Q2 2023 Sarcos Technology and Robotics Corporation Earnings Call

Good day and thank you for standing by welcome to the Q2 2023 circles technology and Robotics Corporation earnings call.

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I would now like to hand, the conference over to your speaker today Moriah Shilton.

Thank you operator, good afternoon, everyone and welcome to the <unk> Technology, and Robotics Corporation second quarter 2023 earnings call.

Joining us on the call. This afternoon are circles interim President and Chief Executive Officer, Laura Peterson, and Chief Financial Officer Drew Hammer.

Laura will start the call with a discussion of business highlights from the second quarter and recent events.

Andrew will then talk in more detail about the financial results before management takes questions from analysts.

Before we begin we must state that today's call will contain forward looking statements.

Including statements concerning future commercial production and availability of our products and product features and capabilities.

Target markets and market trends and expectations.

Customer demand and future financial results condition, and cash flows, including future revenues class and class trends cash usage restructuring charges and liquidity.

These statements represent managements beliefs and expectations as to future events as of today, but there are many risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ from what we have projected.

Among those risks and uncertainties described in our report on Form 10-Q filed today with the SEC.

And that was mentioned in today's earnings press release.

We encourage you to review the risks and uncertainties described in the press release and 10-Q.

In our other filings with the SEC for further information regarding these actual and potential risks and uncertainties.

We also encourage you to review the special note regarding forward looking statements included in our earnings release and 10-Q for the second quarter of 2023 filed with the SEC. This afternoon, and which we posted in the investors section of our website at circus Dot Com and.

And on the SEC's website.

In addition, we will be discussing certain non-GAAP financial measures on our call today.

Throughout this call all financial measures will be GAAP, unless otherwise noted.

A reconciliation of any non-GAAP measures to the most directly comparable GAAP measures as well as the description limitations and rationale for such measures are included in the earnings release filed with the FCC. This afternoon, which is available on our website and on the SEC's website.

A recording of this call will also be available on our website until September nine 2023 <unk>.

The information that we're getting on the call is that as of today's date and we undertake no obligation to update the information subsequently, except as maybe required by law.

At this point I'd like to turn the call over to Laura Peterson interim President and CEO of circa <unk>.

Sure.

Thank you Maria and good afternoon to all of you joining us on today's call.

I'm pleased to be participating in my first call as interim CEO of circles.

Honored to serve the company during this transitional period for being primarily an R&D organization to manufacturing and commercialization.

As a member of the board of directors since <unk> became a public company.

The opportunity to gain insight into the business.

I have spent the past few months applying that knowledge, along with my breadth of experience to analyze and evaluate the business, which in turn has led to decisions about the direction of the company.

We have realigned our business and refined our sales strategy to focus on products that show the most potential for near term revenue growth.

On strategic opportunities that show the greatest market traction and meet an acute customer need through tailored solutions.

As a result of our actions we have substantially lowered our cash usage through a 25% workforce reduction and by significantly lowering our discretionary expenses.

Ultimately we expect this to result in an average cash usage rate of $3 million per month in the first quarter of 2024 down from $6 5 million in the second quarter of 2023.

Now that we have taken these important steps we are focused on continued optimization of our operations and execution of solutions delivery for our customers.

We are narrowing our focus to robotic solutions for the subsea aviation and solar end markets. In addition to commercializing our AI software platform to a new software business Division named advanced technologies to drive revenue opportunities.

These four businesses are where we see the most immediate customer demand and strategic opportunity.

Further the energy and aviation industries are experiencing significant macroeconomic forces, creating opportunities in those markets.

I'd like to take a look at each of these four areas beginning with subsea, which is the end market for our C class robotics solution.

Currently there is a deficit in shipbuilding repair that threatens the global security and supply chain.

Our solution is a fully integrated C class system with a video ready remote operated vehicle, which offers one of the most advanced underwater inspection capabilities on the market today.

The next end market, we're focused on is aviation hi.

