Q3 2025 374Water Inc Earnings Call

Speaker #1: Greetings. moment. And welcome to the 374Water 3rd quarter 2025 financial results conference call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. A question and answer session will follow the formal presentation.

Speaker #1: As a reminder, this conference is being recorded. At this time, I will hand the call over to Jim Saccardi, Senior Vice President of Investor Relations at 374Water.

Speaker #1: Please go ahead, sir.

Speaker #2: Thank you, Operator. Before we begin the formal presentation, I would like to remind everyone that statements made on this call and webcast may include predictions, estimates, and other information that might be considered forward-looking.

Speaker #2: While these forward-looking statements represent our current judgment on what the future holds, they are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to different materially.

Speaker #2: Your caution not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which reflect our opinions only as of this date of the presentation, please keep in mind that we are not obligating ourselves to revise or publicly release results of any revisions to these forward-looking statements in light of new information or future events.

Speaker #2: Throughout today's discussion, we will attempt to present some important factors relating to our business. That may affect our predictions. You should also review our most recent Form 10Q and Form 10K for a more complete discussion of these factors and other risks, particularly under the heading Risk Factors.

Speaker #2: Your host today, Interim President and Chief Executive Officer and Board Director Stephen Jones, and Chief Financial Officer Russell Kline, will present the results of operations for the third quarter ended September 30, 2025.

Speaker #2: A press release detailing these events crossed the wire this afternoon at 4:01 PM Eastern Time and is available in the Investor Relations section of the company's website, 374Water.com.

Speaker #2: With that, I will now turn the call over to 374Water's Interim President and CEO and Board Director, Steve Jones.

Speaker #3: Thank you, Jim. Good afternoon, everyone. And thank you all for joining us today. We very much appreciate the support, collaboration, and constructive feedback from shareholders.

Speaker #3: As your active engagement demonstrates your commitment to 374Water's mission. Before we begin, I'd like to take a moment to introduce myself to those of you whom I have not had the opportunity to meet yet.

Speaker #3: Last month, I accepted the Board's request to serve as Interim President and Chief Executive Officer in addition to my role as a Director of the company.

Speaker #3: The Interim CEO, I'm focused on leading the 374Water team on its continued commercialization of our proprietary supercritical water oxidation technology, or Air Squo, as we like to call it.

Speaker #3: An accelerating conversion of our growing pipeline of opportunities, including the further development of our waste destruction services business. My goal is to turn our immediate opportunities into profitable deals and deliver value to you, our shareholders.

Speaker #3: I was asked to assume this role owing to my extensive experience as an operating executive with expertise in the waste and environmental services spaces.

Speaker #3: And in the development of own and operate on-site business models employed in the industrial gas and chemical sectors, which is very similar to 374Water's waste destruction services model, which you've heard us speak about in the past.

Speaker #3: Previously, I was Chief Executive Officer of Covanta Holding Corporation. That company is now owned by private equity and renamed Reworld Waste. Reworld is a world leader in developing, building, owning, and operating waste facilities and providing environmental and clean tech services.

Speaker #3: I led Covanta through a rapid growth phase focused on owning and operating waste destruction facilities and acquiring environmental services companies providing waste and wastewater services to third-party customers.

Speaker #3: Prior to that, I was with Air Products, which was an early adopter in owning and operating on-site facilities at customer locations globally, a model which will be an important part of 374Water's strategy going forward.

Speaker #3: This role with 374Water is an opportunity to step into a company that I firmly believe has significant value for Asian potential and incredible demand for its facilities and services.

Speaker #3: I appreciate the Board's confidence, and I'm excited to lead the 374Water team on this journey. With that, let's jump in. As many of you know, 374Water's an industrial technology and services company providing innovative solutions for the destruction of solid and liquid organic waste.

Speaker #3: Across the industrial, municipal, and federal markets, waste-like PFAS, the forever chemical. Our Air Squo technology is designed to efficiently destroy a broad spectrum of non-hazardous and hazardous organic waste.

Speaker #3: Producing safe dischargeable water streams, safe mineral effluent, safe net gas, and recoverable heat energy in the process has the potential to assist our customers in meeting discharge requirements, reducing or eliminating disposal costs, and mitigating other risks.

Speaker #3: Our flexible strategy includes several commercial options for our customers. First, the provision of waste destruction services. Are we sometimes like to call it WDS?

Speaker #3: And I think of this as the own and operate business model I spoke about in the industrial gas industry a few minutes ago. Second, we get involved in capital sale of equipment to our customers.

Speaker #3: And third, potential lease options. That would include the opportunity for 374Water to also provide long-term operating and maintenance services to our customers. So this is another form of recurring revenues.

