Operator: Welcome to Amaero Inc. Q3 2026 Conference Call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. A question-and-answer session will follow the formal presentation. If anyone should require operator assistance during the conference, please press star zero on your telephone keypad. Please note, this conference is being recorded. I will now turn the conference over to Shannon Devine, Investor Relations. Thank you. You may begin.
Shannon Devine: Good afternoon, and thank you for joining Amaero's Q3 2026 earnings call. I am Shannon Devine. Joining me today are Hank Holland, Amaero's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, and Brett Paduch, Amaero's Chief Financial Officer. Earlier this afternoon, Amaero issued its earnings release and posted its earnings presentation, both of which are available on the investor relations section of the company's website. Before we begin, please note that today's discussion will contain forward-looking statements regarding Amaero's business, financial performance, outlook, and future operating plans. Actual results may differ materially from those discussed today. Please refer to Amaero's earnings materials and SEC filings for a discussion of factors that could cause actual results to differ. Any forward-looking statements that are made on this call speak only as of the date of this call, and Amaero disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statements, except as required by law.
Shannon Devine: Certain non-GAAP financial measures will also be discussed. Information regarding Amaero's non-GAAP financial measures, including reconciliations to the most directly comparable GAAP measures, can be found in Amaero's earnings release and supplemental materials available on Amaero's investor relations website. With that, I will now turn the call over to Hank.
Hank Holland: Thank you, Shannon. Welcome. Good afternoon, and thank you for joining us. Good morning to those joining from Australia. Welcome to Amaero's Q3 2026 earnings conference call and the inaugural earnings call as a NASDAQ-listed company. Our first earnings call as a NASDAQ-listed company also marks our first results reported in USD under U.S. GAAP, so comparative figures may differ from those we previously reported on the ASX, where our CDIs continue to be quoted under the symbol 3DA. To our new shareholders, welcome, and thank you for your confidence. To our longstanding shareholders, thank you for your support over the past 4 and a half years.
Hank Holland: Because many of you are new to Amaero, I want to begin with the bigger picture, the opportunity in front of us, why we believe that Amaero has a differentiated market position, and why we believe the company is at an inflection point. I'll highlight the financial results in Q3 and revenue guidance for Q4. Brett will take you through the financials in more detail. Amaero sits at the intersection of three enduring themes: rebuilding the US defense industrial base, reshoring and scaling sovereign manufacturing, and the adoption of additive and advanced manufacturing. For the first time in decades, aerospace and defense are simultaneously experiencing peak demand. The Columbia and Virginia-class submarine programs, the advent of hypersonic weapons, the replacement of the Minuteman ICBM with Sentinel, and the build-out of missile defense are driving generational investment.
Hank Holland: At the same time, the war in Ukraine exposed how thin our domestic capacity is in large castings and forgings, among the most constrained links in the defense supply chain. I want to emphasize all these themes are structural, not cyclical. The United States allowed its defense industrial base to atrophy over three decades. Rebuilding it and bringing critical supply chains home is both a national security imperative and sound economic policy. Amaero's corporate strategy has been driven by a demand pull that is a direct result of these thematic forces. Within that backdrop, Amaero addresses two specific bottlenecks. The first in high-value spherical metal powders. Powder is the consumable of metal 3D printing, the ink cartridge to the printer. So as the installed base of metal 3D printers expands, powder demand expands with it. It is a pick-and-shovel business. Titanium alloy powder serve defense, aerospace, medical, and consumer applications.
Hank Holland: Refractory alloy powders such as niobium C103 serve high-temperature applications in high-growth verticals that include the defense, space, and nuclear energy sectors. The second is PM-HIP, or powder metallurgy hot isostatic pressing, a mature technology that was developed over seven decades ago and has the benefit of military specifications and mature datasets. Amaero's technical team has done much of the pioneering work over the past two decades for producing large, complex, near-net-shape parts as an alternative to constrained castings and forgings. We estimate the US addressable market across our three product lines at approximately $737 million in 2026, growing to approximately $1.5 billion by 2030.
Hank Holland: That is large enough to build a significant business, yet specialized enough to attract limited competition, which supports a specialty margin structure. As the largest shareholder, that combination is the thesis that led to my investment into Amaero, and it continues to guide our forward-leaning strategy.
