Q2 2025 Redwire Corp Earnings Call
Speaker #4: Greetings and welcome to the Redwire Corporation second quarter 2025 earnings call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. A question and answer session will follow the formal presentation.
Speaker #4: If anyone should require operator assistance, please press star zero on your telephone keypad. As a reminder, this conference is being recorded. It is now my pleasure to introduce your host, Alex Kurtolo, Senior Director of Investor Relations.
Speaker #4: Thank you. You may begin.
Speaker #5: Good morning and thank you, Shamali. Welcome to Redwire's second quarter 2025 earnings call. We hope that you have seen our earnings release, which we issued yesterday afternoon.
Speaker #5: It has also been posted in the Investor Relations section of our website at rdw.com. Let me remind everyone that during the call, Redwire Management may make forward-looking statements that reflect our beliefs, expectations, intentions, or predictions of the future.
Speaker #5: Our forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that are described in more detail on slide three. Additionally, to the extent we discuss non-GAAP measures during the call, please see slide four, our earnings release, or the Investor Presentation on our website for the calculation of these measures and their reconciliation to US GAAP measures.
Speaker #5: I am Alex Kurtolo, Redwire's Senior Director of Investor Relations. Joining me on today's call are Peter Cannito, Redwire's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, and Jonathan Baliff, Redwire's Chief Financial Officer.
Speaker #5: With that, I would ike to turn the call over to Pete. Pete?
Speaker #6: Thank you, Alex. During today's call, I will outline notable items during the second quarter of 2025. Jonathan will then present the financial highlights the same period, and discuss our 2025 outlook.
Speaker #6: Finally, I will close the call by discussing our creation a new entity, SpaceMD, to advance the commercialization of our pillbox space farming strategy. After which, will open the call for Q&A.
Speaker #6: Please turn to slide seven. On our last earnings call, I introduced our 2025 growth strategy, which is centered around five key principles. Providing picks and shovels, which means delivering on our strong foundation of proven products with demonstrated flight heritage that formed the building blocks of space missions for our ustomers.
Speaker #6: Delivering multi-domain platforms, which means executing our platform strategy by delivering highly differentiated space and airborne vehicles for critical missions including multi-domain missions. Exploring the moon, Mars, and beyond.
Speaker #6: Which means capitalizing on our decades of experience in providing systems for space exploration and delivering on ambitious missions to the lunar surface to Mars and beyond.
Speaker #6: Unlocking breakthrough technologies, which means continuing to pursue breakthrough technologies that could unlock new markets with game-changing potential. And finally, executing a creative M&A, which means building on our proven track record of effectively creating enterprise value by acquiring technologically differentiated companies at a creative value.
Speaker #6: A key competitive advantage that enables Redwire to rapidly scale as a public platform. Over the next few slides, I will discuss a key win for each growth area to demonstrate how we are executing against them.
Speaker #6: Please turn to slide eight. Starting with providing picks and shovels. During the quarter, Redwire successfully completed the first deployment test for one of our rollout solar array wings for the lunar gateway's power and propulsion element.
Speaker #6: These next-generation gateway roses will generate an unprecedented 60 kilowatts of electricity. Making these the most powerful roses ever built. In the coming months, the pair wings will undergo additional testing as we prepare to deliver them to Maxar in the fourth quarter 2025.
Speaker #6: We are proud to be delivering our well-proven roses to support this key capability. Successful execution on this critical capability continues to underscore our foundational position in advanced power generation.
Speaker #6: Please turn to slide nine. Turning next to delivering multi-domain platforms. During the quarter, we closed our acquisition of uncrewed aerial system or UAS manufacturer, Edge Autonomy, and we are already seeing significant positive conversion of their pipeline.
Speaker #6: During the second quarter, our stalker platform was added to defense innovative innovation units UAS Bluelist, which contains technology vetted and approved by the Department of Defense for universal use across government agencies.
Speaker #6: This selection streamlines our ability to deliver combat-proven commercially developed UAS technology at scale to meet the evolving mission needs of the US government. Today, I would like to give you an update on a critical US Army program called the Long Range Reconnaissance Program, or LRR.
Speaker #6: I'll start by providing a high-level description. LRR is a US Army program of record to provide maneuver battalions with a UAS designed to support reconnaissance, surveillance, and target acquisition efforts.
Speaker #6: For LRR, systems will have aircraft weight of less than 55 pounds, range of 40 to 60 kilometers, and endurance of 5 to 10 hours.
Speaker #6: Making our stalker platform well-suited to this specific set of quirements. For fiscal year 2026, the DoD's budget estimate for Army aircraft procurement published this last June included approximately 325 million dollars in funding for the LRR program.
Speaker #6: We believe Redwire Edge Autonomy is well-positioned to be a performer on this program. Please turn to slide 10. As such, we're pleased to announce the award to Redwire Edge Autonomy of a prototype phase agreement by the US Army to develop and deliver stalker uncrewed aerial systems for the LRR program.
Speaker #6: Under the terms of the contract, we will deliver the stalker UASs, which will be evaluated by the Army, during hands-on flight operations in coming months.
Speaker #6: This is a strong signal that the US Army recognizes the stalker system as a potential future platform for their UAS architecture. We are proud to support this critical program and are committed to meeting the Army's evolving mission needs.
Speaker #6: Please turn to slide 11. Moving next to exploring the moon, Mars, and beyond. In early June, Redwire announced that our advanced manufacturing technology MASON passed critical design review, or CDR, with NASA participation.
Speaker #6: MASON is an advanced tool suite designed to operate on the moon and Mars and will enable the construction of berms, landing pads, and roads for future lunar and Martian habitats.
Speaker #6: This technology can reduce operational risks and protect assets from damage caused by regolith, the material on the surface of the moon, as lunar surface activity continues to increase.