Passenger and cargo volumes, coupled with labor shortages are putting pressure on the aviation industry.

Since the aviation Robotics summit in Pittsburgh in April there has been a steady pipeline of activity, which is a validation of the potential of this market.

We are in discussions with airports and major air carriers for our solutions to labor challenges and baggage handling and exterior aircrafts.

Additional field trials are planned this year and early next year in anticipation of commercial production.

To begin in late 2024.

Turning to the solar end market as we have previously pointed out solar installations will need to increase 50% over the next seven years to meet climate targets, which would require more than 800000, new workers to meet this goal.

Robotics hold the promise of increasing worker productivity to mitigate labor pressures in this market, while simultaneously improving safety on the job.

We completed field trials with two of the largest engineering procurement companies.

The trials validated the capabilities of our solution and we're used to gain valuable input from subject matter experts to optimize the efficiency and workflow of solar panel installation.

We are proud to say, we exceeded milestone requirements in both trials.

We are collaborating with blattner company, an industry, leading provider and installer of renewable energy to focus on the development and refinement of our autonomous mobile robotics system designed to optimize workers' safety and improve the efficiency of solar panel installation and utility scale projects.

Working with Blattner, we intend to test the system through varying environmental conditions across different sites in preparation for commercial launch of the system currently estimated for late 2024.

Our fourth area of focus is our new advanced technology software Division, which will drive revenue from AI software solution.

The division's goal is to progress the development and production of our artificial intelligence and machine learning software platform for generalizable autonomy.

The AI and ml software platform will be designed to be usable across a variety of autonomous system, including factory robots and drones.

We are collaborating with industry partners and leveraging their knowledge and expertise of market specific needs to address those challenges.

Our work is bolstered by multiple multimillion dollar multiyear department of defense contracts.

Just a few weeks ago, we announced the award of an expanded contract with the Air Force Research Laboratory for continued development of AI, driven methods and techniques to control autonomous vehicles.

The methods, we are developing will harness the power of disparate sensor data to enable accurate autonomous operations and dynamic unstructured environment.

We anticipate commercial opportunities for our AI software solutions. In addition to more government funding for this type of technology in the future.

Our AI technology builds on years of work developing AI autonomy software and the beauty of our solution is that we are designing it to be hardware agnostic.

Meaning it is relevant not only across our robotic system, but also those manufactured by others.

This opens up a tremendous market opportunity with a strong recurring SaaS revenue model.

In closing I know many of you have asked if im a candidate to become the permanent CEO .

No.

I was brought in to evaluate the business and make some tough decisions to move the company forward towards commercialization of our products coming.

Coming from the aerospace industry I understand the possibilities that our solutions enable and the challenges of working in a continually evolving strategic landscape.

These past months have involved intensive data driven analysis with the team and weighing our most compelling opportunities.

And leveraging the knowledge and the foundational technology built over many years.

I have told the board that I will serve in this role until we are firmly on the right path.

I'm encouraged by the progress we've made in a short time and we will continue to focus on execution and taking our solutions to commercialization.

I'll now turn the call over to drew to report on the financials.

Thank you Laura to everyone on the line it is a pleasure to be here today speaking with you.

Please note that our results for last year include the financial performance of our re squared from the close of the transaction on April 25 2022.

Now turning to the financial results.

All comparisons I will use our year over year.

For the second quarter of 2023.

Revenue was $1 3 million compared to $3 million during the second quarter of 2022.

The lower revenue in Q2 was due to various factors, including customer budget constraints.

The impact of macroeconomic factors on potential customers.

Customers request for additional features beyond the general purpose products, we had available for sale.

With the exception of the C class system or potential customers have indicated a near term need for solutions tailored to address their specific pain points and use cases.

Also impacting Q2, one customers budget for product sale that we were expecting was pushed out into next year.

Cost of revenue decreased to $900000 in Q2, 2023 as compared to $3 1 million in Q2 2022.

