Full Year 2025 Sequans Communications S A Earnings Call

February 10, 2026

Operator: Welcome to the Fourth Quarter and Full-Year Sequans Earnings Conference Call for 2025. My name is Shannon, and I will be your operator for today's call. After the speaker's presentation, there will be a question-and-answer session. To ask a question during the session, you will need to press star 11 on your telephone. You will then hear an automated message advising your hand is raised. To withdraw your question, please press star 11 again. Please note that this conference is being recorded. I will now turn the call over to David Hanover, Investor Relations. David, you may begin.

Speaker #1: full year SEQUANS Earnings Conference 2025. My name is Shannon, and I will be your operator for today's call. After the speaker's Welcome to the fourth quarter and session.

Speaker #1: To ask a question during the session, you will need to press star 11 on your phone. There will be a question-and-answer call again after the presentation. Please note that this conference is being recorded.

Speaker #1: To ask a question during the session, you will need to press star 11 on your phone to indicate your hand is raised. There will be a question-and-answer call again. Please note that this conference is being recorded.

Speaker #1: To withdraw your may

Speaker #1: Hanover, Investor Relations. David, your question, please. Press star 11 to begin.

David Hanover: Thank you, operator. Thank you to everyone participating in today's call. Joining me on the call from Sequans Communications are Georges Karam, CEO and Chairman, and Deborah Choate, CFO. Before turning the call over to George, I would like to remind our participants of the following important information on behalf of Sequans. First, Sequans issued an earnings press release this morning, and you'll find a copy of the release on the company's website at www.sequans.com under the newsroom section. Second, this conference call contains projections and other forward-looking statements regarding future events or our future financial performance and other potential financing sources.

Full Year 2025 Sequans Communications S A Earnings Call

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Sequans Communications

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Full Year 2025 Sequans Communications S A Earnings Call

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Tuesday, February 10th, 2026 at 1:00 PM

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David Hanover: All statements other than present and historical facts and conditions contained in this release, including any statements regarding our business strategy, cost optimization plans, strategic options, the ability to enter into new strategic agreements, expectations for sales, our ability to convert our pipeline of revenue, and our objectives for future operations, are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 as amended. These statements are only predictions and reflect our current beliefs and expectations with respect to future events, and are based on assumptions and subject to risks and uncertainties and subject to change at any time. We operate in a very competitive and rapidly changing environment. New risks emerge from time to time.

Georges Karam: Thank you, David. Good morning, everyone. I'd like to start with a brief update on our capital allocation framework and how we are balancing execution of our IoT semiconductor business with the management of our digital asset treasury, all in support of long-term shareholder value creation. First and foremost, we remain focused on executing our IoT strategy and advancing our 5G product roadmap in a disciplined manner. Our objective is to unlock the full strategic value of the IoT business for our shareholders, and that remains our top operational priority. At the same time, we continue to manage our Bitcoin digital asset treasury thoughtfully with the goal of extracting the full value underlying our Bitcoin holdings and our treasury structure.

Georges Karam: Since launching our Bitcoin strategy, we have been deliberate in how we assess market conditions and the tools available to us, always with a focus on actions we believe can create purchase value in an accretive way. In the current environment where many digital asset treasury peers are trading below an MNAV of 1, we believe the most value-accretive lever available to us has been repurchasing ADS when our share price implies a significant discount to our net cash and net digital asset value. During Q4, we repurchased approximately 9.7% of the company's outstanding ADSs. In addition, our board has approved a new ADS repurchase program authorizing the buyback of up to an additional 10% of the outstanding ADSs. Overall, we are taking a balanced and disciplined approach to capital management.