Speaker #6: This is a critical milestone that brings MASON one step closer to launch in the future and having completed the CDR, engineers at Redwire will begin to focus on fabricating a prototype and conducting functional testing of MASON.
Speaker #6: Please turn to slide 12. Now, let's turn to unlocking breakthrough technologies. During the second quarter, Redwire was selected by NASA to facilitate a space microalgae biotechnology experiment developed by the Indian Space Research Organization, the International Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, and the National Institute of Plant Genome Research in New Delhi.
Speaker #6: For this research mission, Redwire will manage mission integration, scientific fulfillment, and on-orbit operations. This is but the latest example Redwire's reputation as a leader when it comes to microgravity research, not only in US, but globally.
Speaker #6: Please turn to slide 13. Finally, when it comes to executing a creative M&A, our acquisition of Edge Autonomy was overwhelmingly approved by Redwire shareholders and closed on June 13th, 2025.
Speaker #6: With Edge, Redwire is well-positioned to transform the future of multi-domain operations and provide decisive advantages to US and allied warfighters. Integration is well underway, and our goal is to achieve commercial operational and financial integration objectives within 12 months.
Speaker #6: Please turn to slide 14. Next, I would ike to discuss the impact of the US in international budgeting environment in the context of the industry we operate in.
Speaker #6: As we have previously discussed, delays in the US government budgeting process impacted Redwire during the first half of 2025, and in some cases, these delays have pushed out awards previously scheduled for the second half of 2025 into the beginning of 2026.
Speaker #6: Despite these delays, however, we have started to see positive trends from both the US and our allies that will present significant growth potential moving forward.
Speaker #6: Starting in the United States, in the big, beautiful bill, the US government is funding key programs Redwire could address, including Golden Dome with funding of approximately $24 billion and NASA Gateway with funding of approximately $2.6 billion.
Speaker #6: Further, we see both the July 2025 Unleash US Military Drone Dominance Memo and recently proposed Ukraine Aid as positive indicators for our airborne platforms as we move into the back half of 2025 and towards 2026.
Speaker #6: Turning to the international environment, during a summit in The Hague that took place this past June, NATO allies committed to invest 5% of gross domestic product annually on core defense requirements and defense and security-related spending by 2035.
Speaker #6: Given our long-standing existing operations in Europe, we are considered local in multiple countries, and are therefore significantly advantaged in our ability to participate in European government programs.
Speaker #6: Also, in June, Canada announced a plan to increase and accelerate investments in defense, with a cash increase of more than $9 billion anticipated in fiscal year 2025 to 2026.
Speaker #6: These developments are positive indicators for continued investment in the national security space and defense budgets both in the US and internationally, as we move into the second half of the year and beyond, and Redwire is well-positioned to take advantage of these key trends.
Speaker #6: Please turn to slide 15. Turning to our contract awards and backlogs, our contract awards during the second quarter of 2025 were $90.6 million with a book-to-bill ratio of 1.47 times and backlog of $329.5 million as of June 30th, 2025.
Speaker #6: Both in improvement on a sequential basis and inclusive of the backlog from the acquisition of Edge Autonomy. As a reminder, we often see lumpy contract awards from quarter to quarter.
Speaker #6: However, we continue see a strong and growing pipeline with an estimated $11 billion of identified opportunities across our space and airborne solutions, including approximately $2.5 billion in proposals submitted year to date as of June 30th, 2025, inclusive of the year to date bids submitted by Edge Autonomy.
Speaker #6: We continue our efforts to increase the average size of the individual opportunities we are pursuing, and as a result, we continue to have a pipeline bids that could result in a substantial increase in backlog if we land these larger opportunities.
Speaker #6: Due to the success of our transformational investments building the Redwire platform, we are now positioned to continuously pursue larger opportunities in 2025 and beyond.
Speaker #6: Please turn to slide 16. With that, I'd now like to turn the call over to Jonathan Baliff, Redwire's Chief Financial Officer, to discuss the financial results for the second quarter of 2025.
Speaker #6: Jonathan?
Speaker #7: Thank you, Pete. Before turning to slide 17, I would like to highlight the photo on this page, which is of our airborne flight operations team in Riga, Latvia.
Speaker #7: And they're preparing for the launch of a Penguin C VTOL UAS. With a vertical takeoff and landing and range of approximately 180 kilometers, this aircraft can be rapidly deployed even in harsh environments like the one shown here.
Speaker #7: Please turn to slide 17. Let's review the results for the second quarter of 2025 starting with revenue. Redwire's recorded revenue of $61.8 million was up sequentially, 2025 is a transition year for our customers, and we've ed to see movement of revenue to the right on existing contracts and delay in awards across our customer classes especially in the US during the first half of 2025.
Speaker #7: Turning to profitability, during the quarter we saw a sequential decrease in our adjusted EBITDA from a negative 2.3 million in the first quarter 2025 to a negative 27.4 million in the second quarter of 2025.
Speaker #7: This quarter's justed EBITDA was primarily impacted by net unfavorable EAC of 25.2 million. And this related primarily to a single program in company's RF system offerings.
Speaker #7: As this program saw an increase in estimated costs based on the technical complexity of the work to be performed to meet customer specifications. Turning to net loss, we saw a sequential decrease to negative 97.0 million and this includes the EAC's I just spoke about as well as non-cash expenses, transaction costs, and non-routine activity that we will discuss in additional detail on the next slide.
Speaker #7: Looking at our cash and total liquidity, we ended the quarter with a record level of total liquidity of $113.6 million. Which was comprised of 76.5 million of cash, 35 million in undrawn revolver capacity, and 2.1 million of restricted cash.
Speaker #7: This is a 27.4% improvement over the 89.2 million in total liquidity at the end of the first quarter of 2025. And 103.4% year-over-year improvement in total liquidity.