Mainly due to decreased labor and material expenses charged to product development contracts.

Second quarter 2023, total operating expenses, including cost of revenues were $31 $2 million.

<unk> decreased from the second quarter 2022 operating expenses of 32.0 million.

I will now discuss the operating expenses in more detail.

In connection with the July 12 announced reduction in workforce.

We incurred charges of $5 1 million in the second quarter, including $4 $4 million due to the write down of inventory of $700000 related to the impairment of certain fixed assets.

Research and development expenses increased by $4 1 million to $11 $7 million in the second quarter.

This increase was driven primarily by increased head count from the acquisition of Ari Square.

Part of this increase was also related to increased direct materials charges.

General and administrative expenses were down $9 9 million.

$8 3 million in the second quarter.

Primarily due to decreased stock based compensation expense.

Sales and marketing expenses were $4 4 million.

An increase of $1 8 million compared to the second quarter of 2022 due to increased costs from a third party data management platform and increased promotional event expenses.

Second quarter 2023, net loss was $28 7 million.

Or a loss of $1 12 per share.

Third to a net loss of $23 1 million or a loss of <unk> 95 per share in the second quarter of the prior year.

Second quarter non-GAAP net loss was $21 9 million or non-GAAP loss of <unk> 86 per share.

Compared to a non-GAAP loss of $17 5 million or non-GAAP loss of <unk> 72 per share in 2022.

Please note on July 5th we effected a one for six reverse stock split of the company's outstanding shares common stock.

All share and per share amounts have been retroactively adjusted for all periods presented to reflect the reverse stock split.

We ended the quarter with $75 $1 million in unrestricted cash cash equivalents and marketable securities.

I am now going to turn to our financial guidance for the third quarter 2023.

We expect total revenue to range between $1 $1 million and $1 4 million.

We anticipate incurring restructuring expenses related to the reduction of head count of approximately $6 zero million.

Net which includes approximately $1 $5 million in cash severance and benefit payments.

The balance is primarily noncash items.

The restructuring is expected to reduce personnel related cash usage by approximately $14 $6 million annually beginning in 2024.

Reflecting the narrowing of our robotic solutions focus quarterly research and development expenses are expected to decrease by approximately one third in the third quarter when compared to the second quarter of 2023.

After adjusting for stock based compensation expense, we also expect the implementation of our business realignment.

And general and administrative expenses trending down on a quarterly basis until being approximately 50% of the second quarter of 2023.

First quarter of 2024.

Our refined sales strategy is expected to result in sales and marketing decreasing by approximately 50% in the third quarter of 2023 and remaining that way for the rest of the year.

We estimate cash usage will be approximately $5 $5 million per month in the third quarter.

As of June 32023, we had an unconditional purchase commitment of $2 million related to operational expenses.

We paid the full amount in July .

Looking at our balance sheet.

We are significantly reducing our cash usage to provide us the runway to continue developing our products and capitalize on anticipated demand.

We intend to manage our average monthly cash usage to approximately $3 million from 2024.

We believe we have sufficient liquidity to operate in 2025 without additional financing.

Before I close I wanted to touch upon our manufacturing services agreement with Jabil.

We continue to work with Jabil and expect to maintain our relationship with them in anticipation of future needs.

In the near term, we believe the capacity of our Salt Lake City facility is adequate to deliver the products our customers will need.

Now I'd like to turn the call over to the operator could you kindly repeat the instructions to ask a question.

Absolutely. Thank you we will now conduct a question and answer session as.

As a reminder to ask a question. Please press star one on one on your telephone and wait for your name to be announced to withdraw your question. Please press star one again.

Please stand by while we compile the Q&A roster.

Okay.

Yes.

Our first question comes from Rob Mason of Baird.

Yes, good afternoon.

Hi, Laura Adria alright.

Alright, Robert I guess.

My question is I know you retracted your calendar 'twenty three guidance.

You gave the third quarter so.