Georges Karam: This includes right-sizing our operating expenses, continuing to invest in our most important R&D program, which is our 5G eRedCap chip, and allocating capital to the treasury only when it's clearly accretive while maintaining flexibility to evaluate our options as market conditions evolve. To provide some context around our balance sheet, with Bitcoin holdings end of Q4 and Bitcoin currently at approximately $70,000, our Bitcoin NAV is about $150 million. After adding our end-of-Q4 cash balance and netting out convertible debt, our net cash equivalent position exceeds $68 million. Importantly, beyond our Bitcoin and cash assets, the company's valuation should also reflect the significant value represented by our IoT revenue pipeline and our 5G and RF transceiver IP portfolio. We intend to remain patient and optimistic, staying disciplined and focused on actions that we believe can drive long-term per-share value. Turning now to the operational side of the business.

Georges Karam: Our IoT semiconductor business continues to build momentum. In the fourth quarter, it generated $7 million in revenue, which was in line with our prior expectations. Revenue in the quarter was predominantly product-based, with more than 94% coming from product sales and roughly 6% from services, reflecting strong incremental growth in the product shipments. For the full year 2025, total revenue was approximately $27.2 million. This figure includes a meaningful amount of non-recurring Qualcomm-related revenue resulting from the deal we closed with them in 2024. On an adjusted basis, the underlying business was closer to $20 million, and our fourth quarter run rate clearly demonstrates the ramp we have been driving throughout the year. Looking ahead to 2026, our internal plan currently targets approximately $40 million to $45 million of total global revenue, supported by improving visibility and a significant order backlog.

Georges Karam: Our outlook is further supported by the strength of our design win pipeline and the increasing percentage of projects now in production. We are exiting 2025 with the revenue funnel exceeding $550 million in potential three-year product revenue, including over $300 million from design win projects. Of those design wins, 44% have already reached production and are generating revenue, up from 38% end of Q3. Assuming no changes to customer forecasts, this represents approximately $132 million of potential three-year revenue from production stage projects alone. During the fourth quarter, we added nine new customer projects to our design win pipeline, and three existing projects transitioned into production. We expect this momentum to continue through 2026, with the target of having over 50% of our current design win projects in production by the end of June.

Georges Karam: Our product pipeline continues to be driven primarily by our 4G Cat M and Cat 1bis technologies, as well as our RF transceiver product, which supports a wide range of software-defined radio applications. We are also seeing early engagements around 5G eRedCap, which we view as the successor to 4G in IoT deployments. Smart metering, telematics, and asset tracking remain our strongest verticals, followed by security, eHealth and medical, and other industrial applications. From a product family perspective, Cat M remains a meaningful growth driver in 2026, led by asset tracking and smart metering deployments, including expanded program now entering production with customers such as Honeywell and Itron. Cat 1bis is positioned for a breakout year in 2026, supported by multiple customer RAMs, telematics, and security. In RF transceivers, we have committed backlog in place, with additional demand expected in the second half of the year.

Georges Karam: We also expect to begin seeing meaningful revenue from our 5G licensee partner in China. Demand for 5G eRedCap continues to strengthen. Mobile network operators in the US are accelerating the transition from 4G to 5G to reform spectrum, and IoT applications remain the final bottleneck in completing that transition. This is why having a 5G eRedCap solution as early as possible is critical. We continue to make strong progress on this program and expect to receive our first test chips this quarter, with customer sampling beginning in mid-2027. Our IP licensing and services business is now fully integrated into our go-to-market strategy and represents attractive high-margin upside in 2026. We are currently engaged in discussions with multiple potential partners, with individual opportunities ranging from approximately $2 million to $10 million or more, depending on scope. Beyond revenue, these opportunities expand our reach into new markets and regions.

Georges Karam: On the supply chain side, we continue to operate in a dynamic environment. While not indicative of demand, these factors can influence shipment timing and costs quarter to quarter. We are addressing substrate constraints by adding suppliers to reduce single-source exposure and improve resiliency. We are also seeing memory pricing and capacity pressures, which affect both our product and our customers' devices. We are working to pass through these cost increases where appropriate while maintaining strong customer relationships. Also, we are coordinating closely with customers on ordering and delivery schedules. At this stage, we expect little to no impact on our business in the first half of 2026 and limited impact in the second half. Looking ahead, we are focused on reducing cash burn over the course of the year, with the objective of reaching a break-even run rate by Q4.