Speaker #7: We had an expected increase in year-over-year and sequential use of operating and free cash ow in the second quarter. But this is related to transaction and other investments, which again, I'll go over on the next slide.
Speaker #7: And we expect these levels of cash use to decrease in the second half of 2025. Please turn to slide 18. The transformational aspects of the Edge onomy transaction as well as our organic opportunities for growth provide significant benefits including an improved balance sheet and capitalization.
Speaker #7: So let's talk about some of these. The completion of the transaction had the issuance of approximately $260 million of equity. And that repaid $128 million of debt and the repurchase of $61.5 million of the preferred securities.
Speaker #7: Significantly reducing the fixed charges for the company. And improved our capitalization ratios while also increasing shareholders' equity from a negative 68.1 million in the first quarter of 2025 to a positive $97.6 million in the second quarter of 2025.
Speaker #7: However, there have been second quarter impacts associated with these changes which improve the balance sheet. And therefore, we wanted to provide additional detail of the drivers of these changes.
Speaker #7: Specifically on our net loss for the second quarter 2025 as compared to the second quarter of 2024. As you can see on this slide, in addition to the EACs already discussed, Redwire's Q2 2025 net loss and cash flow was impacted by significant transaction-related and non-routine activity.
Speaker #7: And the net income was also impacted by some non-cash charges. Key among these was first, the $29.6 million increase in equity-based compensation, primarily from the acquisition of Edge Autonomy.
Speaker #7: Second, a $28 million increase in interest expense from the repayment of debt to finance the Edge Autonomy transaction. And third, a $16.4 million increase in transaction expenses between the second quarter and 2024 between 2024 and '25 which again primarily relates to the creative acquisition of Edge Autonomy.
Speaker #7: We do not expect this magnitude of non-cash transaction-related and non-routine activity during the remainder of 2025. Please turn to slide 19 for a brief discussion on the outlook for the rest of 2025.
Speaker #7: Our acquisition of Edge Autonomy closed on June 13th, 2025. So we are now for the first time providing full year Redwire 2025 guidance including the Edge Autonomy from the closed date again June 13th, 2025 through December 31st, 2025.
Speaker #7: And this will be a range of $380,000,000 to $445,000,000, which represents a 30.5% compound annual growth rate from fiscal year '23 to fiscal year '25 revenue at midpoint.
Speaker #7: In line with the Redwire post-acquisition range provided today, let's discuss the impacts to the combined forecast range which we had provided before. As part of the announcement, our combination with Edge Autonomy, we provided a combined financial forecast for fiscal year 2025 as if the transaction had closed on December 31st, 2024.
Speaker #7: We're now revising our full year combined revenue forecast to be in the range of $470,000,000 to $530,000,000 which still represents a 43.2% compound annual growth rate from 2023 to '25 at midpoint.
Speaker #7: This represents less than a 13% reduction to our previously provided combined forecast at the midpoint. Please turn to slide 20 and I'll discuss the drivers of this revised revenue as well as the impact they had on adjusted EBITDA for 2025.
Speaker #7: First, as we mentioned earlier, Redwire's first half of 2025 was impacted by the uncertain timing government contracting. Including delays in the US government budget process related to a transition in administrations.
Speaker #7: We have seen some of our projected awards slip to the right and in some cases out of the year. For both our space and airborne platforms, products, and solutions.
Speaker #7: Second, as discussed, our second quarter 2025 saw a net unfavorable impact from EAC changes of 25.2 million. Primarily related to a single program in our RF system offering which is a development phase program.
Speaker #7: And I want to spend a moment to double-click on this topic. As part of our moving up the value chain growth strategy, Redwire manages the risk associated with non-recurring engineering or NRE on development programs.
Speaker #7: Generally, these are development programs that can anchor Redwire into the production tail for validated requirements from our customers. An example these pursuits that we've en this dynamic in play include moving from providing just antennas to providing full RF payloads.
Speaker #7: And also breaking into emerging markets such as low voltage distribution units. Once the NRE is complete, Redwire generally both owns the intellectual property and is specced in on our production programs with high switching costs for our customers thus resulting in a much lower risk of losses moving forward.
Speaker #7: Furthermore, subsequent orders for these products tend to have much more predictable gross margins. At the same time, we recognize the need to manage the risk associated with these programs and are highly focused on minimizing EAC changes that impact our results in the future.
Speaker #7: Ultimately, we see such programs as having a short-term negative impact on profitability similar to IRAD. While enabling future growth and profitability. So given these drivers for 2025 and at this time we are withdrawing our previously provided adjusted EBITDA combined forecast for the full year 2025.
Speaker #7: Despite the revisions to our look in 2025, we believe that we are well-positioned to capitalize on high-growth trends in the future. It's important also to note that our acquisition of Edge Autonomy lowers the proportion of our business exposed to EAC volatility.
Speaker #7: Our contracted backlog as of June 30th, 2025 as Pete talked now includes almost $90 million in remaining contract value from contracts which recognize revenue at point in time instead of percent of completion revenue recognition.
Speaker #7: These budgetary movements we have begun to see combined with the positioning and diversification of our space and now airborne product offerings provide us momentum heading towards 2026.
Speaker #7: Please turn to slide 21 and although now turn the call over back to Pete. Pete?
Speaker #6: Thank you, Jonathan. For those of you who have been following Redwire, you know that unlocking venture optionality has been a strategic opportunity. On Monday of this week, we announced our next major milestone in these endeavors to drive shareholder value.
Speaker #6: The creation of SpaceMD as a separate entity within Redwire to focus on commercializing drug development in space by partnering with pharmaceutical companies, scientists, and research institutions to develop a novel pipeline of innovative drugs and therapeutics.