I guess my question is is there any expectation that you would ship commercialized product this year or in the fourth quarter.

So there are a couple of things there first of all we.

We do have.

Yes, right now we're focusing on the markets that we believe have the most potential for near term revenue growth of strategic opportunities.

They are showing us the greatest market traction in meat into Q customer need so.

We do have a product that's in the market now that we are offering for sale when.

We expect that that will ramp for deliveries over the second half of this year.

However, the other products, which our solution base or for specific needs, we expect to those to launch more in late 2024.

So there is going to be some sales of products here in the second half, but not at the level that we previously anticipated because we're just narrowing the focus.

And just to be clear drew what what product is that that you're referencing is in the market will ramp.

Yes, we're anticipating we'll see some C class opportunities here in the second half of the year.

Yeah.

And then a question around the.

Just the thought process and the inventory write down.

Is that a timing.

Kind of accounting timing definition.

That triggered that or are you redesigning the product such that the components that you have.

Not applicable going forward.

Yes.

I think originally.

Based on our prior customer interest and feedback we plan to offer.

I think of them as kind of a Swiss army knife products that could take on multiple jobs.

And after additional collaboration an analysis of the customers' needs.

Determined that the near term adoption is really our customers prefer the specialized solutions that require these these incremental development to provide greater value.

Our ROI for their operations the impact of that is this narrowing of our focus to.

These are there other opportunities so as a result.

Effectively we have an inventory that it's advisable under accounting literature, we should be writing off the balance sheet until we are ready to to really move.

Move products into the market. So right now we're focused on the more immediate market opportunities that are in giving our customers, especially as tools that they need versus the Swiss army knife products that we had anticipated building a lot of.

I see.

And just last question I'll hop back in the queue, but.

Around your.

The expectations for cash burn rate you mentioned the $2 million expense that was paid in July should I view that as a one time cash item in.

That's baked into your.

Your monthly.

Burn rate for the third quarter that wouldn't repeat.

Does that continue at that Thats accurate. It was included in the five five ads were charges associated with the reorganization of the origin of the company.

So it's all and everything is in that five five.

Very good and then as we go through the rest of the year, we're expecting the cash usage will ramp down even further in Q4.

And then we'll get to that $3 million in Q1, which.

Approximately where it could be up or down.

We're going to be pretty focused on maintaining and managing the business to that $3 million, depending upon what happens with the business so great opportunities present themselves.

We may have to change our direction, but right now the focus for 2020 for us to stay in a pocket, it's averaging $3 million of cash usage per month.

Understood. Thank.

Thank you.

Thank you for our next question.

Yeah.

Okay. Our next question comes from <unk> Patel of Jefferies.

Thanks for taking the question just wanted to kind of hit a little bit on the <unk>.

Existing.

Order book, if there is one.

You can kind of give us a framework for what we're what we have currently out there what we can see and actually touch I'd put out there in the market and any sort of.

Visibility that we haven't seen each of these three focused markets that we have are there orders out there are there customers that already have the product just a little bit more to get us comfortable about.

And the trajectory that we can map out here at some point yes.

Yes, Great question very fair question.

Let's just start with C class I will.

Follow up on the comment I just shared with Rob we are in final stages of negotiations with potential <unk>.

Subsea customers.

So there are very real opportunities there for us to have these settled units here in the second half of the year.

When we look at the.

The the <unk>.

Aviation space.

We have a lot of activity there we've already announced to you about what we're doing with <unk>. There's been press releases released on that.

And their work is continuing as well as additional discussions around expanding on that work with them.

So we do have these contracts that are in place.

And Laura his prepared remarks, when you get a chance to review those <unk>.

<unk> commented, how we had a.

Effectively trade show out here in Pittsburgh.

In Pittsburgh today, sorry.

And we have an enormous pipeline of discussions going on with a broad audience of both airports and airlines about the various products that we have demonstrated to them as part of that trade show.

Just off the cuff I mean, one of the interesting comment to the source.

