LanzaTech Global, Inc. (LNZA) Q2 2026 Earnings Report, Transcript and Summary

Good day, everyone, and welcome to LanzaTech Global Inc. Second Quarter 2026 Earnings Conference Call. [Operator Instructions] Also, today's call is being recorded. Now at this time, I will turn things over to Joe Caminiti, LanzaTech Global Inc. Investor Relations team. Please go ahead.

Thank you, operator. Good morning, everyone, and thanks for joining us. I'm Joe Caminiti with LanzaTech Global Inc.'s Investor Relations team, and I'd like to thank you for attending today's earnings call and business update. Earlier this morning, we issued a press release announcing our financial and operating results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2026, which has been posted to the Investor Relations section of our website, lanzatech.com. If anyone needs a copy of the press release, you may contact Alpha IR Group at alpha-ir.com. Joining us from LanzaTech's management today are Jennifer Holmgren, Chief Executive Officer; and Sushmita Koyanagi, Chief Financial Officer. Before we begin, I'd ask that you take note of the cautionary language regarding forward-looking statements contained in today's press release and in the Risk Factors section in the company's annual report on Form 10-Q for the fiscal second quarter ended June 30, 2026. The same language applies to comments made on today's conference call, including the Q&A session as well as a live webcast. Please note that the company's actual results may differ from those anticipated by such forward-looking statements for a variety of reasons, many of which are beyond our control. Please see our recent filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which identify the principal risks and uncertainties that could affect our business, prospects and future results. Unless required by law, we assume no obligation to update publicly any forward-looking statements. In addition, we will be discussing and providing certain non-GAAP financial measures today, including adjusted EBITDA. Please see our earnings release and our filings for a reconciliation of these non-GAAP measures to their most directly comparable GAAP measures. And with that, I'll turn the call over to Jennifer.