Speaker #6: Please turn to slide 22. With decades of experience and 28 pillboxes flown to date, we continue to establish ourselves as a true leader in microgravity operations particularly when it comes to pharmaceutical research.
Speaker #6: Utilizing Redwire's proven pillbox technology, the team will develop a pipeline new and modified drugs uniquely manufactured in microgravity. Accelerating solutions for disease treatment and generating new revenue streams from sale or licensing.
Speaker #6: SpaceMD represents the evolution of our venture optionality strategy moving from experimentation to full commercialization with significant upstream revenue potential unlocking value for our shareholders.
Speaker #6: Please turn to slide 23. I want to emphasize the technology and processes underlying SpaceMD are proven and we are entering the commercialization phase. During the second quarter, we signed an agreement with Aspero Biomedicines, a new commercial partner.
Speaker #6: To conduct space-based pharma research and analysis to advance the development of a cutting-edge cancer treatment, Rubexanib, a small molecule ADAR1 inhibitor. Please turn to slide 24.
Speaker #6: In addition, I am excited to announce that Redwire SpaceMD has executed a trailblazing commercial royalty agreement for space drug research with Acceso Libera Pharma.
Speaker #6: Under the terms of this agreement, Redwire SpaceMD expects to receive royalties from the commercial sales of resulting pharmaceutical products. This agreement signals a revolutionary paradigm shift for commercial utilization of microgravity.
Speaker #6: SpaceMD is translating the benefits of microgravity research into product value for our end customers with the goal of transforming the future of therapeutics while creating value for our shareholders.
Speaker #6: Through SpaceMD, Redwire has created a new business model for the monetization of critical IP generated by future pillbox missions. Please turn to slide 25.
Speaker #6: In closing, I would like to acknowledge that Q2 was a disappointing quarter for adjusted EBITDA compared to our expectations. We had one project as Jonathan mentioned in particular that encountered challenges which led to an adverse EAC change with an outsized impact on revenue and profitability for the quarter.
Speaker #6: Space is hard. The team has taken numerous steps to address the challenges to get the program back on track. We are investing significant focus on operational execution.
Speaker #6: Despite this setback, there were also numerous achievements that we discussed that we believe position Redwire for long-term success. Space is a long-term investment. The path to success is not linear.
Speaker #6: Our strategic horizon is measured in years, not months. There are strengths in the diversity of our business and the fundamental foundations of our strategy remain positive.
Speaker #6: With that, I want to thank the entire and integrated Redwire team to include our new employees, Rameja Autonomy, for their contribution to our results during the second quarter of 2025.
Speaker #6: A truly global effort. We will now open the floor for questions.
Speaker #8: Thank you. We will now be conducting a question and answer session. If you would like to ask a question, please press star one on your telephone keypad.
Speaker #8: A confirmation tone will indicate your line is in the estioning queue. You may press star two to remove ourself from the queue. For participants using speaker equipment, it may be necessary to pick up their handset before pressing the star keys.
Speaker #8: We also ask those who are in the queue to limit themselves to only one question and one follow-up to allow others a chance to ask questions.
Speaker #8: One moment, please, while we pull for questions. Our first question comes from the line of Colin Canfield with Cantor Fitzgerald. Please proceed with your question.
Speaker #9: Hey, thank you the estion. as we think about the work that needs to get done here, how do you think about the balance of work that needs to be done between accounting controls and the complexity of the engineering solution?
Speaker #9: And then maybe if you could talk about kind of what are the key dynamics that you need to see before being able to reinstate your adjusted BITDA guidance?
Speaker #9: Thank ou.
Speaker #10: Yeah, that's a good question. And, it's a good first question because obviously, it's, a big part of, this quarter was, associated with, the accounting of, our, acquisition.
Speaker #10: that has a direct impact of course on our reported numbers, as well as the accounting of our programs. And, I think that's why Jonathan took the time to try to articulate, just how our developmental programs work in terms of EACs, because it's, it's possible many of our shoulders, shareholders don't stand, what EAC estimate at completion, really means and how you account for a program, a development program, that's already happening, in midstream.
Speaker #10: And, the fact of the ter is, is when you have a, large number of development programs, like you have in the space industry, EACs introduce a level volatility during the development phase because what you're entially doing is you are bidding a development program that in many cases has never been done before at a, on a firm fixed price, contract.
Speaker #10: And, and that's how our ustomers buy, is, so the results sometimes is as you move through, the program, you can encounter, technical challenges, that affect, what ou are projecting will be, the ultimate, cost to the program at any given time based on the percentage of completion of the program.
Speaker #10: And this is, this is how EACs are calculated. There's an estimate at completion that occurs. because of this, we endeavor to follow, obviously, the, rules and general principles of accounting for these, correctly.
Speaker #10: but that it can add some level of predictability when you have an unpredictability, when you have a large portfolio of these first-of-a-kind technologies in their development phase.
Speaker #10: as Jonathan tried to articulate, is, that in many cases these development programs are moving towards production contracts. so, despite the volatility EACs, we remain optimistic overall on these programs because it's moving towards a production phase that tends to have, where the technological risk has now been, significantly burned down and you move into just generating, units, on a, on, in a, in more of a production model.
Speaker #10: But, as we started, to look at the, impacts of EACs, especially, late in the second quarter, and, some of the, changes that, rapidly emerged, associated with those, we decided that it would be prudent, to do a complete portfolio review to understand, this EAC dynamic that we have now seen for two quarters in a row.
Speaker #10: before, we continue to give, EBITDA guidance. And so, I'm going to turn it over to Jonathan to expound on that. but the idea is, when you combine some of that variability that we're eing on these development programs that are in many cases technological firsts, with, the uncertainty in the environment associated with things like CRs and, and, and delays in budgets, and not having clear visibility into which programs are going to get funded, the idea there not being a, a current NASA administrative full-time NASA appointed administrator in place, that's why, we decided to, remove our EBITDA guidance for the remainder of the year.
