Joel Hatlen
Analyst · Lake Street. Please go ahead
Thank you, Anthony. Good day to everyone. To provide some upfront simplification, I want to summarize the impairment charge discussions that can be a bit confusing. Very simply, we did three impairment items, and they were reported in two places. The two places are cost of goods sold for inventory items and operating expenses for the other items. The three things were: first, SentriX first-generation items that were impaired by the second-generation launch; two, ending support for some legacy automated handlers, impairing the remaining service inventory; and three, some externally developed software tool cost. With that said, net sales in the fourth quarter of 2020 were $4.9 million as compared with $5.9 million in both the prior quarter and the fourth quarter of 2019. Fourth quarter bookings were $6 million, up from $5.6 million in the prior quarter and as compared with $6.9 million in the fourth quarter of 2020. With first quarter bookings of $4.3 million and second quarter bookings of $5 million, we have seen sequential growth throughout the year. Total bookings for 2020 were $20.8 million, down from $22.5 million in 2019. Total revenues for 2020 were $20.3 million, down from $21.6 million for 2019. On a geographic basis, international sales represented approximately 90% of total net sales for the fourth quarter of 2020 compared with 94% in the 2019 period. Total capital equipment sales were 52% of revenues; adapters, 33%; and software services, 15% of revenues for the fourth quarter of 2020 compared with 64%, 22% and 14%, respectively, for the fourth quarter of 2019. For the year 2020, capital equipment sales were 56% of revenues, with adapters at 28% and software services at 16%, which compares with 2019 capital equipment sales of 58% of revenue, adapters at 26% and software services at 16%. Gross margin as a percentage of sales in the fourth quarter of 2020 was 47% as compared with 55.1% in the third quarter of 2020 and 55.9% in the fourth quarter of 2019. Gross margin as a percentage of sales for 2020 was 53.2% compared with 58.2% in 2019. As Anthony mentioned, in the fourth quarter of 2020, the second-generation of SentriX was introduced, and we accelerated the transition to it by upgrading systems immediately at customers. As a result, we impaired the existing first-generation equipment and obsoleted the related inventory. Similarly, we ended the service life of some legacy automated handling systems as no longer being supported and impaired the remaining service parts as obsolete. Combined, the two noncash onetime impairment charges to cost of goods sold was $291,000 of obsolete inventory. Adjusted gross margin as a percentage of sales, that is excluding the impairment-related obsolete inventory charges, was 52.9% for the fourth quarter and 54.7% for the full year. Operating expenses were $191,000 higher in the fourth quarter of 2020 than in the fourth quarter of 2019. In the fourth quarter of 2020, operating expenses included a noncash onetime impairment charge of $652,000. 56,000 - $561,000 of the impairment charge was for prepaid royalties and equipment related to first-generation SentriX, and $91,000 was associated with external costs paid to developed software tools. Excluding the onetime impairments, operating expenses in the fourth quarter of 2020 would have been $3.2 million, a reduction of approximately 13% as compared to the fourth quarter of 2019. R&D was flat year-over-year for the fourth quarter as we continue to advance our technology solutions. For the full year, total operating expenses were $13.9 million or $13.2 million excluding the onetime impairment charge in 2020 compared with $13.8 million for 2019. In accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, GAAP, net loss in the fourth quarter of 2020 was $1.6 million or $0.20 per share compared with a net loss of $496,000 or $0.06 per share for the fourth quarter of 2019. Included in the fourth quarter of 2020 net loss is a onetime impairment charge totaling $943,000. For the year, net loss in 2020 was $4 million or $0.48 per share as compared with net loss in 2019 of $1.2 million or $0.14 per share. Included in annual net losses are foreign currency transaction losses of $513,000 in 2020 as compared with a gain of $5,000 for 2019. Fiscal 2020 net loss also included the aforementioned fourth quarter impairment charges and, earlier in the year, dividend withholding taxes of approximately $257,000 in connection with cash repatriated from foreign subsidiaries into the United States. Backlog at December 31, 2020, was $3.9 million, up from September 30, 2020, backlog of $2.8 million and $2.9 million at December 31, 2019. Data I/O had $1.1 million in deferred revenue at December 31, 2020, which was down from $1.2 million at September 30, 2020. Our days sales outstanding, or DSO, a receivables collection measure, at December 31st was below our target measure at 44 days as receivables decreased from the end of the third quarter. Net working capital at December 31, 2020, was $18.1 million as compared with $18.3 million at September 30, 2020, and $18.5 million at December 31, 2019. Inventory of $5.3 million at December 31, 2020, was approximately $210,000 higher than at September 30, 2020. Data I/O's financial condition remains strong with cash of $14.2 million at December 31, 2020, which is up from $13 million at September 30, 2020 and $13.9 million at the beginning of the year. From a financial perspective, we entered into the crisis in a position of strength and remain healthy. We believe that we continue to benefit from Data I/O being the largest company in our industry sector and with a highly resilient business model supported by the strongest financial position, including the large cash balance, no debt and the ongoing investments in R&D to maintain our competitive edge. Finally, we had shares outstanding of 8,416,335 as of December 31, 2020. That concludes my remarks. I will turn the call back to the operator to begin the question-and-answer section. Operator, would you please start the Q&A process?