Earnings Labs

Innoviz Technologies Ltd. (INVZ)

Q2 2022 Earnings Call· Wed, Aug 10, 2022

$0.72

+8.95%

Key Takeaways · AI generated
AI summary not yet generated for this transcript. Generation in progress for older transcripts; check back soon, or browse the full transcript below.

Same-Day

-5.12%

1 Week

-11.74%

1 Month

-7.93%

vs S&P

+2.28%

Transcript

Operator

Operator

Good morning, and welcome to Innoviz Second Quarter 2022 Earnings Conference Call. Joining us today are Omer Keilaf, Chief Executive Officer; and Eldar Cegla, Chief Financial Officer. Following the formal remarks, we will open the call for your questions. I would like to remind everyone that this call is being recorded, and will be available on the Investor Relations section of our website at ir.innoviz.tech. Before we begin, we would like to remind you that our discussions today will include forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties relating to future events and the future financial performance of Innoviz. Actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements made today speak only to our expectations as of today and we undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise them. For discussion of some of the important risk factors, that could cause actual results to differ materially from any forward-looking statements, please see the Risk Factors section of our Form 20-F filed with the SEC on March 30, 2022. I will now turn the call over to Omer. Please go ahead.

Omer Keilaf

Management

Hi, everyone and good morning. I'm very excited to have you today on our second quarter of 2022, we had a very successful quarter following recent announcement on our new customer Volkswagen which we are obviously very excited to talk about. Following the receiving of the contract from Volkswagen and reaching the first milestone of integration of our LiDAR's to the test because we were happy finally to provide and give a press release about the recent award. Other than that we have substantial progress on key programs additional, key programs, then we've actually already met or exceeded all of the targets that we have set for 2022. And now, I would be very happy to start with the formal presentation. Thank you. Okay. Innoviz’s vision is to become the world's leading tier one supplier for LiDAR and perception software for the automotive industry. Last week, Innoviz was proud to announce that we will serve as the direct supplier of LiDAR sensors to several brands within the Volkswagen Group while integrating our perception software to carry out automated driving spec. As the program progresses, we expect more brands within the Volkswagen Group to be incorporated. BMW is the second largest car maker with more than 10 million cars sold annually with multiple brands including Audi, Porsche, Volkswagen, Skoda and many others. We are full steam ahead with our samples already integrated into CARIADs best makers. We expect revenues from the program already in the coming years as the development of and testing processes of our customers require 100s to 1000s of units in the next three to four years which are priced several times greater than the official stock of production SOP. Following SOP, we expect an exponential ramp-up for the life time of the project which is 8 to…

Eldar Cegla

Management

Thank you, Omer. And good morning, everyone. I would like to start by briefly explaining how our Volkswagen related $4 billion forward-looking order book was calculated. In terms of volume production, the Volkswagen group holds about 10% of the market share which translate to over 10 million vehicle sold annually. The program plan is based on three years of development and validation forward by 8 to 10 years of sales. With expectation to see growing take rate of 1% to 14% over the course of the program, starting with the more premium brands and car models and trickling down over the years to the less expensive car brands and models. We expect to supply our LiDAR sensors for at least 8 million cars over their lifetime of the program multiplied by the ASP aggregates to the $4 billion order book we have announced. We maintain a high liquidity level of approximately $246 million in cash, short-term deposit restricted cash and marketable security as of June 30, 2022. We're using our resources responsibly, staying within our expense budget for the second quarter of 2022 and maintaining a robust cash position which gives us both the flexibility to execute our 2022 strategy and provide us with a runway to invest in our new and innovative products and technology. Revenues for Q2 2022 were $1.8 million compared to Q2 2021 revenues of $1 million. Our revenues in Q2 this year were InnovizOne related, we are also targeting to stand the first samples of InnovizTwo later this year. Automating expenses for the first quarter of 2022 were $28.8 million, a decrease $170.7 million in the second quarter of 2021. Operating expenses in Q2 2022 included $4.4 million of share-based compensation compared to $49.9 million of share-based compensation in Q2, 2021. The decrease in operating expenses in Q2, 2022, compared to Q2, 2021, was primarily due to a decrease in share-based compensation partially offset by an increase in headcount during the second quarter of 2022. Research and development expenses for Q2 2022 were $21.9 million, a decrease from $32.1 million in Q2, 2021. Research and development expenses in Q2, 2022, included $2.7 million attributable to share-based compensation compared to $17.6 million attributable to share-based compensation in Q1, 2021. To conclude, we maintain a strong position in the market place as evidenced by our recent design win with Volkswagen Group and we believe that we are well-positioned to gain additional market share during this year and the years to come. And with that, I will turn the call back to Omer for closing remarks.