Speaker #10: As some of that uncertainty, regardless of the EAC, starts to go away, specifically in the budgetary environment, that, course, gives us a higher confidence to do predictions in the future as well.
Speaker #10: Jonathan, anything you want to add?
Speaker #7: No, I want to be very clear that you asked how did the team think about our accounting controls. Our accounting controls have improved significantly.
Speaker #7: On top of that, the, issues associated with this one product line or product offering the RF was part of a third quarter review, that was completed, just recently.
Speaker #7: We're being conservative. We're taking the EAC in that program in our second quarter, queue and disclosure. Because those controls have significantly improved and, and I believe that the team is, is excellent.
Speaker #7: As far as the EBITDA and other things that impact that, you know, Pete has just mentioned it. The only thing I would add to what Pete has said, and just to repeat, the acquisition of Edge Autonomy brings down the amount of contracts and revenue pretty significantly.
Speaker #7: That's exposed to these fixed price contracts, which again, we have shown in the past to be both profitable and also free cash flow positive as we move forward and scale the business.
Speaker #10: Got it. Got it. And then maybe if ou could just talk about the due diligence process that you conducted as part the Edge Autonomy acquisition as well as the investor due diligence of that acquisition during your recent raise.
Speaker #10: With regards to the free cash flow profitability, so you discussed free cash flow, right? Is it still fair, just considering kind of that due diligence of both parties, to expect free cash flow to be positive next year?
Speaker #7: So first of all, you ow, it's a, it's a, a company that has, unique technologies and has been, both growing and also achieving, higher levels of gross margin.
Speaker #7: As they are in a more mature production phase, with these, technologies. And again, the, announcement of the LRR prototype contract is, is proof point of that.
Speaker #7: It is a company that has been able to achieve free cash flow positive and we expect that to happen in the future, especially as we scale the business.
Speaker #7: we'll in the future give more details about that, but that business is, is providing the financial results that we expected in due diligence.
Speaker #10: Got it. Appreciate the color.
Speaker #8: Thank you. Our next estion comes from the line of Greg Conrad with Jeffries. Please proceed with your question.
Speaker #11: Good morning.
Speaker #10: Hey, Greg.
Speaker #11: Maybe just to go back to the EACs. I mean, sometimes when we hear the word fixed price development, you know, that there's a negative connotation.
Speaker #11: You know, when you ink about retiring that risk, I mean, has there been a shift in just overall mix? I mean, when ou think about retiring that, does the portion the business that's fixed price development programs go down relative to production?
Speaker #11: Just trying to get a sense of if some this is just tied to changes in the mix of development versus production programs. Well, so no, I don't think it's tied to the changes in the mix.
Speaker #11: Actually, going forward, the mix part of, what we believe is one of the financial synergies of, Edge Autonomy, is the diversification of, the kind of contracts we perform on.
Speaker #11: And Jonathan, hit that, development percent complete, programs versus, production point in time, which, Edge Autonomy brings predominantly, production point in time. so our mix going forward will, will actually, be better.
Speaker #11: essentially, we believe that this is, just a function where the space industry is right now. These, these contracts are let firm fixed price. If you want to compete on them, you have to bid.
Speaker #11: a firm fixed price job. In many cases, when you look at, opportunity that comes up, you're trying to determine, you're comparing it, especially when ou're trying to break into new markets with a technology that's never been done before.
Speaker #11: to just purely developing the entire thing on IRAD. for contrast, I, I'll 'll give you an example. If you were, if a customer had a requirement to do something and, they were willing , pay a firm fixed price for it, we could essentially build the entire thing, on IRAD, expense it, and then once we know exactly how much it would cost, we could, we could, we could, we could set that price, for the customer.
Speaker #11: Assuming that the price is lower, assuming they want to wait that long, and assuming that the price is lower than what other people would bid, which usually isn't the case.
Speaker #11: What happens usually instead, in the space industry, and again, I think this is just where the industry is right now, with a lot of these first-of-a-kind emerging tech programs, is you bid the project with the intent to be profitable. However, because it's a development project, you try to estimate that variability and include things like mass ratio (MR) and other mass aspects to manage your risk.
Speaker #11: But sometimes, because you don't see many cost-plus fixed fee projects anymore, but because they're firm fixed price, you can encounter a technological hurdle that, that, that the team didn't anticipate because it's a first-of-its-kind type of development that can, impact your profitability on the program.
Speaker #11: Our perspective is that this latter approach is better than just spending IRAD outright. In the vast majority of our contracts, we retain the same level of IP through the contract as if we had done it entirely with our own money on IRAD.
Speaker #11: And, we feel that sometimes the impacts that you occur with these riskier development projects in the aggregate is less than the amount of total IRAD that you would have to spend to do more of a, develop on, on your own money first and then sell, as a unit, price later on.
Speaker #11: Does that, does that answer your estion?
Speaker #12: That's helpful. and, and then maybe just to, to go back to the, the blue list for Edge Autonomy. Obviously, a, a lot of excitement around UAS and, and drones.
Speaker #12: I mean, what does that really mean for Edge Autonomy? How does that change? You know, conversations with customers and any read-through in the, the impact of the international opportunity set with the addition on that list?
Speaker #11: Yeah, I think getting included on the blue list is kind of table stakes now for, competing in, US for US government contracts in, in the, in the US, UAS market.
Speaker #11: so, although we usually win and, and we have, programs of record with the Marine Corps in particular, and other, allies, at scale, that, saw the advantages of, our UAS platforms regardless, and the differentiation regardless of whether we were on a, a blue list or not.