Hank Holland: Amaero has commissioned the largest US domestic production capacity for titanium and refractory alloy spherical powders, co-located with PM-HIP manufacturing in AS9100D-certified facility near Chattanooga, Tennessee. The competitive landscape is narrow. In titanium powder, our two primary competitors operate in Canada. We have no primary competitor in the United States. In refractory powders, we have one primary competitor. In PM-HIP, others make simple parts, but our proprietary know-how and experience with complex near-net-shape components is highly differentiated. Our advantage rests on three things that are difficult to replicate. First, technology and know-how. We operate EIGA Premium atomizers, a crucible-free process that the Air Force Research Laboratory has called the industry standard for reactive and refractory materials. But equipment alone does not make commercially viable powder.
Hank Holland: Our technical team, anchored by Eric Bono, our Chief Technology Officer, has made modifications to the equipment and optimized the process parameters to deliver roughly twice the usable yield while consuming about half the argon gas of conventional atomizers. That matters because yield determines how much feedstock and labor go into every kilogram of sellable powder. Our two largest variable costs, and argon is a significant input of its own right. Our argon recycling system targets a further reduction in argon cost of at least 77%. Second, qualifications. The highest barrier to new entries and to production contracts. Our C103 has been qualified to a manned space flight standard. And we have closely collaborated with the US Navy, BPMI, and the Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program for development, first articles, and qualification of critical submarine components. Third, customer relationships built on demand pull.
Hank Holland: Shortly after we moved to Tennessee, we committed to dedicating an EIGA Premium atomizer to refractory alloys, including niobium, tungsten, tantalum, and molybdenum. This was a direct response to the long lead times from a sole supplier that was slowing down the development of hypersonic programs. Months later, we began close collaboration with leading stakeholders in Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program to develop PM-HIP as a substitute for long lead time forgings. Following a roundtable convened at our facility last December, the Navy's Maritime Industrial Base Program Office issued a formal letter of support validating our PM-HIP manufacturing as a viable and technically ready alternative casting and forgings. In July, we received our first low-rate initial production contract with BPMI. On the commercial side, we have structured long-term agreements with leaders in high-growth verticals, several naming Amaero as exclusive supplier.
Hank Holland: In July, we were awarded a $4.5 million Department of War contract to develop alternative refractory alloy powders that reduce cost and reliance on foreign raw materials. As other companies are beginning multi-year capital programs to address these bottlenecks, we have largely completed ours. Amaero is now shifting from build-out to scaling production. Through 30 September, we had invested $52.2 million in plant and equipment. We operate three EIGA Premium atomizers with approximately 680 metric tons of annual capacity, 480 metric tons of titanium, and 200 metric tons refractory. Our fourth atomizer, expected in June 2027, takes total capacity to 920 metric tons. In August, we commissioned a custom-designed titanium sieving system that, together with our third atomizer, doubled our titanium throughput capacity. In our first full year of commercial production, the 12 months ended 30 June, we generated $12.5 million of revenue.
Hank Holland: Trailing 12-month revenue through 30 September was $13.5 million, up 191%. Our backlog as of 30 September of $13.4 million is roughly equal to that. Because our fixed production costs are largely in place, we expect revenue growth to drive operating leverage. I also want to directly address safety. Following safety incidents earlier this year, we committed to lean in. We paused titanium production and completed a comprehensive process, system, and facility safety review with Jensen Hughes, a leader in safety, dust hazard, and risk-based engineering. We engaged Jensen Hughes to identify risk mitigation strategies that were utilized by larger-scale industrial operations with dust hazards, such as the sugar industry, paper mills, and grain operations. We implemented resulting improvements, and titanium production resumed in late July after approximately six-week pause. No order cancellations and no employee attrition. As for Q3 highlights and outlook, turning to the quarter.
Hank Holland: Third quarter revenue grew 35% to $4.1 million, landing near the top of the previously disclosed range, and nine-month revenue grew 170% to $11.5 million. We ended the period with a backlog of $13.4 million, an increase of 180% from September 2025, and approximately 100% of trailing 12-month revenue. Operating cash use for the quarter fell $1 million year-over-year to $6.3 million. Commercially, the Department of War award and our first BPMI contract advanced both of our production lines in defense, refractory powders and PM-HIP. Operationally, we restarted titanium production and doubled titanium throughput capacity with commissioning an expanded custom-designed fabricated sieving system. In the capital markets, we began trading on NASDAQ on 15 October, receiving aggregate net IPO proceeds of $17.0 million, and amended our EXIM Bank credit agreement to release $2.1 million of restricted cash and move the liquidity covenant test to 2028.