Georges Karam: We are taking a disciplined approach to operating expenses, right-sizing where appropriate, while protecting the innovation that underpins our differentiated position. Working capital dynamics may create short-term cash flow variability, but these effects are tied directly to long-term growth. Overall, the fourth quarter underscores our progress in strengthening the core IoT business, improving financial discipline, and maintaining flexibility in our capital strategy as we position the company for sustained growth in 2026 and beyond. For Q1 2026, we currently expect revenue to be around $6.5 million, reflecting normal seasonality, with the risk that approximately $1 million of revenue could shift into Q2 due to manufacturing and shipment timing planned for the end of Q1. Based on our backlog and design win pipeline, we expect revenue to ramp through the remainder of the year and continue to believe we can approach cash flow break-even in Q4.

Georges Karam: We continue to evaluate strategic alternatives that could add profitability and unlock additional value across both the IoT business and our treasury strategy. The board is actively reviewing options, and we remain committed to unlocking shareholder value without rushing decisions, particularly at a time when the company is in its strongest position to date. I will now turn the call over to Deborah to review our fourth quarter and full year 2025 financial results in greater detail. Deborah? Thank you, George, and hello, everyone. I'll begin by reviewing our fourth quarter financial results and then discuss our Bitcoin holdings. During the fourth quarter, we experienced several significant events that impacted our statements.

Georges Karam: These included a substantial increase in product revenues, a reduction in operating expenses, the early redemption of half of the convertible debt issued in July 2025, the launch of our ADS buyback program, and the sale of Bitcoin to finance these two non-operating initiatives. In Q4 2025, revenues increased 72.6% sequentially, driven primarily by growth in product revenue. Gross margin for the quarter was 37.7% and was impacted by provisions for slow-moving inventory. Excluding these provisions, gross margin would have been approximately 43% compared to 42.4% in the prior quarter. R&D and SG&A expenses declined to a combined total of $11.5 million in Q4, down from $13.6 million in the third quarter. We maintain our goal of continuing to reduce operating expenses over the course of 2026 in order to support our break-even goals for operating results and cash burn.

Deborah Choate: These included a substantial increase in product revenues, a reduction in operating expenses, the early redemption of half of the convertible debt issued in July 2025, the launch of our ADS buyback program, and the sale of Bitcoin to finance these two non-operating initiatives. In Q4 2025, revenues increased 72.6% sequentially, driven primarily by growth in product revenue. Gross margin for the quarter was 37.7% and was impacted by provisions for slow-moving inventory. Excluding these provisions, gross margin would have been approximately 43% compared to 42.4% in the prior quarter. R&D and SG&A expenses declined to a combined total of $11.5 million in Q4, down from $13.6 million in the third quarter. We maintain our goal of continuing to reduce operating expenses over the course of 2026 in order to support our break-even goals for operating results and cash burn.

Georges Karam: We recorded a non-cash impairment charge of $56.9 million related to the mark-to-market value of our Bitcoin holdings in the fourth quarter, compared to an $8.2 million charge in Q3. We also recorded an $8.4 million net realized loss on the sale of Bitcoin. This sale funded the redemption of half of the convertible debt and the repurchase of 9.7% of our ADS. The July issuance of convertible debt and warrants resulted in the recognition of an embedded derivative, which is remeasured at each reporting period. Changes in its value affect our P&L but are entirely non-cash. Similarly, while the convertible debt carries a 0% coupon in the first year, IFRS accounting requires us to recognize significant non-cash interest expense. At the end of October, we redeemed half of the outstanding convertible debt ahead of its normal July 2028 maturity.

Deborah Choate: We recorded a non-cash impairment charge of $56.9 million related to the mark-to-market value of our Bitcoin holdings in the fourth quarter, compared to an $8.2 million charge in Q3. We also recorded an $8.4 million net realized loss on the sale of Bitcoin. This sale funded the redemption of half of the convertible debt and the repurchase of 9.7% of our ADS. The July issuance of convertible debt and warrants resulted in the recognition of an embedded derivative, which is remeasured at each reporting period. Changes in its value affect our P&L but are entirely non-cash. Similarly, while the convertible debt carries a 0% coupon in the first year, IFRS accounting requires us to recognize significant non-cash interest expense. At the end of October, we redeemed half of the outstanding convertible debt ahead of its normal July 2028 maturity.