Speaker #3: I want to be clear, and I have been clear with our business development team on this issue. I prefer the waste destruction services model.

Speaker #3: As it produces stable, recurring revenues and higher EBITDA margins for 374Water. We're targeting the waste treatment market, which, including the destruction of PFAS and other forever chemicals, is roughly 450 billion dollars.

Speaker #3: Most companies couldn't even imagine an addressable market of that size. And it presents a significant growth opportunity for us over the next few years.

Speaker #3: The size of the market and the urgency related to dealing with issues like PFAS destruction create significant demand for our facilities and services, and should generate a strong profitable revenue stream for the company for the foreseeable future.

Speaker #3: Moving on to our operational highlights and business updates, I'd like to discuss some of the team's many accomplishments. During the third quarter, we signed a waste destruction services collaboration agreement with Crystal Clean, a leading provider of environmental and waste management solutions.

Speaker #3: We're excited about working with Crystal Clean at their Oregon, Ohio location as we introduce our waste destruction services business at a transfer storage and disposal facility.

Speaker #3: These are a lot of times you'll hear these; they're called TSDF facilities in the industry. We expect our waste destruction services business to address growing demand across a wide array of market verticals and waste streams.

Speaker #3: And this agreement serves as a model for future collaborations to create a national network TSDF partnerships, with companies like Crystal Clean and other similar companies that work in this space.

Speaker #3: We expect that this is the first of many similar arrangements in the industrial waste space, as this is a large market segment that is underserved.

Speaker #3: In Q3, we successfully deployed our Air Squo technology to a Colorado School of Mines and Department of Defense project aimed at comparing technology solutions for the destruction of PFAS-contaminated waste.

Speaker #3: We treated PFAS impact sediment from the Peterson Space Force Base. We believe this initiative demonstrates our ability to destroy PFAS-impacted waste streams as a treatment option for DOD installations.

Speaker #3: And note, we're awaiting the final report on this project so we can provide additional technical details to the marketplace. We also successfully completed a commercial scale field demonstration at Clean Earth's Detroit facility as part of a DOD project.

Speaker #3: For six weeks, we executed PFAS destruction of multiple concentrated waste streams at a commercial TSDF site using an Air Squo 6 unit. Once again, demonstrating the effectiveness, scalability, and versatility of our technology.

Speaker #3: This project represented a major step forward in our effort to provide the DOD with commercial PFAS treatment options for a variety of scenarios and waste types.

Speaker #3: We expect this project to open up a number of additional DOD projects for us in the future. More recently, we secured an order from the City of Olathe, Kansas, for the sale and deployment of an Air Squo 6 unit and the related pre-treatment and dewatering system.

Speaker #3: Olathe will use the Air Squo process at its wastewater treatment facility and assess its potentials as sustainable alternatives to traditional sludge management practices and disposal methods.

Speaker #3: Like landfill application and landfill disposal, which are becoming more difficult to utilize for these types of customers. Olathe will deploy the system to treat various waste streams over a six-month period.

Speaker #3: After which, they will determine the potential to further scale 374Water's technology at their facility. We recently began processing an award by the state of North Carolina for waste destruction services to destroy aqueous film-forming foam, or better known as AFFF in the market, utilizing our Air Squo technology.

Speaker #3: In the first phase, and we're in this process now, we'll process 1,000 gallons of AFFF for North Carolina. And as I mentioned, we're doing that now.

Speaker #3: If selected for the second phase, we could treat up to an additional 28,000 gallons of AFFF. With millions of gallons of AFFF in the US and even more globally, if you think about Europe, needing to be eliminated or destroyed, this award is an opportunity to show the market that our technology can be the solution for AFFF liability and returns that are advantageous to the company.

Speaker #3: As you know from prior calls, we are preparing for our Air Squo 6 system deployment to the Orange County sanitation district, or OCSAN in California.

Speaker #3: And we expect to complete our factory acceptance test in the fourth quarter. We continue to be focused on late Q4 2025 or early Q1 2026 to start up this unit.

Speaker #3: We have undertaken certain system upgrades to the Air Squo 6 unit, over the last month or so, to improve system performance and ensure our successful completion of the factory acceptance test.

Speaker #3: Things like improving our waste reactor and our Air Squo unit, as well as adding a heating block to the process, all of which will lead to improved performance and throughput for the Air Squo 6 unit.

Speaker #3: OCSAN's remains committed to working together with 374Water on the evolution of Air Squo technology to address their ongoing treatment needs. Also note that during the quarter, we took several initiatives to strengthen our balance sheet and support long-term shareholder value.