Hank Holland: As of 31 October, we had $19.3 million of cash and cash equivalents after October operating cash use and capital expenditures. Today, we are issuing our first formal guidance as a US-listed company. We expect Q4 2026 revenue of $4.5 to $5.0 million, which would result in a quarterly increase of 121% to 146% year-over-year. Combined with our results to date, that would result in full-year 2026 revenue of $16.0 to $16.5 million, up 154% to 162%. Our priorities are clear: convert backlog into revenue, expand the breadth and depth of our commercial partnerships, and bring argon recycling and our fourth atomizer online in the H1 2027. With that, I'll turn it over to our CFO, Brett Paduch, to provide more detail on our financial results.
Brett Paduch: Thank you, Hank Holland, and good afternoon. I'll start by tying our actual financial results back to our previously disclosed ranges and to provide more detail to our financial performance. Revenue of $4.11 million was near the top end of $3.96 to $4.12 million range. Cash of $4.96 million and backlog of $13.44 million landed within the range. Net loss attributable to stockholders of -$9.06 million, operating cash use of -$6.34 million, and adjusted EBITDA of -$7.11 million all came in modestly favorable to the range. Turning to revenue. Q3 revenue rose 35% to $4.1 million, with growth in both product lines. Metal powders contributed $3.2 million, up 19%, reflecting the continued ramp of our atomization capacity and the expansion of new and existing customer relationships. PM-HIP contributed $0.9 million, up 146%, including the first revenue attributable to our LRIP contract with BPMI.
Brett Paduch: Looking beyond any single quarter, nine-month revenue through Q3 grew 170% to $11.5 million from $4.3 million, and trailing 12-month revenue grew 191% to $13.5 million from $4.7 million. Backlog as of 30 September of $13.4 million is up 34% from $10 million at 30 June, up 96% from $6.9 million at year-end 2025, and up 180% from $4.8 million a year ago. It includes $4.4 million attributable to the Department of War development contract, and it spans both powder and PM-HIP. Turning to the income statement. Cost of revenue in Q3 was $8.5 million compared with $3.1 million in Q3 2025, resulting in a gross loss for Q3 2026 of -$4.4 million. I want to be clear about what drove that.
Brett Paduch: The increase reflects the continued scale-up of our Tennessee operations together with titanium production in the quarter running below installed capacity, first because of the restart in late July, and then because optimizing the new sieving system reduced throughput and yields. As a result, our portion of production labor and fixed production costs were not absorbed into inventory and were expensed in the period, and lower yields increased the cost of titanium powder sold. Our fixed production cost consisted principally of plant salaried labor and overhead, depreciation on manufacturing equipment and leasehold improvements, and the lease on our Tennessee facility. With the equipment and the plant operating and technical teams for both product lines largely in place, we do not expect those costs to increase in proportion to revenue. That is why we expect revenue growth to drive continued operating leverage and gross margin improvement.
Brett Paduch: SG&A in Q3 was $4.3 million, up $0.5 million compared to the prior year period. The increase reflects $0.6 million of non-ordinary course redomiciliation and IPO-related costs, primarily legal, tax, and audit fees, together with higher corporate legal and audit fees, partially offset by $0.5 million decrease in stock-based compensation. Q3 R&D was $0.1 million. Loss from operations was $8.8 million, and net loss attributable to stockholders was $9.1 million, or $0.38 per share, compared to $4.1 million, or $0.20 per share, in the prior year period. Adjusted EBITDA in Q3, which excludes stock-based compensation of $0.3 million and $0.6 million of redomiciliation and IPO-related costs, was negative $7.1 million compared with negative $3.1 million in Q3 2025.
Brett Paduch: For the nine months ending 30 September 2026, revenue grew 170% from the prior year period to $11.5 million, and adjusted EBITDA was negative $15.6 million versus negative $10.7 million in the prior year period. Let me close with four takeaways. First, quarterly revenue grew 35% year-over-year. Second, forward visibility has improved. Backlog at quarter end was 2.8 times its level a year earlier, and our guidance implies full-year revenue growth of 154% to 162%. Third, with our fixed production cost base largely in place and titanium throughput capacity doubled, we expect higher titanium output to drive operating leverage and gross margin improvement. Fourth, our next capacity additions, argon recycling in Q1 2027 and our fourth EIGA Premium atomizer in June 2027, remain on schedule, funded in part by our IPO proceeds. I'll turn it back to Hank.