Georges Karam: This resulted in a $29.1 million loss on early redemption of debt that was primarily non-cash. Reflecting these factors, we reported an IFRS net loss of $87.1 million in Q4, compared with an IFRS net profit of $900,000 in the prior quarter. On a non-IFRS basis, excluding significant non-cash items, we reported a non-IFRS net loss of $18.5 million, or $1.19 per ADS, compared with a non-IFRS net loss of $11.3 million, or $0.81 per ADS in Q3. The realized loss on sale of Bitcoin of $8.4 million is included in the non-IFRS net loss, so we would have been just over $10 million in non-IFRS net loss without this element. Normalized operating cash burn in Q4, including primary working capital movements, inventory, and trade payables and receivables, was approximately $7.7 million.

Deborah Choate: This resulted in a $29.1 million loss on early redemption of debt that was primarily non-cash. Reflecting these factors, we reported an IFRS net loss of $87.1 million in Q4, compared with an IFRS net profit of $900,000 in the prior quarter. On a non-IFRS basis, excluding significant non-cash items, we reported a non-IFRS net loss of $18.5 million, or $1.19 per ADS, compared with a non-IFRS net loss of $11.3 million, or $0.81 per ADS in Q3. The realized loss on sale of Bitcoin of $8.4 million is included in the non-IFRS net loss, so we would have been just over $10 million in non-IFRS net loss without this element. Normalized operating cash burn in Q4, including primary working capital movements, inventory, and trade payables and receivables, was approximately $7.7 million.

Georges Karam: After completing Bitcoin purchases totaling $3.4 million early in the quarter, we later sold Bitcoin to fund $101 million of debt redemption and a $9.4 million ADS buyback. Sorry, $9.4 million ADS buyback. At year-end 2025, we held 2,139 Bitcoin with a market value of $187.1 million. Of this, 1,617 Bitcoin valued then at $141.5 million were pledged as collateral for the remaining $94.5 million of convertible debt due in July 2028. The remaining 522 Bitcoin valued at year-end at $45.6 million are unencumbered. And with that, I'll turn it back over to George. As we close, I want to reiterate that our primary focus remains on executing the IoT business. The fourth quarter reflected continued momentum, with revenue predominantly driven by product shipments.

Georges Karam: We are encouraged by the depth and quality of our design win pipeline, with more than 44% of projects now in mass production and additional ramps expected throughout the year. With solid demand across CAT-M, Cat 1bis, RF transceivers, and early engagement around 5G eRedCap, we believe the IoT business is positioned to continue scaling while our cost discipline supports a clear path toward cash flow break-even by the end of 2026. At the same time, we have taken a disciplined and value-driven approach to capital allocation. During Q4, we took actions to repurchase shares where we believed our valuation did not reflect underlying asset value, and we continue to have board authorization in place to pursue additional repurchases as appropriate. These actions reflect our focus on unlocking value on a per-share basis while maintaining flexibility to evaluate additional capital allocation options as market condition evolves.

Georges Karam: With that, let's now begin with the Q&A session. Operator, if you don't mind. Thank you. As a reminder, to ask a question, please press star 11 on your telephone and wait for your name to be announced. To withdraw your question, please press star 11 again. Our first question comes from the line of Scott Searle with Roth. Your line is now open. Hey, good morning. Good afternoon. Thanks for taking the questions. And thanks for all the detail on the call related to some of the product development activity ongoing. Hey, George, just to quickly dive in on the guidance, I'm wondering how you're thinking about licensing in terms of that $40 to $45 million figure. And I'm wondering if you could reiterate again what you expect the percentage of design wins to be in production at that point in time. I missed that number.