Speaker #3: Most recently, we fortified our balance sheet from our at-the-market, or ATM, facility which resulted in gross proceeds of approximately $7 million extending our cash runway into the second quarter of 2026.

Speaker #3: Also note that certain officers and directors purchased shares of 374Water in the open market in the third quarter, further evidencing their positive view of the company.

Speaker #3: We spoke about hitting two very important milestones that will greatly impact revenue in 2026. The commencement of the first phase of our award by the state of North Carolina pursuant to which we will provide waste destruction services related to AFFF.

Speaker #3: And the sale of Air Squo 6 units to the city of Olathe. I believe that both of these awards provide validation to our alternative business models.

Speaker #3: Whether waste destruction services, a capital sale of equipment, or a lease of an Air Squo unit to a customer. Taken together, along with our anticipated startup at OCSAN, we now have a line of sight towards 2026 revenue that is expected to be in the six to eight million dollar range.

Speaker #3: That is a 50 to 100 percent increase over our expected 2024 revenues. And note that this is not included additional opportunities in our pipeline.

Speaker #3: That we're working on to monetize during fiscal year 2026. So I believe we're setting ourselves up for a very successful 2026. Finally, on a more personal note, I'd like to formally welcome Jim Sicardi, who is on his first 374Water earnings call.

Speaker #3: Jim is our senior vice president of investor relations. Jim has been an investor relations expert for over 20 years and has focused his entire career on driving shareholder value strategic growth and market expansion within the energy, natural resource, and industrial sectors.

Speaker #3: Jim is an expert at developing relationships with investors and will work to raise awareness of 374Water and our related market opportunities. Expect to hear more from Jim as we further advance our business plans at 374Water in 2026.

Speaker #3: Now, with that, I'll turn the call over to

Speaker #3: Russell. Thank you,

Speaker #2: Steve. As Steve mentioned, we are aggressively pursuing our three-pronged business strategy, waste destruction services, capital sale of equipment, or lease of equipment based upon customer business needs.

Speaker #2: Based on internal assumptions and modeling, we estimate our mobile Air Squo 1 unit has the potential to generate more than $2 million in annual revenue as the mobile fleet will generate higher tipping fees due to the nature of on-site waste destruction services.

Speaker #2: We will naturally increase the size of this mobile fleet as the market expands. Also based on our internal assumptions and modeling, we estimate our Air Squo 6 unit has the potential to generate three to five million in recurring annual revenues with attractive operating margins.

Speaker #2: We plan to initially utilize the Air Squo 6 units at TSDFs to provide waste destruction services. We also plan to utilize a modular solution in building these types of Air Squo units in order to both lower our capital costs and be quicker in delivering these units to our customers.

Speaker #2: Once ready, we plan to utilize Air Squo 30 units at TSDF partner facilities to dramatically increase our waste destruction capacity, decrease operating costs, and increase revenues.

Speaker #2: It's important to note the revenues I just highlighted are based on non-hazardous waste tipping fees. We expect that tipping fees associated with processing hazardous waste with our Air Squo units will be material higher and will increase returns on these assets.

Speaker #2: We are excited about the waste destruction service opportunity to drive shareholder value. For the third quarter of 2025, revenue increased to $760,000 compared to $81,000 in the prior year.

Speaker #2: Our business has been focused on the development and commercialization of our Air Squo units to fulfill ongoing projects. Revenue generated was primarily from waste destruction services.

Speaker #2: The approximate $679,000 increase is primarily due to an increase in our service revenues of approximately $643,000 from the completion of waste destruction service projects and $36,000 in equipment capital revenue.

Speaker #2: Total operating expenses increased 64 percent to $4.6 million for the three months ended September 30, 2025, compared to $2.8 million in the prior year period.

Speaker #2: The increase was primarily due to material increasing commercial activities, including deployments and projects to be delivered. We are focusing our resources on the manufacturing and operation side of our business from a cost standpoint.

Speaker #2: There

Speaker #1: In research , development and an increase of 0.8 million in general and administrative expenses . Net loss for the three months ended September 30th , 2025 was 4.3 million as compared with 2.7 million in the prior year .

Speaker #1: Cash and cash equivalents . As of September 30th , 2025 , was 0.9 million as compared to 10.7 million as of December 31st , 2020 .

Speaker #1: For as of September 30th , 2025 , working Capital was 1.9 million , compared to 4.5 million as of September 30th , 2020 .

Speaker #1: For . In September , the company entered into a 600,000 short term promissory note , which which we expect to repay in January 2026 based upon our current cash position , including the 7 million raised from the ATM facility that Steve mentioned earlier and expected billings and related collections .