Hank Holland: Thank you, Brett. Let me close where I began, the themes behind our business: rebuilding the defense industrial base, reshoring sovereign manufacturing, and the adoption of additive manufacturing. These are enduring, and Amaero is positioned at their intersection. Our foundational build-out is complete. Our capacity is commissioned and AS9100D certified. The qualifications, the highest barrier in this industry, are well advanced. PM-HIP has moved into production for the submarine industrial base, and our Department of War program is advancing. Revenue is ramping against a backlog equal to a full year of trailing revenue. Our job now is execution.
Hank Holland: Continue to scale production, convert backlog into revenue, bring argon recycling and our fourth atomizer online the H1 2027. We believe this is how we build durable value for shareholders and make a durable contribution to US national security. Thank you for your time today. Brett and I are happy to take your questions.
Operator: Thank you. If you would like to ask a question, please press star 1 on your telephone keypad. A confirmation tone will indicate your line is in the question queue. You may press star 2 if you would like to remove your question from the queue. For participants using speaker equipment, it may be necessary to pick up your handset before pressing the star keys. Our first question is from Peter Arment with Baird. Please proceed.
Peter Arment: Yeah. Good afternoon, Hank and Brett. Nice results. Hey, Hank, good to see titanium process restarted. Could you maybe talk about just how you are seeing the process, have things stabilized, and then is the new sieving system fully optimized? How we should be thinking about any remaining bottlenecks there?
Hank Holland: Yeah, absolutely. Thank you very much, Peter. As you have seen firsthand, the sieving system that we installed, we believe to be the largest system of its type in the world outside of China for reactive metals. The sieving is the bottleneck process about powder production. As you stated, we restarted titanium production the end of July, and that has gone quite well. We had already commissioned the third atomizer, the second dedicated titanium in June. In the month of August is when we commissioned the sieving system. I would say that by the time we got into early to mid-September, most of the parameter optimization was dialed in.
Hank Holland: We are continuing to make small tweaks, and I would expect that through the very end of this year, we will be making small tweaks. But I would say from a yield standpoint, the yield was below optimal for last quarter, and I would expect this quarter, over the course of the quarter, we will begin to approach where we would expect it to be longer term.
Peter Arment: Got it. That is helpful. Brett, a quick one on, I know you are not guiding to gross margins or anything for Q4, but given that maybe some of these startup or restart costs are a little bit behind you, should we expect to see some of that leverage begin to show up here in Q4?
Brett Paduch: Yeah, I would say the fixed cost in our cost of goods sold is significantly scaled at this point. That includes both the rent, depreciation, it includes our technical and operating teams. As our revenue grows into Q4 and beyond, we would not expect a commensurate rise in those fixed production costs, which is where we would start seeing that operating leverage lead to improvement in our gross margin moving forward.
Peter Arment: Got it. Just one last one.
Hank Holland: The one thing I would add, Peter, the one thing that I would add to what Brett said, which is exactly right, the other thing is there tends to be about a 6-week lag of inventory. The inventory cost that will come into Q4 of the current quarter that we are in, there will be a number of weeks of that inventory from last quarter that will be impacted by some of the same issues from yields and so forth. So, I would expect to see an improvement in gross margin, but we really will not begin to see the favorable trend as we expect until we get into the next calendar year because of that modest lag.
Peter Arment: Okay. Then just a quick one, just regarding your backlog. Is there anything that is unfunded as we are still in a continuing resolution in the US for FY27, or do you have all the funding you need for what is in backlog?
Hank Holland: Yeah, I will take that briefly. All of the backlog as reported is contracted firm orders, all of which is expected to be recognized prior to 30 June, with the exception of there are two payments on the Department of War contract that I believe total about $700,000. So, most of that backlog will be recognized before 30 June, all of which are firm commitments and all of which funding is in place. I will tell you that obviously none of us know exactly what will happen with the FY27 defense appropriation budget, particularly given the midterm elections, when that might be approved.
Hank Holland: I would not see it having an impact on us so long as we eventually got the FY27 budget approved, i.e., even if it was in February or March of next year. We have got a significant pipeline of opportunities that have already received funding at our tier 1 supplier level. So, I would not expect any CR in the short term to impact what we see in calendar year 2027 or H1 of calendar year 2027 revenues.