Omer Keilaf

Management

Thanks, Eldar. And we'll rejoice for by how far we've come into these months and look forward to updating you on our progress on future earnings call. Before I open up for questions, I'm happy to share that we will be back to New York during the week of September 5, taking part in both cities Global Technology Conference as well as the Evercore ISI Annual Technology Conference. We are happy to meet with you there. Thank you, for joining us today. And with that, I will turn the call over to the operator to take us into the Q&A.

Operator

Operator

Thank you. [Operator Instructions]. Our first question today comes from the line of Mark Delaney from Goldman Sachs. Please go ahead.

Mark Delaney

Analyst

Hi, yes. Thanks very much for taking the questions. And good afternoon. Yes, first question is a better understanding on CARIAD and do you think there's been media reports around some software challenges at the CARIAD and I think some of the brands, according to the media we're rethinking any of what they wanted to use from CARIAD but maybe doing some stuff themselves. So, I'm hoping you better understand to what extent you've already factored some of those dynamics into the order book. I think the order book calculation of $4 billion was pretty conservative, if I understood it correctly and if anything perhaps of chances to expand the number models that you're on but maybe if you could speak a little bit more in terms of how confident the different brands are. Perhaps there the different brands are and using this product and what opportunities there are to perhaps even build on the amount of the order books or further.

Omer Keilaf

Management

Sure. And thank you for asking the question. Innoviz is confident of the contractor to become to be a supplier that supply tier 1 and four other brands. Our agreement is with all of the brands within Volkswagen. And the program is managed by CARIAD. CARIAD is responsible for the driving stack that eventually will we integrate it into the different brands. But our activity and integration discussions are with each brand by itself. The already similar brands that discussions are ongoing. Eventually our software is also integrated into this platform. CARIAD platform will host our perception software as part of the all the whole software that will lead will drive the car. No changes are related to the program since going very smoothly I would say. And the dynamics are very positive. And to your last comment, I am actually very optimistic that additional brands would be included as following the discussions we are having done.

Mark Delaney

Analyst

That's very helpful, thanks for that. And for my second question, you mentioned that two to three programs could be decided in the next 6 to 12 months in the automotive market. Do you have any indications from those potential customers about how likely Innoviz maybe to win or any more to tell you can share on your expectations for potentially when need some additional programs out of those two to three that you mentioned. Thanks.

Omer Keilaf

Management

I believe that Innoviz is positioned very strongly on those programs. I obviously eventually it's a decision that we're turning to. But with I would say the level of discussions and the nature of the details that are now discussed, I would say that I'm all the whole positive. But I would rather wait with the news when they would conclude. Maybe I would just say those are related to passenger vehicle programs and as such are very interesting for us. Once we have the program with Volkswagen, we can guarantee the volume. And having the volume in our economic of scale, allows Innoviz to be very competitive even with programs of car makers that are not at the size of Volkswagen. And that’s a very key element in our ability to be very competitive on all programs right now because we can leverage on guaranteed volume we have with certain program. And basically this is why I would say traditionally selections made by car companies like Volkswagen is so critical and why car -- other car markers tend to follow decisions made by the Volkswagen Group. Can we –

Operator

Operator

Mark are you there? We will proceed to our next question. Our next question comes from the line of Andres Sheppard from Cantor Fitzgerald. Please go ahead.

