024 fell 22 % to 9.6 million as compared to 12.3 million for the 2023 period. The decrease was primarily due to a $1.6 million reduction in salary and benefits. Related expenses due to headcount decreases. and a $1 million drop in external development costs. For the fourth quarter of December 31st, 2024, research and development expenses were $2.2 million as compared to $3.5 million in the 2023 fourth quarter.
The decrease again was driven by headcount reductions. Sales and marketing costs for all of 2024 fell to $8.2 million from $12.7 million in 2023, a reduction of $4.5 million or 36%. The most significant factors for these expense reductions include a $1.6 million decrease in advertising and trade show expenses and a $1.6 million reduction in salary and benefits expenses driven by headcount decreases.
For the fourth quarter of December 31, 2024, sales and marketing expenses were $2 million as compared to $4.8 million in the 2023 fourth quarter. The decrease again was driven by reductions in headcount. and advertising expenses, changes in bad debt provisions, and severance accruals booked in Q4 of 2023.
General and administrative expenses for 2024 decreased 7 % to $17.2 million as compared to $18.6 million for the 2023 period. The decrease was largely due to a $1.4 million decline in non-cash stock-based compensation and a $1.1 million decline in salary. and benefits related expenses due to headcount reductions, partially offset by a $1 million increase in investor relations.
For the fourth quarter, ending December 31, 2024, general and administrative expenses were $4.3 million as compared to $4.7 million in the 2023 fourth quarter. Decrease again was driven by headcount reductions. For the fourth quarter ended December 31, 2024, the net loss was $13.7 million or 16 cents per share as compared to a net loss of $19.9 million or 32 cents per share for the fourth quarter of 2023.
For the full year ended December 31st, 2024, the net loss was $73.5 million or $1.8 per share as compared to a net loss of $50.1 million or 79 % for the full year of 2023. The increased net loss was mostly attributable to the write-off of our technology license and investment in atomistic, which was recorded in the second quarter of 2024.
Excluding this write-off, the net loss for 2024 was $6.9 million less than the 2023 net loss. Now for some balance sheet and cash flow highlights. Our cash position as of December 31, 2024 was $18.2 million, a decrease of $8.4 million from December 31, 2023. We had a net working capital position of $24.6 million. Net cash flows used in operating activities was $23.7 million for the year end of December 31, 2024. as compared to $26.3 million for the 2023 year, a decrease of $2.6 million.
For all of 2024, we raised $18.3 million to be financing activities that consisted of a $10 million investment by Quantum Computer in September. $8.2 million of net proceeds received from equity sales under our ATM offering in the fourth quarter of 2024.
Cash used in investing activities in 2024 was $2.9 million, down significantly from $19.3 million in 2023, primarily due to reductions in investments amounts and licensing fees paid to atomistic and manufacturing equipment and tooling investments for our new waveguide manufacturing facility in 2023. We are presently envisioning spending significantly less on capex investments in 2025 as we feel our waveguide manufacturing capacity is now adequate for expected demand in the NER term.
I'm pleased to report that after a year of expense reductions, when we look at our major operating expense groupings, R&D, sales and marketing, and G&A, and our Q4 of 2024 versus Q4 of 2023, we reduced our recurring cash operating costs, and that's after adding back non-cash compensation, bad debt provisions, and the severance accruals we made at the end of 2023.
We saw a $2.7 million reduction per quarter or 36 % year over year. We expect to these savings in place and intend to look for further at all our spending in 2025 as we move forward and expand our business. Looking forward in 2025, we are confident that management plans and the expected further funding of the second and third tranches from Kauana which are bringing another $10 million in new cash, along with potential further equity sales under ATM program. And of note, we raised 1.3 million today in 2025, that the company has more than adequate resources to move forward with its operating plan well into 2026.
And with that, I would like to turn the call back over to the operator for Q &A.

Question and Answer Session

Operator

(Operator Instructions) Christian Schwab, Craig-Hallum.

Christian Schwab

Great. Hey, guys. So just for clarity, we talked about the M400 clearing out the inventory that you have in 2025. Can you just let us know how much inventory you have of the M400 that you plan on selling?

Paul Travers

There's as much as $9 million worth of cash, I think, sitting in that bucket right now, Christian. That's the cost of... inventory. Right. As we stated in our Anything that wasn't finished goods got 100 % provided for. So there's, you know, there's, have ability to build more units if we so desire, but we're not going to invest further in the M400 until we move this existing stock. But that could easily generate a false set, $9 $10 million plus any margin we make selling it.
And we certainly still expect to make some margin. And Kristen, the interesting change in life these days for Vuzix is we have a nice list of companies in our pipeline that have gone past proof of concepts. These guys are now rolling out. We're starting to get orders for larger volumes.
And some of these accounts could take many thousands of units. As much as we're preparing for a next generation product, which we talked about a little bit in the call, we very well could be needing to make more of and finishing inventories that we currently have around the M400 that are just partial work in process.

Christian Schwab

Great, thank you for that clarity. Paul, you mentioned a few different times that you believe that quanta can drive millions of units for you. Can you give us an idea when a ramp like that is logically going to start and what your ASP would be on that?