Speaker #1: We we project to have adequate cash to our support business plans into Q2 2026 to deliver on the planned growth . We will require additional capital and are actively pursuing additional capital raising opportunities to fund waste destruction services and our strategic growth initiatives .

Speaker #1: The company is currently actively engaged with potential investors and possible strategic partners to fund these capital needs . Looking to the remainder of 2025 , our revenue projection is 4 million in revenue based upon year to date activity and expected project milestones for the fourth quarter .

Speaker #1: As discussed , we have completed our Diu project and our Peterson Space Force Base DoD were both recognized in Q3 . Importantly , we continue to make progress in our Orlando biosolids destruction project and our ocean Factory Acceptance test and deployment to California .

Speaker #1: In addition , as noted earlier , we have begun processing the North Carolina at our facility in Orlando . Finally , we expect to recognize a portion of the revenue related to the capital sale of equipment to Olaf later this year .

Speaker #1: Based on current anticipated and future demand and the fact that we are beginning to convert our commercial pipeline into actionable backlog , we project revenue to be in the range of 6 to 8 million in calendar 2026 , with growth in both the waste destruction services and sale capital of equipment .

Speaker #1: One final item I would like to highlight the company recently filed a proxy statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission in connection with the company's upcoming special meeting of shareholders , to on December 15th , be held 2025 .

Speaker #1: The purpose of the special meeting is to request that stockholders approve amendments to the company's Certificate of Incorporation to effect a split of our stock stock common reverse .

Speaker #1: As many of you know , in July 2025 , we filed a form 8-K highlighting for investors that the company's stock listing listed on Nasdaq , had been trading less than for $1 per share more than for 30 consecutive trading days .

Speaker #1: And therefore the company was not in compliance with the bid price requirement of the Nasdaq listing rules . The company must regain compliance by January 12th , 2026 .

Speaker #1: The company's to meet goal is the Nasdaq requirement by executing on normal business operations . But if we are not successful , the board felt it was appropriate to request shareholder approval to effect a reverse stock split at the board's discretion to to ensure that we maintain our Nasdaq listing .

Speaker #1: If the reverse stock split is approved and we maintain a trading price above $1 for at least ten consecutive trading days , then we expect to maintain our listing on Nasdaq .

Speaker #1: The Board of Directors of 374Water Inc. believe is important to remain listed as a publicly traded company on Nasdaq . Among other things , our Nasdaq listing will greatly increase the company's access to capital markets like use of our ATM , which has been important to our ability to excuse me to obtain sufficient working capital to finance our ongoing operations .

Speaker #1: A reverse split stock will also improve trading liquidity by increasing the price per share of our stock , which common enable a could broader range of institutions which may have a minimum level of price restriction to be able to add 3.74 water to their portfolios .

Speaker #1: It also allows the company to potentially pursue alternative financing financing options . As we grow our business . The board and management team remain fully confident in 374Water Inc. long term prospects and view this measure as one of several potential steps to strengthen the company and position it for future growth .

Speaker #1: I will now hand the call back to Steve for his closing comments . you Thank .

Speaker #2: Russell . I Thanks , appreciate it . I've been asked by many of you . Where I'll focus my attention in the immediate future , and I think there are two specific areas , two specific areas I'd like to drive improvement .

Speaker #2: First , I believe we need to continually the improve on throughput of our units . The ability of our air flow technology to to effectively destroy PFAS as well known now in the marketplace .

Speaker #2: However , as a company , we need to continue to drive improvement by using tools many other larger companies use , like lean Six Sigma .

Speaker #2: So that we can process more PFAS materials through units our . We're spending a great deal of time and energy improving in this area right now , and are currently making several important upgrades to our air units .

Speaker #2: As I noted previously , we've had great results with with the destruction efficiency . A lot of times it's it's non-detectable or 99.999% destroyed .

Speaker #2: And now we need to go up that continuous improvement curve as it relates to throughput , making sure that we can process increased volumes of materials , higher throughput means higher EBITDA margins .

Speaker #2: Second, we need to focus our resources. We're not a very large company. We have about 50 employees or so at this stage.

Speaker #2: And as I've said , there's a vast market for disruption of PFAS and other organic waste out there in the marketplace . So we need to focus our business development efforts on those opportunities that have the highest likelihood of success .

Speaker #2: And the greatest on return capital for our shareholders . I'll be spending my time working with the business development team , and I've started it already to focus on those opportunities where we can be most successful and get the highest returns .

Speaker #2: Recently , I had the opportunity to speak with a lot of the employees on a trip down to our Orlando facilities and was very exciting .