Andres Sheppard

Analyst

Hey Omer, hey Eldar, good afternoon. Congrats on the quarter and thank you for taking my questions. I wanted to I saw that slide about the Volkswagen and the order book assumptions, was very helpful. I just want to make sure I understood it correctly. So with this new agreement, the expectation is for revenues to start wrapping up, I think in between three and four years, I think initially. But once that takes place, the expectation is that the sensors will be used in over 10 million vehicles per year. Maybe you can give a little more detail on that. I just want to be sure I understood you.

Omer Keilaf

Management

We definitely target that number but no, I mean we're talking about the penetration rate from 1% to 14% of the total volume out of the 10 million. And which is related to, the kickoff is related now to several brands. There are several models that are already planning to launch with the LiDAR and every year there will be releases of more cars every year and there will be a ramp-up. So, the total eventually of the entire program is calculated based on sum of roughly 6 million cars for the duration of 8 to 10 years. But we believe that eventually more brands will eventually use the LiDAR and the numbers could grow.

Andres Sheppard

Analyst

Got it. That's very helpful, Omer. Thanks for that color. And maybe in regards to then the switching gears for a minute, the BMW partnership. You mentioned today that you expect material revenue starting towards the end of next year. I'm wondering can you maybe give us a little more granularity as to how you see those ramping up, maybe not necessarily quantifying it specifically but just at a high level can you just give us a sense of what that agreement will look like as those revenues begin to ramp up next year?

Omer Keilaf

Management

Okay. So there are two parts to the revenues that are expected from the program. One is related to NRE, which was agreed was been that will to be provided at the SOP time. And the second part which is related to the sales of cars which will be equipped within these LiDARs.

Andres Sheppard

Analyst

Okay, got it. And maybe sort of one last question if I may. In regards to the 12 prospectic customer agreements that you were working off of which it sounds like most of them are for passenger vehicle programs, so that's great. Is the -- hope is the strategy to -- I mean how likely is to secure those 12 agreements, should we be a little more conservative perhaps assume a handful of them or I mean how confident are you in those 12 programs?

Omer Keilaf

Management

Look, I believe that in any one of them Innoviz is going to be or already is on the shortlist. And shortlist means that there is either one competitor or two. Our competitors are other tier 1's in the market because car makers would make their decision based on whether the supplier missed their group standouts. So you can probably estimate who might be our competitors and Innoviz too is very strong product both on performance but also from pricing and with a stamp of a tier 1 supplier now by very credible car maker which is the Volkswagen Group. Gives us a very strong position and removes any friction in any discussion we had so far with any car maker to become a direct supplier to their program. I would say that we used to say that our conversion rate is one to three because that’s what we usually see between one or two companies competing on the RFQ in the last discussion. I would probably say that since we have increased our chances due to the recent win, I would probably at least take a 50% probability for my perspective. But you can be conservative and more conservative than --

Andres Sheppard

Analyst

I'll turn off. Thank you. And sorry, maybe one last one from me if I could. In terms of the -- I guess -- do you find that now being recognized as a tier 1, is that -- maybe talk about that as -- has that given you additional credibility with these other OEMs, are you finding that having a tier 1 status has increased the likelihood of securing the steels or have you seen a quick improvement in the perception of Innoviz's product as a result of the tier 1 status?

Omer Keilaf

Management

Definitely. I mean, before you had the ability to talk about how design win with Volkswagen is a direct supplier. They were car makers that is first perceived it as a risk but that was completely removed once we were able to talk about the fact that we're all -- we're able to go through the quality assessment forces to become a direct supplier to the group and to the all of the brands in the group. And therefore we've already kicked off with some car markers we're already kicked off the process to become a tier 1 meaning that eventually a car maker in order for them to add you to their supplier system, you need to go through a process and make sure that you meet their group standards. All of their quality assessment for production, logistics, quality, software development. And since we were able to show that we passed that with a very credible customer. The motivation grew. And therefore those were already starting. And funny enough, now that we are a tier 1 to the Volkswagen group, and we are on their system as a tier 1. We were handed with an RFQ for radar to compete. We don’t plan to answer the RFQ. But it shows that once you’re qualify tier 1 to the car company, basically it opens a door or you can say connects a breach between you and the car maker to offer the different technologies. Because becoming a tier 1 is not related to the technology. It's related to the company. It means that you are a reliable supplier that the company can decide to work with. And I find it as a very strong opportunity for Innoviz to grow going forward.