From one of them was why didn't we know that you had this so this is a really important event for us. So aviation is a very important space and then we have other activities going on with other airlines around other technologies that we'll share with you is as those become.

A little more mature.

But there is very active conversations around are there other use cases for our products in the aviation space.

When I move over to.

Yeah.

So to the solar space.

We're really happy that we're able to announce the blattner deal and shared that with everybody a couple of weeks ago.

Yes. The bladder is just a good example, we've previously talked about how we had investments not.

Investments, but had kind of I think of it is product development contract revenue contracts that we've done with Doe previously to get this product closer to market we.

We have a number of conversations going on that should lead to contract opportunities with the other <unk> that is very very busy with us right now.

It's an interesting space because if one gets it now that they know that flatness is working on it the pipeline opened up for us, they're even more broadly because everybody else wants to have one so.

There is there is some good great activity, there, which is the reason why we selected that opportunity as well as well as the advanced stage of our technologies and products are in each of those spaces.

And AI and ml. The software platform. There are two things here that are really important for us first of all the old robot is the service model had the company investing in a platform that would allow it to deliver effectively SaaS style business, where we would be monitoring the computers and understanding what's going on with each of them while they were.

Being used by our customer now.

Now the customers are interested in buying perpetual model.

Perpetual license for the purchase of the robots.

We have been able to stand up that system and make it so that it can be used more broadly.

More of a SaaS.

<unk> license kind of model, so that we can get that up and running the impact of that is the work that is being contracted with the government, which we announced two weeks ago will be part of that platform and it will be something that will be designed so that it can be generalized.

Generalized ability available to other customers.

And it will also be designed so that it's agnostic to the computer it won't just be SAR kosta robots. So can use it there'll be other computers as well as other devices. So it could be an HOV or it could be all kinds of other HIV I'm sorry.

UAV.

And other technologies like that there will be connecting into the system. So.

The various opportunities that are presenting themselves are behind each of the decisions that were made around the four areas of focus that we're focused on right now.

And it is interesting I will share that we're very confident around the announcement of the ideal. We believe there will be other contracts theyre going to come from the government related to the work we're doing there.

And we're looking forward to sharing noticed when those opportunities are something we can share with you.

So really long answer but.

But im hoping that captured a bunch of it and certainly looking for follow ups, if theyre already no.

No that's definitely a super helpful and it's great to be able to kind of highlight again the various contracts that you have shown in various conor.

Conversations that have been happening I think it just highlights the opportunity longer term that we're kind of looking at.

The one other thing I had just on my list here, where it was.

Sure.

With the move from Pittsburgh to Salt Lake.

Any changes to the potential capacity.

Are we still looking at the idea that depending on the type of unit and whatnot there still the ability to have three to 500 units.

Being.

Being manufactured at once things kind of fully ramp here.

Yes. So we actually are very confident in the capacity that we will have out of our salt Lake City facility.

With the narrow product focus we really believe that we'll be comfortable meeting the demands of the customers. If we get to look where you happen to get a larger contract we still have a relationship with jabil.

And we can kind of scale that up as appropriate.

To meet the customers' demands if there beyond what we have in our factory so.

We do believe that we have the manufacturing capacity to cover all of the demands of customers going forward.

I appreciate that thank you.

Yes.

Alright, Thank you for your questions.

Again as a reminder to ask a question. Please press star one on your telephone and wait for your name to be announced.

We'll give it one moment.

One more moment please.

Okay.

Seeing no further questions I would now like to turn the conference back to Laura Peterson for closing remarks.

Thank you Steven.

There we go I want to reemphasize that we have taken important steps to realign our cost structure and refine our business plan and reduce our cash usage.

Confidence in our ability to execute it as it work toward commercialization and revenue realization.

Thank you for joining us and have a great evening.

Thank you very much.

Yes.

Yes.

Okay. This concludes today's conference call. Thank you for participating you may now disconnect.

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