Speaker #2: I was really impressed with the talent and the passion of our team , and they're very dedicated to making 374Water Inc. a success .

Speaker #2: a very So I see bright future for the company . Finally , as I mentioned earlier , we anticipate 2026 revenue in that 6 to $8 million range on a combination of waste destruction services and capital sale of equipment to our customers .

Speaker #2: This is a 50 to 100% increase in revenues over our current 2025 revenue expectations . So we're growing fast , and I expect that to continue in the outlying years .

Speaker #2: So I'd like to thank everyone for joining us today . I appreciate your taking the time to listen to the 374Water Inc. story , and I'll now hand the call over to the operator to begin our question and answer session .

Speaker #2: Thanks again, Operator. Please go ahead.

Speaker #3: Thank you. So we will now be conducting a question and answer session. If you would like to ask a question, please press star.

Speaker #3: Then one on your telephone keypad . A confirmation tone will indicate your line is in the question queue . You may press star and then two .

Speaker #3: If you would like to remove your question from the queue . For those on the webcast , please submit your question via the webcast platform .

Speaker #3: Now . The first question that we have comes from Rob Brown of Lake Street Capital Markets . Please go ahead .

Speaker #4: Hi . Good afternoon . And congratulations on all the progress . Thank you . Maybe first on the on the the facilities you've got you've got the first one kind of going now how is the pipeline in that segment ?

Speaker #4: I know it's a large segment . You know what are sort of the steps to getting that pipeline going . And I assume it's one of the main , main areas that is worth focusing on .

Speaker #4: But what's the what's the pipeline there ?

Speaker #2: Yeah . So there's a lot of facilities in the US . And also there are many , many more material processing facilities . So I operated a few of the operated a lot of these when I was at Re World basically deals with Rcra .

Speaker #2: So hazardous waste material . And so we're in discussions with a number , maybe a majority . I'd say , of the TSF operators US right in the about putting up ER units on their site .

Speaker #2: And so Crystal clean was the first one . We have discussions underway with others and and I I know a lot of the operators since I operated in this space .

Speaker #2: So I've reached out to my network to see who's interested in utilizing our technology to , to destroy Cephas . There's not a lot of good options that are out there at this point in our technology .

Speaker #2: Like I said , is very efficient in destruction . And so we're that going through process now . So our business development team and been kind of writing I've recently is I've been making sure that they're following up with the various tsdf owners across the US .

Speaker #2: And seeing who wants to partner with us in this process . So ultimately , I see us as a as a being , a host customer .

Speaker #2: And again , it's a lot like the business industrial gas model . The own operate own and and operate on site business model where we're going to put one of our one of our units on their site .

Speaker #2: They'll probably have some access to the unit for their own PFAS needs . And then we'll also bring PFAS in from , let's say , the federal government Department of Defense , for example .

Speaker #2: And we'll process through through the air unit . So like I said , there's a there's a number of opportunities that are out there .

Speaker #2: And that's in the hazardous side . And the nonhazardous side as companies , again , there's , you know , there's public companies like Clean Harbors , for example .

Speaker #2: And there's there's just a companies out there that play in this space , as does Ringworld , my old company , as they start to look at how they're going to destroy non material , they can also use our air flow technology at these material processing facilities .

Speaker #2: And there are a lot of those in the US . I mean , there it's a very large market . So that's what we're going through right now .

Speaker #2: We're basically looking at the various leads . And as I said , what I really want to those opportunities that are closest and that will lead to the highest internal rate of returns .

Speaker #2: So return on capital for our shareholders .

Speaker #4: Okay . Excellent . And then I guess second question on the North Carolina contract , I know you're doing the first phase , but how is that phasing set up .

Speaker #4: And what's the timeline on sort of the second larger phase .

Speaker #2: So the first phase is a thousand tons or 1000 gallons of AF . We're in the of process putting that through the unit .

Speaker #2: Now . We started that last week . So we're two weeks into it . Once that gets processed , North Carolina and they have representatives from Unk .

Speaker #2: And I think also NC state are out who periodically at our at our facility . And and taking samples they're and doing various technical readings .

Speaker #2: They'll take that back and start to give some thought to how they get rid of the 28,000 additional gallons that they want to process.

Speaker #2: So , so that's that's how it'll play out . I'm not sure exactly what the their timing of decision making will be , but like I said , we're in the process now of destroying AF .

Speaker #2: And it's it's working well .

Speaker #4: Great . I guess last question on the on the 26th outlook . Good growth there . How's the how do you sort of mix of see the business in that in that number between the waste services sale .