Georges Karam: It looks like, just at quick first cut, $15 to 16 million exiting the year is kind of what gets you to cash flow break-even. And then I had a couple of follow-ups. Yeah. Hi, Scott. Thanks for being on the call. And so just to start with the guidance, I believe you're reflecting about the guidance for the year. We continue. As you see, Q4 was, as I said, mainly product. I believe Q1 is going to be very close as well on our guidance. We are not expecting except surprises, I would say, because we have many deals and depends which one will close. We have really currently in the backlog, I should say, maybe a couple of million dollars over the year, if you want, of secured licensing. However, we have, as I said, 4, 5, and more, each one ranging between $2 and 10 million.

Georges Karam: So it's very, very hard to make a projection, if you want, on the numbers. So we're taking a very conservative approach, assuming maybe we get another $5 million of all this in the year, 5 to 6, that could be secured and bring technically $2 to 3 million per quarter in the remainder of the year, if you want, after Q1, Q2, Q3, and so on. So this is a little bit our guideline. So the number I gave in terms of projection for the year, in percentage, this means we will have 85% or so, 80% to 85% product and only 15% services on this basis, 20% services, something like this. And then I believe the other question was regarding the convergence of. The percentage of. The percentage of product. So we're exiting the year. You need to keep in mind we're giving those percentages.

Georges Karam: I'm wondering what the current thoughts are, design activity, and how that momentum is looking into the back half of 2026 and into 2027. How big could that opportunity be? Well, we have, as you know, the acquisition of ACP gave us directly a couple of customers to whom today they move into production. And we are generating revenue from them every quarter. So we have even a backlog in 2026 from them for the first half. So we'll see. Sometimes the forecast for the full year with Chinese customers could be a little bit, I don't want to give guidance on this. But we believe we could be doing this year, maybe in the RF business, $7 million or so. I mean, in any case, north of $5 million for sure. And this can be getting up. If some upside, then we'll go beyond the $7 million.

Georges Karam: This is doable if we are successful, keeping the Chinese customer and add those customers that we can get for defense and public safety application and other software-defined radio application. Gotcha. And lastly, if I could, George, you had some comments on the memory side of the business. It sounds like indirectly, you guys are managing that well, and you're not seeing too much in terms of headwinds from your end customers. I'm wondering if you could provide some expanded thoughts on that. And then just the competitive landscape, you guys certainly have a strong position with Cat 1bis. It seems like, I don't know if running the table is the right expression, but you guys are certainly winning a lot of business on that front and gaining some momentum. And so I just wonder if you could comment on the competitive landscape for Cat 1bis.

Georges Karam: And then as it relates to eRedCap, which will be the next big cycle in 2027 and beyond, kind of what you're seeing from a competitive aspect. Thanks. Okay. Well, the supply chain, just to be clear, the industry is completely today. I mean, it's not like the direct memory of Sequans. It's not our technology because, as you know, our technology is not in AI. But AI and geopolitics as well, combined with geopolitics, is obviously the demand on AI is eating most of the capacity. And obviously, the OSAT and all the packaging material and all this increasing price or making constraints on supply, increasing lead time, and so on. We struggle on the substrate. We continue to watch this very closely. We managed to secure at least our Q3 production. We are in good shape on this. But despite this, we're working on multiple sources.

Georges Karam: But we are seeing price increase, unfortunately. And just only that's how it is. On the memory, again, we're not using the memory that you need in AI. But that's how it is. All this business is connected, right? I mean, so if the AI big memory, the prices are getting up because there is demand. This is impacting as well smaller memory and flash, RAM and flash that we use next to our chip, if you want, our module, and so on. So we have direct impact on this as well in supply and the pricing, unfortunately. And we are working all out the price and secure the capacity with multiple partners. We have double source on the memory as well to be sure that we have the supply. But unfortunately, I believe we are going to have the cost increase is happening.