Andres Sheppard

Analyst

Wonderful. Thank you, so much Omer. Thanks for answering all my questions. I'll pass it on. Thanks again, and congrats.

Omer Keilaf

Management

Thank you.

Operator

Operator

Thank you. [Operator Instructions]. Our next question today comes from the line of Kevin Cassidy from Rosenblatt Securities. Please go ahead.

Kevin Cassidy

Analyst

Yes. Thanks for taking my question and congratulations on the win. Just in the CapEx discussion you mentioned but it’s customer paid for the equipment. Can you give us a little more details on how that arrangement works?

Omer Keilaf

Management

No. I mean, Eldar, do you want to?

Eldar Cegla

Management

Yes, sure. So our basically our investment in CapEx is offset to decline. Meaning, if a certain client needs a certain capacity, he is paying for the specific line that he's using. So we are designing our own machines that build up the LiDARs. And we can very easily duplicate these machines and located everywhere in the world where it's needed. And the cost is covered by clients. So there isn’t additional burden on our cash flow.

Omer Keilaf

Management

Yes, maybe I'll add to it and sorry Eldar. In order to build the LiDAR, basically there are two machines that we developed. One, is for the optical assembly. So there if you know these two became significantly simpler than InnovizOne because we only have one laser and one detector. So the cycle time all the processes have been really shortened. And the footprint of the machine is actually in the size of a very similar table to what we go looking at. And the capacity of every machine is quite high, it's in the order of a 100,000 or 200,000 LiDARs a year. And it's a very inexpensive I would say equipment. Eventually you can imagine and I showed it on the video, it’s a robotic arm that places the optics. And that's the design that we developed and we can build those machines. And as Eldar said, eventually we can place them in different locations in the world where it's convenient for the different customers. The footprint is small, the portion of the production is simple because it's automatic. The ramp-up we are and then we have experienced that already with InnovizOne meaning that the production line which is consisting of this process. We design it and built it and tested it in Germany and we shipped it to the U.S. where Magna is managing this process and they are operating this. And eventually, this is one machine. The second one is related to the testing. It's a similar is a chamber where you place the LiDAR inside and basically the targets that moving in-and-out we need to calibrate and test the LiDAR. Once those machines are up and running, we can duplicate them and place them at different locations. They are not very expensive and they have quite nice capacity. Other than that when it comes to the PCBs, the electronic boards are very standard, I would say material. We don’t need to develop those process, those are very standard and we can use companies to produce the electronics. And the assembly is very simple. I hope it adds more color.

Kevin Cassidy

Analyst

Yes. Thanks very much. It's great detail. And maybe just a simpler question on the LiDAR viewer. What's the configuration, is it going to be just one of your LiDAR or are there opportunities for this lets say lane change LiDAR or other LiDAR on the vehicle?

Omer Keilaf

Management

It's a single LiDAR configuration. And I'm not sure really understand the second question?

Kevin Cassidy

Analyst

It was just some talking about LiDAR for lane changing, side views.

Omer Keilaf

Management

Well, the field of view. Yes. So, I don’t know if you've seen the video of the field of view is high enough. It's 120 over a 40 degrees which captures the field of view for any cutting scenarios and that is required by the customer.

Kevin Cassidy

Analyst

Okay. Thank you.

Omer Keilaf

Management

Welcome.

Operator

Operator

Thank you. You have no further questions. Please proceed.

Omer Keilaf

Management

Okay. Thank you, very much. And I would say that in theme of this there is a rush of excitement. We definitely see the both of confidence from customer like Volkswagen is a dream come true. But also we are also seeing so many other opportunities that we are excited to have as well. And I hope that we will be able to bring them to the table as well and I'm sure we will. So thank you very much. And talk to you next time.