Speaker #2: So why don't you that ? answer You're probably closer to to the mix in 2026 .

Speaker #1: Okay . Thanks , Steve . And Rob , thank you for joining us and for your questions for 2026 . We have a mix between our launch and expansion with waste destruction And then the sale capital that we services .

Speaker #1: recently announced for Kansas , as well as expected sale capital another for project that out for we have bid . And then , as Steven mentioned earlier , there are other opportunities that we are actively pursuing that we would to look build into 2026 as we continue to progress in those discussions .

Speaker #4: Okay .

Speaker #2: time Over , I brought this up . Sorry to jump in . I up brought this services business . So waste Destruction services business is going to provide EBITDA higher margins .

Speaker #2: And then ultimately a higher valuation for the company does require . more It capital because you own and operate the asset sale of capital equipment will bring in cash more quickly but but .

Speaker #2: And doesn't . But you it got to and the sell sale of equipment business which I run both of these types of businesses in my career at both air products also at and Covanta .

Speaker #2: Now , World Equipment you got to Business , sell equipment every year . And margins on margins aren't as high , and the valuation of equipment is not as high companies either .

Speaker #2: So ultimately , my is we vision push this company towards waste destruction services , but we will meet the customer where they sit because there are certain customers .

Speaker #2: you think If about municipalities that are want to own their going to own and in asset , those cases , I think the play is and we an want to have O&M agreement , an and operating maintenance agreement to operate the equipment for them , maintain the equipment for them , like much if you remember GE's turbine business , right , you bought the turbine , but you signed for a services agreement up .

Speaker #2: so that's And my vision on if we go down the route sales , how we get more recurring revenues with customers want to actually own the equipment versus who preferred case , which is owns and 374Water Inc. operates these air units .

Speaker #4: Okay . Great . Thank you . over I'll turn it .

Speaker #2: Thank you . Appreciate the questions .

Speaker #3: Thank you . The next question we have comes from Michael Matheson of Sidoti . Please go ahead .

Speaker #5: On the revenue you got, congratulations!

Speaker #2: Thanks , Michael . Appreciate that . We've working we've been hard . We've been working hard .

Speaker #5: So coming back to waste destruction as a service because I tend to agree with you going to be a that that's higher source of much profit for the going forward .

Speaker #5: Can you company just give us a bit little of detail Crystal on the clean deal , particularly the revenue agreements , things like that sharing ?

Speaker #2: So I am reluctant to provide commercial terms in the on earnings call . I will tell you deal , about the but I prefer not to into details because I don't want my competitors to know or what or future deals .

Speaker #2: who do If folks with to know deals what the terms and conditions are , this is my view on a on a waste destruction services project .

Speaker #2: a host We're this case customer , and in crypto clean . And host it's customer , they deserve some benefit . And take it in a lease payment .

Speaker #2: they can They can take it in a revenue or take it lower in , lower share , to they can utilize the air I've talked to .

Speaker #2: another And . I talked recently to unit has operator who multiple sites along these another so same indifferent I'm in how take their host fee , their will And they want to .

Speaker #2: that's how play out . It'll But be it'll be one of those It's a bag of want to three buckets . money . And it by by fine is .

Speaker #2: , what we need Ultimately a site where in bring our own PFAS is laden we can think mostly the trying to get rid of their government a large there .

Speaker #2: And I mentioned it during my prepared remarks , . whether it's There's US or even market the US large , , there's a large market there .

Speaker #2: So to the in the that we can bring in and process it at an a host air unit , at site is going to be , I think , very valuable to us .

Speaker #2: So so that's how those deals are going to be structured . They're very much like the industrial gas business . And I mentioned I spent a number of years at Air Products .

Speaker #2: We call these these types of deals piggyback deals , which was basically we put our site , we put our facility on a customer's site .

Speaker #2: took They some of the output from the facility , and we took some of the output from the facility . And it's the same concept here .

Speaker #2: And if you look at returns in those kinds of if it's on business , margins are much higher than sale of equipment . And the company valuations and you guys can all can run a valuation model on air products or look what it trades for on a PE basis .

Speaker #2: Those types of companies are much more highly valued in the marketplace than than a simple sale of equipment company .

Speaker #5: Thank Great . you to the . Just looking growth of 374Water Inc. going forward , you mentioned you have about 50 employees now , how many of those are salespeople ?

Speaker #5: I'm sorry .

Speaker #2: great This is question because I just asked this question and again I'm new . So I asked this question the other day , 80% of our employees fall into , I'll call it market facing organizations .