Georges Karam: And we are reflecting this to our customer. We are already discussing with our customer the impact and trying to pass those tasks to them. That's how it is. I believe we'll see more of this impact in our number in the second half of the year. The first half, we have some backlog and so on. At least Q1, we have backlog for this on all the pricing. And it's very hard to change the price when you are shipping at the same time with customers. So it's something to watch. And as well, customers and the customer, they could be building devices where they are using big CPU and memory, not in all the application, but in some application, they need this. And obviously, they could face shortage or challenge on the memory they need to get for their own device. So there is tension in the market.

Georges Karam: But I believe we have a big piece of the pipeline driven by the Cat 1bis because, obviously, it's a new product ramping and because also on the competitive landscape limitation. And obviously, the customer have the choice between using Sequans technology or Sequans technology. It's just only whether they buy it from us or from Qualcomm. That's how it is because it's the same technology behind it, which is good position us, I would say, to push this technology further. And on eRedCap, I was at CES. And there is really big movement. And I will have MWC in a couple of weeks meeting with the carriers, AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile. All of them, they are really eager to get the 4G frequency band and move them to the 5G. In other words, they need and they have the obligation to get those frequency.

Georges Karam: the space, we are really in good shape where we have mature products shipping, a few metering finally entering into production with Honeywell and Itron, and a lot in the tracking device. Tracking, we have many customers. We have some of them, as I said, they do 1 million units a year and more than 1 million units a year. And others, they do 200,000. So it's really a variety of orders there. But when you sum them all up, Mike, to get the order of magnitude, it's not like, first of all, it's many projects. I mean, I don't have the number in mind, but I don't want to give you a wrong number, but it's more than 30, for sure, projects. So it's diversified on many applications, as I said, already all the segments we are talking about. Some of them are in CAT-M. Some of them are in CAT-1.

Georges Karam: We have tier one customers. We have some small customer, but not too small. I mean, small in a sense that they work well. They do 50,000 units per quarter, and they are there buying every quarter and moving on. Got it. In terms of your break-even cash goal by Q4, do you expect a lot of progress on the $11.5 million you got to for R&D and SG&A combined? Yeah. I mean, we continue driving this down. We put the guide, obviously, on the OPEX point of view, will be a little bit, we believe, in the second half of the year, around $10.5 million. This is our target. Obviously, this includes depreciation. So you need to take off the depreciation. When we're talking about cash flow break-even, we're counting on a cash basis, if you want.

Georges Karam: So somehow, you have in this $10.5 million, maybe around $1.5 million depreciation. So the company will be using $9 million, if we speak in cash, I would say, per quarter. And obviously, if you add $3 million in service, this gives you $6 million left because service will be 100% margin, more or less, I mean, very close to 100. So then the product revenue needs to cover the $6 million. And if you have a gross margin around on the product, 45%, you can do it with $13 million. So it gives you a little bit the number where we are there. Obviously, this can vary because the mix can change. We can have a gross margin higher or a little bit lower. And obviously, the services could be higher. And then we can accelerate the break-even, or the product could be higher than this number as well.

Georges Karam: Got it. And then just lastly, it sounds like the progress on 5G, the eRedCap chip, is going well. Revenue, do you still sort of have that penciled in mid-28? Any updated thoughts on there? Yeah. I believe, honestly, yeah. I mean, the revenue is mid-28. Why? Because you need to think about it, how it's going to work, Mike. Ericsson and all the infrastructure vendor, they are building their software release to support eRedCap and bring it to the network without giving too much detail. But this is targeted, I would say, to be in the network towards end of this year, beginning of next year in testing. Then the carrier will deploy it. And then from there, you do when they are ready, we can test end-to-end, right? I mean, in other words, even if I have it ready today, it doesn't matter.

Georges Karam: I need to have the infrastructure working. So we are synchronizing with Ericsson to come on time doing the testing, if you want, soon. Once we have the testing, we have the proof that the chip is working. From there, you can have our first alpha customer engaging with us. And depending on what they are doing, if it's just only a replacement on existing product, this could be fast because it's not a new design. We will give them a module which is pin-to-pin compatible with the previous one. And it will be running in CAT-M or CAT-1 bus plus 5G. So they can go fast and in 2028 can introduce product. If you have other customers where they are building completely new product that takes 2 years or 2 years and a half to develop, and they start with 5G, obviously, you don't see the revenue in 2028.