Paul Travers

It's interesting because we've got several things that are going on with Quanta right now. Some of it are reference designs and they're tools that are being used to bring on third party OEM companies that will want to put their name on the product. And in those cases, Vuzix will ultimately be selling waveguides into that process. And you sell a color waveguide, not to get into a whole lot of numbers because they're not really public.
But you might imagine. competitors selling them at in volume, let's say 100,000 piece quantities of hundreds of dollars per and yet Vuzix can do in those kind of quantities sub 50 kind of numbers. So it's a significant price reduction in the higher volume markets that Vuzix can bring to the table. The size of this market opportunity as that broader market starts to move, it's going to replace the phone ultimately.
That's why Zuckerberg is spending billions and I will tell you that we've got that piece of the business going on and then at the same time we are building products that will be white labeled and in some cases carry the Vuzix brand and you should knock on wood expect to see production programs happening before the end of this year in those cases.
In those cases it's white labeled, it's coming partially, a big part of it comes from Vuzix and what we bring to the table in that case. Many of the white labels for those first products are in the enterprise space. And it's a significantly higher margin, and it's a significantly higher selling price. But it will just get started towards the fall going into the winter season. And then rolling into next year, it should be pretty exciting times.

Christian Schwab

OK, fantastic. No other questions. Thank you.

Paul Travers

You're welcome, Christian.

Operator

Thank you. I'll hand it to the floor back to Paul Travers.

Paul Travers

Thank you. Thank you. So we actually got a handful of questions from other of our shareholders before the conference call. And I thought I could at least answer a few of these. can't answer. There's a few of them that I can't answer just because I can't answer them. As much as I would love to, they go to points that are not public at this point in time.
But let me start with a few. Number one here, you've expanded your waveguide manufacturing capabilities. What production capacity do you expect to achieve by the end of 2025? And how will this support your goal of supplying millions of units to OEMs? So let me give you guys a feel for how this works. The quanta investment is a $20 million investment. $10 million was upfront.
And there's two trotches coming for another five and five. The bulk of that, is all about production getting into high volume capacity and we're very close to meeting both Tronch 2 and Tronch 3 which are the two $5 million gates and those are like I said related significantly to volume and the volume is half a million plus and then a million plus on an annual basis kinds of numbers and so we'll be there before half of this year is up knock on wood. practically there right now. So the volume capacity is, you know, right there for what the short-term need is.
For us to take the Rochester facility and crank that up to double, let's say, does not cost us everything that it cost us the first time. It's an incremental cost to be able to turn that production facility into something that would double those numbers. So that's not significant. But the ultimate goal is not a million or two waveguides on an annual basis. This is going to be like the smartwatch. Smartwatches sell 300 million smartwatches a year.
Quanta's not doing this for 20 to 50 to 100,000 pieces a year. Their drive here is a multi-billion dollar industry. That's the kind of company they are. That's many of the companies that we're talking with today because of what we can make and the vice points we can hit. They're in that boat. if they want to move the needle. And so you will see a phase two effort from where we're going that should help us get into the much higher volumes.
So next question, with the 10 million received from Quanta and two additional 5 million tranches expected in 2025, how are you planning to allocate this capital towards R&D, production, or market expansion? And what impact do you foresee on the cash burn rates?
First of all, let me say that the Quanta investment in Vuzix is lockstep with where we are taking our company. The synergy, the- what they want is what Vuzix wants and so if you think about the cash burns, they're 100 % aligned for the most part with what Vuzix wants and needs to do. So this isn't all of a sudden we have to take these dollars and put them into something that feels like it's a sidetrack.
Now, there is a portion of the monies also here that are dedicated to product development efforts to generate business on the backside. That is also lockstep in Vuzix interest. These dollars are going into R&D, next generation gizmos around wave guides that we build, and cranking up production, which I think is what everybody on this call wants to hear about.
The next question, how do you assess the competitive threat from larger players entering the AR smart glasses market in 2025 and beyond? And what differentiates Vuzix offerings to maintain their edge?
First of all, the competitive threat. There will be more than one company that brings smart glasses to market. Everybody in this room should realize that. If there's another company that comes out with a product, it's not a need to panic. There's BMW, there's Ford, there's Tesla. This is going to be a multi, multi-billion dollar industry. So there'll be other players. Like I said, we bring a lot of competitive advantages.
Yes, one is price. It's great to know that we have a good price that we compete with, but we also bring great performance. We've been at this longer than any other company out there. So when you lean towards the enterprise side of this business, which is also going to be in the billions, we bring stuff to the table that nobody else can bring. When it comes to the high volume waveguide side of the business, our price points are nobody else can do what we can do today in this regard.
So we're in front there. So yes. There's going to be competitors. We welcome that. Rising tide floats all boats. But we believe we, with the partnerships that we're building with companies like Quanta and others, have a great chance to get a very nice and sizable part of this market opportunity.
Like I said, there was some other questions in here that dealt with close to tier one companies and when and rolls out. I just cannot talk about. those companies and where they are in their processes. can tell you this though, generally speaking, you will see more and more design wins and partner wins and starting rollouts happen throughout this year.
Back in the World War II days when the airplanes would fly and they would take another kill and they'd put a marker on the front of their airplane as another notch on the pistol handle. you're going to see a lot of that start to unroll at Vuzix this year. That will roll into knock on wood significant volumes through 2026. So and will some of those be tier ones?
I certainly believe we have tier one partners, 100 % that are working with Vuzix right now. Their timing for when they roll out, their requirements for market acceptance. I if you think about companies like, like Luxottica. They don't want to put their name on something that doesn't look fashion forward and run 100 % in line with what their brand looks like. So everybody's striving for that same answer. And Vuzix is a company that can help bring that to them. So, and Broad Stokes, I hope that answered the bulk of everybody's questions.
I want to thank everybody for spending the time again with us this afternoon. And I really do look forward to seeing the rest of this year unfold. and us having our future conference calls with a whole lot more to talk about with significant real programs and companies and partnerships that we've been able to announce along the way. Thank you everybody. Have a wonderful evening.

Operator

Thank you. This concludes today's call. All parties may disconnect.