Speaker #2: 80% of the employees . And this includes both number of employees and the employees . Because cost of the I there's been think a view out there that we're somehow top heavy or our burn rate is too high , but 80% of the employees are focused on either operations , manufacturing , R&D or business development , which shows you that we are focused on delivering into the marketplace .

Speaker #2: Now , right now , I'd say on a business development standpoint , and I'd like to add a few people here . We probably have about seven business developers that are out there trying to , you know , to sell our technology .

Speaker #2: I think we could probably use a few more to penetrate the market faster . Is my personal view .

Speaker #5: . Very Great . Thank you helpful . question My last just looks to your 2026 guidance . It looks to me that in Q3 , year to date , you've hit breakeven gross margin essentially , when I did some back of the envelope arithmetic , it looked like the midpoint of the revenue guidance .

Speaker #5: About 7 million . pretty close to hitting operating income breakeven for 2026 . Does that feel feasible , or would we be better to look to 2027 ?

Speaker #2: So a lot depends on the pace of the rollout of the technology and the business plan . You know , know , and I've mentioned this , it's a very as you large amenable market .

Speaker #2: So there's a lot of possible deals . And we're gaining traction . And that's why we spent a lot of time on this call already talking about the several types of business models and deals that we were able to to , to land already , the pace of these contractual arrangements and the types of deals we undertake will have a big impact on that timing .

Speaker #2: You're asking about . Also , as we load up our manufacturing and operations system , and I just mentioned 80% of the people work in that market facing group .

Speaker #2: So as we sell more units or we do more waste destruction services that fixed cost there will get loaded up higher and that will all positively affect the overall timing of when we go cash flow positive .

Speaker #2: So I think it's I think it's it's tough to say right now . I think from where I sit today , my hope would would be that we become cash flow positive in the frame 2027 time .

Speaker #2: But it's a tough question to answer at this juncture . But you can see how I'm thinking about it . I got to load up .

Speaker #2: We got to load up our system with more and more deals . And that's why I've said I'm focusing the business development team on deals that are closer in and have a higher return on capital for our shareholders .

Speaker #5: That's all Great . Thank you . very helpful . So I'll just wish you good luck for next quarter . Thanks again .

Speaker #2: Thanks . I appreciate that .

Speaker #3: Thank you . There are no further questions on the conference call . We will now turn to the webcast questions .

Speaker #6: Our first question asks , can you provide us some additional color on the third quarter performance by 374Water Inc. .

Speaker #2: Sure . Yeah . So sales are accelerating very nicely . I think . I picked think you that up in my prepared remarks year over year or I should say quarter over quarter .

Speaker #2: So quarter three , 2024 versus quarter three , 2025 . Revenues were up significantly . But admittedly off a low base . With that in mind , we're confident in meeting this 2025 revenue target of approximately $4 million .

Speaker #2: And that's I think that's a really good performance by the team . You saw the introduced 2026 guidance , which is funny because we had a discussion because normally I wouldn't , you know , other other times I've done this other public companies that I've run , I wouldn't give guidance this early , but I thought being a new CEO and from what I've seen so far , it probably makes sense to give the guidance at this time of the year .

Speaker #2: So the guidance of 6 to 8 million in revenues for 2026 , that range , I think that range is very good . It's 50 to 50 to 100% higher than our expected 2025 revenues .

Speaker #2: So I think this shows investors that we believe that we believe our technology is taking hold . And the customer customers are valuing our offering .

Speaker #2: So we're getting really good traction in the marketplace. I won't go through what I did in the prepared remarks, which was these various deals.

Speaker #2: I think I was already clear that , you know , my preference would be to have more of a service business than a sale of equipment business , for obvious reasons , because the returns are higher and and you'll see me pushing in that direction as we as we move forward .

Speaker #2: I just and I just I just think that's a more valuable we'll get a higher multiple in the marketplace with a service based deal than a sale of equipment based deal .

Speaker #2: But all very promising . I think . And very promising sign to investors that that things are moving in the right direction . We also had another recent deal that we won .

Speaker #2: I'm going to be a little coy , like I was last time I spoke previously to some folks about this . We're going to have a press release coming out , so I don't want to say about that , a lot but we have another another deal that we that we were awarded over the weekend .

Speaker #2: And we'll be , you announcing that in the in the near term . So again , I've been pleased with what I've seen so far as we take what is a very large pipeline of opportunities and start to turn that into into revenues , and then ultimately EBITDA .

Speaker #6: Our second webcast question asks , you've been interim CEO for a little over a month . Do you have any additional observations other than what you've spoken to previously or on this call ?

Speaker #2: Sure . I think first off , we have a first class team of employees , and I mentioned I think they're really dedicated in making 374Water Inc. a success .