Georges Karam: How should we think about the revenue cadence heading into 2027, specifically the pace at which the remaining 60% of the pipeline converts to production revenue and whether the combination of material LTE in Cat 1bis programs alongside early 5G engagement has positioned the company to meaningfully inflect beyond the cash flow break-even milestone that is targeted for the end of 2026? Yeah. I mean, Fedor, yeah, you're absolutely right. I mean, the pipeline is there. When you talk about those design win converting, they are there, right? I mean, when they convert, they bring revenue, and they stay there. They don't disappear over one year or two years. This is really long-term business. When we talk about metering, tracking, I mean, there is no project in the company that doesn't live five years, if you want.

Georges Karam: But it's a diversified pipeline that gives me confidence that our business will continue growing, not to give guidance of saying it's going to be, I mean, the doubling is not; it's built in the model, if you want. Now, obviously, you could argue how this can be developing every quarter, and it will continue growing. And maybe we'll be in the 60, 60%-plus growth. That's at least what I see. In 2027, that will continue to 2028. And in 2028, where we have really, I believe, really, the eRedCap, if we execute well, you need to imagine that the eRedCap 5G, it's over. There is no Chinese at all, completely. You have only a couple of players that they can bring this to the market. And this gives us an opportunity to increase our market share as well because we have now an established customer base.

Georges Karam: We're not going to win a new customer with the 5G. We're going to go to the same customer and support them with a new product line and expand our market share with a new customer, if you want. So I believe as well that the 5G will be a great catalyst in 2028 to add another growth drivers to our revenue year over year. Thank you. This is very helpful. My follow-up is about buybacks. So with this top trading at where it is trading now and given the authorization to repurchase an additional 10% of outstanding ADSs, can you provide color on the expected pace and cadence of buybacks in Q1, specifically Q1 2026? I mean, specifically, whether the current share price level has accelerated repurchased activity quarter to date and how you balance the urgency of buying back stock at these levels against preserving liquidity.

Georges Karam: Thank you. Yeah. Obviously, Fedor, I mean, we have the authorization. We are free on doing this. Obviously, when we are in the window, which is locked, we cannot do it. We can do it when the window is open. Essentially, we're assessing, really, this versus because you need to assess two things. You need to assess what's happening as well on the Bitcoin, the Bitcoin price, and the value of the share versus the net cash. So the two together are going to drive our, I would say, the pace. But if you want, the intention there is clear. We believe if our share price is not appreciated, it's good things to do to buy back shares and, I would say, reduce the number of shares outstanding. So it's like giving cash, giving money to all our shareholders, sticking with us. So the decision is there.

Georges Karam: Yeah. Obviously, Fedor, I mean, we have the authorization. We are free on doing this. Obviously, when we are in the window, which is locked, we cannot do it. We can do it when the window is open. Essentially, we're assessing, really, this versus because you need to assess two things. You need to assess what's happening as well on the Bitcoin, the Bitcoin price, and the value of the share versus the net cash. So the two together are going to drive our, I would say, the pace. But if you want, the intention there is clear. We believe if our share price is not appreciated, it's good things to do to buy back shares and, I would say, reduce the number of shares outstanding. So it's like giving cash, giving money to all our shareholders, sticking with us. So the decision is there.

Georges Karam: We'll be executing on it. I'm not going to tell you if in Q1 we'll buy all the 10% or only 3% or 5% because it depends, really, on many dynamics that I'm observing now with the Bitcoin price and so on. So we need to watch this carefully and make decisions based on this as well. Thank you very much, George. I appreciate the color. And continue your best of luck. Thank you, Fedor. Thank you. Thank you. As a reminder, to ask a question at this time, please press star 11 on your touchtone telephone. Our next question comes from the line of Jacob Stephan with Lake Street Capital Markets. Your line is now open. Hey, guys. Appreciate you taking the questions. Since a lot of questions have been asked, maybe help me unpack Q1 guidance a little bit. I know you said $6.5 million.