Peter Arment: Appreciate all the details, guys. I will jump back in the queue. Thanks, Hank.
Hank Holland: Thanks, Peter.
Brett Paduch: Thanks, Peter.
Operator: Our next question is from Jaeson Schmidt with Lake Street Capital Markets. Please proceed.
Jaeson Schmidt: Hey, guys. Thanks for taking my questions, and congrats on the solid results. Just sticking with backlog, I know you mentioned it spans both businesses. Just curious if outside that DOW contract, are there any sort of larger, chunkier awards within that, or is it pretty broad-based across the diverse customer base?
Hank Holland: Yeah, I will take that to start. The DOW award, as we have announced, was about $4.5 million, and so that is a chunk of that $13.4 million backlog. Beyond that, we do have long-term agreements in place as in 12-month purchase orders. Keep in mind, Jaeson, that prior to the redomiciliation, our fiscal year ended 30 June, and so many of those 12-month POs had been structured from a July to June basis. So, by the time we get through the end of December, we will have burnt off half of that 12-month PO. We will obviously begin to restructure those on a going-forward basis, more so on a calendar year basis. I think the other interesting thing, as you know, we announced back in July, I believe it was, the contract with BPMI. It was our first LRIP or low-rate production contract.
Hank Holland: It was not a particularly large contract, about $350,000. However, it was a very important contract in that it was our first production. It was the seventh contract we had with BPMI, albeit the first one that we announced. What we would now expect to see is that opens the door to a series of production contracts to follow. So, they are not yet showing up in backlog. They are showing up essentially in our pipeline. But I would expect to see some relatively chunky orders that will follow in the PM-HIP business over time. The rest of it, again, I would say would be ordinary course of business, either spot orders or relatively short-term orders that we have and coupled with the Department of War contract.
Jaeson Schmidt: Got you. That is really helpful. Hank, my next question was going to be on BPMI and when we could see some production contracts. Any sense on the timeline there?
Hank Holland: Yeah. We are not in a position to say much more. A, we have not given any guidance on that, and B, Jaeson, as you can appreciate, a lot of times the approval of these contracts take on kind of a life of their own, and we are always very, very mindful to be conservative with any guidance that we give. We do think that the announcement of the BPMI contract was quite consequential and does now position us for a series of contracts to follow. That is probably all we can say at this point, though.
Jaeson Schmidt: Okay. Makes sense. Thanks a lot, guys.
Hank Holland: Thanks, Jaeson.
Brett Paduch: Thanks, Jaeson.
Operator: Our next question is from Doug Smith with Curran & Co. Please proceed.
Doug Smith: Hi, Hank. Hi, Brett. Congrats on the first US quarterly report. I thought I'd ask about the backlog as well, and I've seen some news flow regarding hypersonic programs moving forward. Are you seeing some C103 signals start to come through related to Castheon? Also, what's the inbound sort of look like on the titanium, and how do we see that growing as we go forward?
Hank Holland: Yeah. So beginning with C103, this is one of the areas, as you well know, Doug, and that you've followed the company for quite some time, the fiscal year 2025 CR and the subsequent government shutdown had a real impact on Amaero in delaying the revenue. Some of the C103 programs, I think about certain strategic missile programs, for example, were significantly impacted, and we're only now seeing some of those programs down select from what was probably as much as a 2-year delay. So yes, we are seeing an uptick in C103 demand from defense applications. We're also seeing it on the space side. As you know, in the case of niobium C103, first used in the Apollo lunar landing vehicle in 1969, it's really become the go-to high-temperature alloy.
Hank Holland: And so, where we have mission-critical applications, and whether that's particularly sensitive defense applications and/or space, it does seem to be the go-to alloy. I will tell you, part of what's exciting about our Department of War contract, though, is, as you well know, Doug, that one of the challenges with niobium C103, it's comprised 10% of hafnium, and hafnium prices are up about 700% the last several years. So the Department of War is anxious to find alternatives in the refractory high-temperature alloy space that do not include hafnium, and that's really where our program, the DOW, is focused. And so, yes, we are seeing uptick in demand for C103, but importantly, we're also seeing uptick in demand in alternative refractories as well.
Doug Smith: Okay, fantastic. Thanks, Hank. That's all for me.
Hank Holland: Thanks, Doug.
Operator: We have reached the end of our question and answer session. This will conclude today's conference. You may disconnect your lines at this time, and thank you for your participation.
Hank Holland: Thank you.