Speaker #11: This, I think, gives us additional credibility and makes it easier for the customer to check a box and say that this is a legitimate platform for a federal agency, not only in the DOD but across all federal agencies to acquire.
Speaker #11: So the, the blue list and DIU has taken on, the initial vetting process and that, you ow, our presumption is, is that federal agencies go to that list first, when they're considering who they're going to, include in future procurements.
Speaker #12: Cool. And, and then maybe just to, to sneak one last one in on SpaceMD. I mean, what changes with that business going forward as, as a new entity?
Speaker #12: You know, what was the structure required to, to capture royalties and maybe how are you thinking about that opportunity going forward, you know, as that gets separated out?
Speaker #11: Yeah, no, it's a great question. And quite frankly, much of the strategic this, came from, questions on earnings calls. from you all as well as investor questions and questions from our own board about what does this strategic pillar that I talk about in 2024 called unlocking venture optionality really mean?
Speaker #11: And, to be explicit it, it was how do you thinking around unlock that, venture, potential, and take it from being optionality to an actual value-creating part of the business?
Speaker #11: And, so as we started contemplating, that and we've had previous questions on calls about, the business model and whether it , there was opportunity for generating royalties, we were working very hard on putting that together.
Speaker #11: the Acceso Libero agreement, gave a proof point, that this was in fact a viable business model. And there are pharmaceutical companies out there, that see the value of it that they would be, willing to sign an agreement of this type.
Speaker #11: so once we had the proof point associated with the strategy, we looked at, some of the ways that, competitors, were positioning themselves, companies like Varda and, and the associated valuation and, and, and, shareholder, accretion, that were generated by those businesses.
Speaker #11: And we thought to urselves, well, perhaps, by making it very distinct, we can, unlock the venture optionality by putting significant, focus and getting the right people with the right story of focused on going out to the pharma industry to create the partnerships, as part of this, separate branding.
Speaker #11: Because in some cases, when you approach a pharma company as Redwire, they see you as a space infrastructure company, less than as a development company.
Um, uh, uh, the whole, uh, EAC. Um, dynamic in our forecasting. And making sure that, uh, we have, uh, uh, the best, um, processes in place to ensure that, um, uh, we capture any variability as early as possible.
Okay. And I appreciate that clarification. I understand these are you know, first of their kind projects which um, you know, are fixed fees. So this is a new new kind of world for this. Um, and then separately, um, you know, congrats on, on the wind for the uh, the stalker. I'm curious, you know, as you've been down selected or the Prototype has been off. Uh, awarded are you the only 1 providing a prototype or there are multiple and um, you know just to remind us the competitive advantage of stalker that may have helped you get an edge on this program. I think it's a Battery tech but you can clarify that
Yeah, that's correct. Um, we uh, do not know, uh, who has been awarded, um, prototype contracts. Uh, so, um, we just don't know. Um, the competitive advantage of, uh, Edge is, as you said, uh, the um, uh, range, uh, and, uh, duration of flight that we can achieve with our, uh, battery intellectual property, uh, that gives us best-in-class.
uh, uh, duration and range and um, um
duration, uh, for our, our group category in the in the uas group 2 category,
Okay, all right, great. Thanks, Pete. Thanks, John.
Yeah, I'd probably add to that, too. That, um, the combat proven operational performance is uh, a key part of it, too. Uh, I think sometimes over people Overlook that the Marine Corps and, uh, Special Forces have already, uh, been using, uh, stocks are pretty extensively. So, um,
As well.
I'm sure they did. Great. Thanks, guys.
Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Brian kinsinger with Alliance Global Partners. Please proceed with your question.
And Brian, are you? Yeah, Brian Brian.
Sorry about that. I was on mute. I apologize. Go ahead, Brian. Because of my question, no problem. As it relates to the contract with the large number of EACs.
It's still ongoing, and if so, how should we think about the margin profile going forward on that? If you've already exceeded the cost, will they all be EAC's? Will it now that you've taken the EAC start fresh and have normal gross margins? Just want to understand the impact in the second half of the year, if it's still ongoing.
So so Brian, you know, you know when when we talk about taking this large EAC, you know we have been very conservative as part of this and in in any type of EAC um you have an ability over time to both again continue to get cash flow continue to get margin for this particular contract and and and without getting into too much uh detail contract by contract. We generally want to be very conservative when we take it. So that over time, as we perform, both cash flow comes in.
Obviously, um, you know, at at a, at a, at a, at a, at a better margin than what we've already taken, and that's kind of the history that's why as part of, um, you know, most of our ECS, we then work, um, as the project and, and the program is going to be ongoing to move forward.
Um, as it relates to the llr lrr program that 325 million of initial funding is that for 1 year, for fiscal 26. Or is that your mark, and it will be 325 million for multiple years.
Uh, it's the 2026 year, governmental budget line.
Okay.
And as I understand it, they budget on a year-by-year basis for the procurement to be spent in that year.
Yeah. And how long is the evaluation period? Do you think of the prototype?
I don't, I don't have any. Yeah, yeah, look historically, and all of these prototype phases. It, it doesn't go out very long, right? You're these are meant to then, you know, move into an operational phase. That's that's the way it's always I think I think we're thinking about it as if you look at the administration and and the Department of Defense position on us drone dominance, I don't think they're being given a lot of time the
The sentiment that we understand is that this is a major priority for this Administration, and they want to see uh uh uas uh dominance in the, in the near term.
Okay, thank you.
That's how we interpreted the memo. I encourage anybody who uh, is out there. Uh, who is interested in um, the uas market go and read that memo and and just you know, for all the investors out there we plan on obviously coming out after this um earnings announcement with more information uh about our uas business which we're really excited about tremendous growth wedge. Um as part of the business that some of it, we've talked about now that the combined companies are there. We we plan on giving more information about this um, you know, in the future pretty exciting.
Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Griffin boss with B Riley Securities. Please proceed with your question.
Hi, good morning. Thanks for taking my question. So, um, is there is there anything more? You could provide today as to what edges and results were for the full second quarter? Um, and and what it's it's proportionate of, uh, backlog is, um, given the you, you said you included that, uh, in the backlog as well.
6-month period for June 30th both 2025 and June 30th. 2024, as you'll see when the 10 Q is filed, you can calculate the Q2 revenue for Edge, which was approximately 58 million. And so, you'll be able to do that as part of, um, when the queue comes out and then we'll be able to talk about that. Um, you know, over the next number of months as we, uh, as we disclose more information about this exciting and accretive acquisition
Got it, great. Thanks, Jonathan, for that. Um, and then, yeah, next for me, um, and I apologize if this was covered earlier on, but regarding LRR, um, do you have any idea how many companies could potentially be down-selected on that program? Um, and also, given that this is a program of record, how soon could we perhaps expect to see any potential award there?
Uh, we do not know. Uh,
How many?
We see uh us being having a purchase by the way. This wasn't just an invite uh to prototype. They're actually procuring.
Uh, uh, the, uh, the aircraft, um, has, uh, positioned us well. Um, but, uh, whether it's a winner-take-all or, or, uh,
Um, a couple Awards. Uh, we we don't have insight into the Army's.
plan, their
What was the second part of your question?
Uh, it was, it was if, if you had any, um, potential expectation, for when we could see an award given its a program of Records. So, um, shouldn't be affected by the the crr. Yeah, we, we don't know. Uh, um, so, uh, but we do believe that, um, the dod has gotten very aggressive, uh, about um, um,
Making, uh, you know, drone dominance a priority. Uh, so we're optimistic, uh, that it's not going to linger for long. I I I think maybe the most simplistic
The way I can answer this is that, uh, government fiscal years, uh, start on October 1st. So, when we talk about it being in the budget for 2026, we don't mean after January. We mean, uh, in a couple of months and a half here, or whatever it is, will be when the, uh, the budget.
For 2026, we will be active. Uh, but um,
Uh, obviously there's been a lot of uh, uncertainty around uh the timing of government programs, uh, associated with the budgeting process as we articulated. So
When will they actually get to executing the contracts out of that October?
Uh, 2026 budget start. Uh, we're not, we're not in trying to predict
Sure. Understood makes sense. Thanks for taking my questions. Appreciate it.
Of course.
Thank you.
The line of Scott buck with HC, Wayne Wright, please proceed with your question.
Hi, good morning, guys. Thanks for the time. Uh, just one from me, uh, with the closing of the edge.
Can you provide us with a little bit of color on what the information share looks like across Legacy? Red wire and and Edge today. And maybe a bit of a road map on on integration uh, through the remainder of the the year. That would be great. Thank you.
Yeah, well I'll take the fir the second half first and then uh, Jonathan can take the first half in terms of the road map for integration. Obviously, the number 1 that thing that we start uh from an integration perspective, is the financial integration uh for uh uh reporting. Uh, so that is obviously very well underway and has gone extremely well uh and and and has been uh our initial
Focus, um, as we continue to progress, I would say the next, uh, big, uh, thing is, um, looking at, uh, aligning strategic road maps and the allocation of, uh, uh, investment. Uh, and, um, looking for those combined BD opportunities, um, where a multi-domain, uh, provides a highly strategic, uh, differentiator, uh, for us and that, of course, is also well underway. Um, and then, um, we have a very robust, um, integration framework, as you can imagine. We've done this. This is our 11th, uh, acquisition. Uh, so, uh, we're following our Playbook and, uh, um, I, I think I articulated in the script, um, look to have it completed in about 12 months.
I mean Scott I'll just say from a financial information standpoint um and consistent with previous, you know, uh you know, specially the large acquisition uh that we did 2 and a half years ago, um the financial Community you'll see and has already seen um the information on edge autonomy, as part of our uh, proxy that we filed about 2 months ago. And so you're able to see that information as part of our 10 cues and our 10ks. You'll also be able to see perform information similar to what I just spoke about in answering a previous question in which you'll see, uh, full Q2, you'll see, uh, that comparison to 2024. And then you'll see the same thing, you know, for a subsequent quarters, and the full year. So, you know, we, we do expect you to be able to understand that business. It is a higher margin business on a gross basis at this current state because they're mature into production. Um, but ex just use that as a guide in what we've already shown and again, it's a it's a very accretive transaction.
And again, operating, um, the way that we, um, we saw already with nice growth, high margins.
Perfect. I appreciate it, guys. That's all I have. Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you. And our last question comes from the line of Austin Weller with Canaccord Genuity. Please proceed with your question.
Hi, good morning, Pete and Jonathan. My first question is: how do you view NASA's new directive on future contract awards for the commercial LEO destinations program, and how do you expect that may impact your revenues versus the restored funding from Congress for the ISS?
Uh, well, I'll take the latter part first. Um, the restored funding for the ISS is obviously good for us. Uh, we do a lot of work on the International Space Station that leads to more, uh, shots on goal with Pillbox, uh, and, uh, our other, uh, microgravity innovations. Um, so we're excited about that. And we're excited about the recognition that, um, uh, having a, uh, presence in, uh, low Earth orbit, uh, is, uh, really important, uh, to not only the U.S., uh, but our allies as well. And, uh, some of the variability that we've talked about in terms of uncertainty and the timing of things is, uh, uh, to put a finer point on it, is, uh, ISSA, which is a very, uh, big customer of ours, looking to see what direction NASA is going to go in, uh, with some of the programs like the ISS, uh, as well as, um, uh, the longer-term programs associated with Artemis.