Speaker #2: They're focused on ensuring our technology is effective in the destruction of organic like PFAS . And we've had amazing , extraordinary good , extraordinarily good destructive results so far .

Speaker #2: Also note , because I think there's some confusion in this area , and I mentioned this a little bit already , is that we're trying to focus most of our resources on that market facing part of the organization .

Speaker #2: I And mentioned that a little bit already . We're also focused on continuous improvement . I mentioned Lean Six Sigma . I'm a green belt my air from products days .

Speaker #2: And that's I think that's a tool to be able to drive additional throughput through our air units . And one of the things that we've been doing over the last couple of weeks is making some changes to our reactor reactors in order to drive more throughput through those reactors .

Speaker #2: So we made some changes to our reactor . We've added a heating block in one case in order to to be able to increase the throughput through those units .

Speaker #2: More throughput . As I said earlier , means more EBITDA . And so that's a , you know , a key observation I've had so far that we have to do we have to do better in that area .

Speaker #2: So I think there the main , you know , the main I , points that you know , that I'd like to bring up , I will say that in the in around pricing , this is a new market .

Speaker #2: And so we're undertaking a pricing study . We're Now . just getting ready to kick that off so that we can develop an economic model .

Speaker #2: And we've started to put the economic model together that allows us to toggle or alter a number of factors related to value , like pricing , so that we can get the highest internal rate of return on our so , in projects .

Speaker #2: And short , you know , I want to focus on those projects that are bringing the greatest value to our shareholders . And and at the same time , as I said , focusing on continuous improvement , particularly around making sure that our units , the throughput in our units continues to increase time goes as on .

Speaker #6: And our last webcast question asks , what is your view of the FAS destruction market ?

Speaker #2: it's Well , a it's a massive market . As we've talked about the waste destruction market alone is $450 billion . And most companies would be jealous of that kind of amenable market .

Speaker #2: And FAS is part of that market . And then second , there are verticals within market , and that there's business models solutions or different verticals .

Speaker #2: So if you think about industrial wastewater , players like Crystal clean or Clean Harbors or Veolia or Re world , which is my prior firm , and dozens players of other in this space , they could all be customers of 374Water Inc. .

Speaker #2: They collect liquid waste from their customers . That's what I did when I was at Re World , and we needed a vehicle to disrupt or destroy the organics like PFAS .

Speaker #2: So that's one vertical and it's a big vertical . But then there's also another massive vertical , which is the municipal market customers .

Speaker #2: We've been actively involved with already , like the Orlando Water reclamation and OC sand or the new project for wastewater . The wastewater treatment plant in Olathe , Kansas .

Speaker #2: And you can look at our recent press release around that . These customers have biosolids and sludges that contain PFAS , and they need to deal with the issue .

Speaker #2: Their previous was putting stuff solution on the land . And there's a lot of legislation now coming out that prevents that from happening .

Speaker #2: And so we're a we have a solution for them . And we're talking to many of the many the of municipalities in that vertical .

Speaker #2: And then finally , the federal , state and local governments all have large stockpiles of AF . And they cannot use those use that material anymore for firefighting .

Speaker #2: And it's got to be destroyed . And so there's a large market here . And I mentioned Europe probably also even Asia . We haven't even explored Asia yet .

Speaker #2: That have similar PFAS issues that need to be addressed . And there aren't many folks out there like us that have a technology that has such effective destruction and can be used to deal with these three different verticals .

Speaker #2: And so one of the things I'm doing with our business development team and so somebody asked this question earlier , is , is we're getting a lot more organized around those three verticals .

Speaker #2: And the pricing may differ differ in those verticals . And that's why I'm going through a pricing exercise now to figure out what's the right pricing in each of those verticals .

Speaker #2: And what is our competitive landscape look like . And again , driving so that we get the highest returns that we can on our airflow technology so that we drive up our multiple for our customers .

Speaker #2: Excuse me , multiple for our investors . Sorry .

Speaker #3: Thank you . At this stage , there are no further questions . I would now like to turn the call over to Mr. Jones for closing remarks .

Speaker #3: Please go ahead , sir .

Speaker #2: Thank you . Operator I would like to once again thank each of you for joining our conference call today . We look forward to continuing to update you on our ongoing progress and growth .

Speaker #2: If we are unable to answer any of your questions , please reach out to Jim Ziccardi or our IR firm . RMS Group .

Speaker #2: Who would be more than happy to assist . This concludes our third quarter 2025 update call . Thank you for your participation .

Speaker #3: Thank you . So , ladies and gentlemen , that then concludes today's conference . Thank you for joining us . You may now disconnect your lines .