Georges Karam: Sounds like some of that could shift, but without affecting the balance of the year. I guess, what portion of that is subject to shifting later into the year? And maybe just help us walk through that. Yeah. I mean, Jacob, hi. And essentially, it happens again, going to the condition of the market, even on TSMC, even on the wafer side. We have the capacity. It's all fine. But it's really stretch in timing. It's like you're pulling in stuff, getting this accelerating even a week. It's a little bit complicated. The fabs are loaded. And technically, what I'm saying is that we have orders, right? I mean, we have orders covering Q1 and Q2. And we have backlog even covering Q3 and Q4, some of our backlog. And in our guidance, some of those orders, we should be able to ship them in Q1.

Georges Karam: But there is a little bit of risk. So I want to be clear with the market. Okay. Very helpful. And then maybe touch on the price increases a little bit. For your customers, how susceptible have or I guess, how receptive have they been to overall price increases? Well, to be honest, surprisingly, I should say the customers. I don't know how much, no one is receptive to the price increase in general. But what I like this time, the industry learned what happened in COVID. And the customers are reacting positively, if you want, around what's going on. In other words, they appreciate that you go and tell them that we could have a supply problem. We could have a price problem. And sit down with the customers and talk about the issues and so on. Everyone is taking for granted the memory.

Georges Karam: The memory is really, everyone knows, and clear because the memory, by the way, people are always prepared for the memory. It gets up and down all the time. So when you tell them it's up, they read it in the news. They read it everywhere. When you go to the material, the cusp of the gold, even if everything is clear, right? I mean, when you give the number, so it's a little bit more challenging. But it's okay. I mean, I don't call it like we're managing this customer by customer. We have sometimes obligation. But the reception is positive. It's not like no way because at the end of the day, it's not the choice of Sequans, right? I mean, we're not trying to abuse the system. We're trying just only to be transparent with our customer and secure supply.

Georges Karam: And this forces us somehow to pay a little bit more because that's how it is in the industry in Asia today. If you take, for example, all the geopolitics pushed many guys outside of China. So you have less competition in the packaging from China. So everything is happening outside of China between Taiwan, mainly. But you have others, obviously, countries around Taiwan. And now, obviously, those guys, they have demand to get more to secure all their they can take all their fab. You have big customers willing to give them check in advance and so on. And at the same time, you have good reason that the material as well, the packaging material is getting up. So all this combined is pushing the price of the packaging up, the substrate and the packaging as well. TSMC is still okay. TSMC, they remain on they didn't change anything.

Georges Karam: They are not giving signs that would do any change for now, at least for those geometry, which is the regular one. We use the flat, I would say, 40, 22, and even the high FinFET, 16, 12, and so on. Okay. And just last question for me. On the Bitcoin Treasury strategy, obviously, 2026, the actual interest rate goes up materially on the convertible debt. I'm just wondering how you're kind of thinking about overall the debt repurchase or redemption. Well, Fedor, I mean, obviously, we're evaluating this specifically as well with the price of the Bitcoin. What I could say, we have a good relationship with the main debt holder. And as you saw in the past, we redeemed 50% of this. So we're considering all our options. Nothing yet decided today. We're looking to the option.

Georges Karam: But if you ask me my view on this in general, the way we are seeing things, if Bitcoin is not rallying and going to the moon, there is no interest, I would say, to keep the debt forever and better to redeem it sooner than later, if you want. If I have to look to the picture today, there is not too much value creation to be done there. But we're factoring all this, obviously, and discussing with the board based on all our options and what we should do and when. Okay. Very helpful. I appreciate it. Thank you. And I'm currently showing no further questions at this time. I would now like to hand the conference back over to Georges Karam for closing remarks. Thank you very much, all. Thanks for the questions and being on the call.

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Full Year 2025 Sequans Communications S A Earnings Call

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Full Year 2025 Sequans Communications S A Earnings Call

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