Uh, like Gateway, uh, but I think we're starting to see through the budgetary process, uh, that programs, um, are going to be healthy, uh, here going forward. Um,
In terms of, uh, clld. Uh, I think it's good that we're seeing additional Clarity there. Uh, I would point to, as we've discussed previously. Um, red wires is positioned to be what we colloquially refer to as the orbital Outfitter, uh, for, um, government and commercial space stations. Uh, so as uh, uh, these space stations come online. Uh, and the investment goes into building them out. Uh, whether it's funded by NASA, or funded by uh, individual, uh, companies, uh, we're clearly an important, uh, subsystem provider for that since we have the proven rollout, solar array capabilities on the International Space Station now. And we're, of course uh uh uh well it's it's been uh
Uh, through a number of press releases uh, with our associations with vast, uh, and others. It's been well established that uh, we're positioned to be providing, uh, onboard capability. Like our pillbox and other microgravity, uh, capabilities, um, for for, for anyone who's successfully, uh, executes their plan.
Okay. And just to follow up, uh presumably you view, the funding opportunity in fiscal year. 26, is more favorable than the CR this year. Do you expect any golden dome contract awards that you're bidding on to be issued more in the first half? Or the second half of 26? And are you bidding as a a prime contractor, a subcontractor of both?
so,
I can't discuss the details of our bidding strategy on golden dome. Other 10 than to say we are actively bidding into golden dome in a variety of ways. Based on the early industry conferences that we have been invited to uh
Today. Uh,
Uh so uh we're inactive uh participant in the golden dome uh acquisition uh in terms of timeline for golden dome. Again we don't uh part of I think 1 of the major things of
Uh, the uncertainty uh, in, uh, the second half of 2025 is, uh, there isn't a lot of insight right now as to, uh, when these programs, uh, are going to be awarded. Uh, but um,
General good line. Uh, who is leading the Golden Dome effort? Uh, has, uh, you know, they only have 3 years, uh, that they've outlined to accomplish their goals. So I believe they will, uh, move out, um, quickly. Uh, but, um, again, the when, when that actual, it's a material, if you look at the fact that sitting in this chair.
Uh, last year, if you had asked me what the, uh, number one National Security Space Program, uh, opportunity would be, I would have said the SDA, uh, tranches, uh, coming out of the Space Development Agency. Um, there has been a lot of, um.
Uncertainty around, uh, that and and it seems to be kind of an on again off again, uh thing, uh, that's going on out there.
Uh, how that?
uh, those funds and the funding and the architecture, and all that kind of stuff transitions into,
Uh, a new uh, yet to be defined. Golden dome architecture does does does uh introduce a a uh an element of uncertainty uh but all I can say similar to uh lrr is that
Uh we are very focused that these are the uh Department of defense's priorities. Uh so we're not
Um, fortunately a business that is uh, even though there's uncertainty around it, we're not we're not a business that's spoken on, on deprioritized Trends. Uh, we have a lot to offer uh, to these prioritized initiatives.
Great. Thank you for taking my questions.
Thank you. We have reached the end of the question and answer session and I would like to turn the floor back to Jonathan Baylor for a closing remarks.
Thank you for your questions, before we conclude today is Q&A, and as we've done the last several quarters, we'd like to ask a select question drawn from our retail, investor Community. Today's question comes from Reddit, red wire owns a new domain. RDW calm. Are you moving away from Red Runner? Space.com Pete?
Yeah, no, it's, uh, I'm always amazed by the, uh, attention to detail from the retail investor. They really do an incredible job noticing some of these, uh,
uh moves, uh and um and and I think it's an insightful question, uh, because
We are moving forward as rdw.com. Of course, we're still red wire but red wire, uh, has both red wire space as well as Edge autonomy. Uh, and um, perhaps symbolically the move to RDW cam really just underscores that.
A red wire is no longer just a pure play Space company. We are a space and defense tech company. And
Uh, there's a lot of reasons why that is highly strategic, but I think in the context of the discussion we've had today. Um, the thing I'd like to to highlight most is um red wire has always had this position of
Being Diversified across what we call things that are happening. Today, that are generating revenue and profit today, uh, as well as, um, things that are happening in the Bold future. And, um, it's a bit of a hybrid, uh, because there are some companies who, uh, are more towards completely towards the Venture side of things, uh, they don't, uh, generate much near-term.
Revenue.
The um, similarities between defense Tech and space and we recognize that defense Tech uh in many cases as a much more mature uh Market than the emerging space industry is and uh therefore um expanding the uh, the vision.
Uh, to include both high-tech things in space, as well as high-tech things. Uh,
Uh like uas is um allows us to continue that tradition of uh trying to have that um portfolio effect via our Diversified strategy of things that are being procured now, uh, and that have really strong, uh, demand, uh, in the immediate future.
Uh, with things that uh have a, a much longer uh tail and in my uh, closing remarks at the end, I I talked about that space is a long-term.
investment and uh, it has to be
Uh, viewed that way, uh, in terms of, uh, how, uh, we certainly, I should say view it that way. Uh, in terms of how things are going to play out and, um, but the pivot to RDW cam, uh, underscores that, uh, we also see a lot of value in having a strong base in the defect defense Tech area that enables us to be patient, uh, to see how
Uh, some of these, uh, programs like Space MD and others, uh, play out over the long term. So, uh,
I appreciate that question. And again, uh, our retail investors have a Keen Eye for that kind of thing. And I think that uh, question in particular, uh, was insightful because it was a great way for me to use a uh a a symbolic change uh, to underscore a much broader strategic pivot.
so with that, uh,
Thank you all for the questions and uh as always it's great to engage with the retail investor Community as well as always you and uh with that we appreciate everybody taking the time to listen today and go red wire.
Thank you. And this concludes today's conference and you may disconnect your line. At this time, we thank you for your participation.