Thank you, and good morning, everyone. Before Sush walks you through the numbers in detail, I want to take a few minutes to put our second quarter in context. As you can see on Slide 3, Q2 reflects a meaningful transformation in the business with the clearest signs of progress showing up in our revenue stability, lower operating expense base and improved adjusted EBITDA. Q2 reflects real progress against the actions we've been taking to reshape LanzaTech for the current market. Over the past year, we've made deliberate, sometimes difficult decisions to restructure our business as we transition from an R&D-led model towards project development, ownership and commercialization. As part of this restructuring, we reduced headcount, renegotiated key contracts and refocused spending towards areas most critical to commercialization. You'll see this discipline show up in our year-over-year operating results. Revenue of $9 million in the quarter was generally consistent with last year despite the organizational changes we implemented throughout 2025. More importantly, operating expenses declined by approximately $23 million year-over-year from $35.1 million to $11.7 million, while adjusted EBITDA improved from a loss of $29.7 million to a loss of $7.5 million. We believe these results demonstrate that the actions we've taken have fundamentally reset our cost structure and significantly improved the economics of the business. Sush will walk you through the financial results in more detail and discuss our outlook for the balance of the year. It is worth reiterating that as we pivot towards development-focused economics, our revenue generation is going to be less even over periods, particularly in the early stages of this transition. While we are in the earlier stages of this pivot, we have advanced against some meaningful milestones since the last time we held an earnings call, and continuing to execute against this strategy will see a conversion of our technology into revenue and long-term value capture. Getting our cost structure right was necessary. Converting our pipeline into commercial reality is what we believe will actually reiterate this business, and that's where I want to spend the rest of my time. First, I'll spend a few moments walking through some project updates and certification progress. The single most important development this quarter is our progress towards certification of our first plant for mandated European fuel markets. As you can see on Slide 4, certification is the gateway to turning customer interest into monetizable demand across regulated fuel markets. We are currently undergoing the world's first ISCC certification pathway for recycled carbon fuels at our facility in China. ISCC EU certification verifies compliance with the EU's Renewable Energy Directive, RED, sustainability and greenhouse gas criteria, and it's also recognized by the U.K.'s Department for Transport. Thus, this single certification represents a potential gateway to accessing both markets. Critically, in the EU, 1 certification can cover aviation, road transportation fuels and marine fuels simultaneously. Without it, producers cannot sell into these regulated markets at all. However, with the certification in hand, our CarbonSmart ethanol production becomes eligible to satisfy underlying demand across all 3. We have applied significant focus here, given its importance, as achieving ISCC EU certification will be critical to our end market diversification and ultimately, our economics in the near term. Indeed, we are in active negotiations for what we expect to be our first sale of ISCC EU-certified ethanol timed with completion of the certification process. So this is not yet another certificate. It is a near-term pathway to monetizing recycled carbon and generating revenue in regulated fuel markets where verified carbon intensity carries real value. Certified fuel should create margin-accretive revenue opportunities because they solve a regulated compliance need for large industry players with significant volumes, not just a commodity fuel need. The constraint on our commercial demand has never been customer interest in our technology. Rather, it has been the absence of the certification. Major market participants across these value chains already understand that using LanzaTech ethanol helps them meet their regulatory obligations. They have simply been waiting for the product to be certified. This process has taken longer than we would have liked, but that is because we're not simply applying under an existing pathway. We are helping to create one. These are new fuel categories and the regulatory and certification frameworks required to recognize them are only now coming into place. Credible certification requires robust methodology, transparent carbon accounting and traceability that regulators, customers and investors can rely on. We've been working closely with policymakers, certifying bodies and other stakeholders to build that foundation for over a decade. Our first China plant is effectively the pilot for getting this right. Once certified, this process will serve as a template for future certifications, reinforcing LanzaTech's role as a first mover and a leader in helping to establish recycled carbon fuels as a new category in mandated markets. We expect future plant certifications to move faster, expanding market access and strengthening our business case. Now on to project milestones. As you can see on Slide 5, we are advancing multiple proof points of commercial progress and embedded value across projects, partnerships and platforms. On the SAF side, specifically, we continue to advance site level milestones in the U.K. and Belgium. In May, we selected North Sea Port, Ghent, Belgium as the permanent site for Europe's first commercial scale alcohol-to-jet SAF facility using the LanzaJet ATJ process. We are targeting production of roughly 79,000 tons of SAF and 9,000 tons of renewable diesel annually. That site selection, together with the planned environmental impact assessment scoping notification, is a meaningful derisking step on our path to FID. We have already demonstrated that our platform can process carbon from municipal solid waste and industrial gases. We are now expanding that capability further with biomass and agricultural residues in India and CO2-rich gases in China. Taken together, these projects reinforce the breadth of carbon sources that the LanzaTech platform can address and the progress we are making across multiple geographies and feedstock pathways. I want to highlight 2 additional proof points of how this technology is proving to have commercial value, a value that's not fully reflected by looking only at near-term revenue. Firstly, LanzaTech holds an 8.3% ownership stake in our Shougang LanzaTech joint venture, which completed its IPO on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in June. Driven by strong initial trading volume, the JV's market capitalization escalated to roughly $1.32 billion as of August 12, at which point LanzaTech's retained equity held an estimated market value of around $110 million. We believe our ownership represents real embedded value as well as public market validation that companies built on our technology can attract investor support and scale in commercially demanding sectors, including steel and ferroalloy. Second, we entered a multiyear partnership with BRIGHT at the Technical University of Denmark to build a next-generation biofoundry, extending our innovation pipeline in carbon-to-value biotechnology. This shows how LanzaTech can create value beyond our current core markets by applying synthetic biology, AI-enabled analytics, automation and carbon conversion expertise to new carbon-to-value opportunities. And because this is being advanced through a model fully supported by our partner, it allows us to pursue these opportunities in a capital-efficient way. Now I want to spend a moment on how we're thinking about our ethanol platform more broadly. As we show on Slide 6, ethanol gives us multiple routes to value across markets and time horizons through both direct use into road, marine and CarbonSmart ethanol products and with downstream processing for SAF and CarbonSmart applications. SAF remains an important strategic market. Our DRAGON, Humber and FLITE projects will each represent roughly 23 million gallons of SAF production per year and approximately $115 million of potential offtake revenue annually. That is why alcohol-to-jet or ATJ matters commercially. It's not just a technology pathway. It is a commercial platform with the potential to generate profitable revenue and value. LanzaJet was recently valued at approximately $650 million through its most recent funding round. As a reminder, we hold a 46% ownership stake in LanzaJet, and ATJ gives LanzaTech a way to convert ethanol into higher-value SAF as well as participate in upfront project development, recurring licensing and service revenue and future fuel offtake tied to 1 of the strongest demand and highest value markets in the energy transition. We are not, however, narrowly viewing the value of our ethanol platform through a single end use. Ethanol is a versatile platform molecule with relevance across multiple large markets, including fuels and chemicals. That optionality has value, particularly given how policy, infrastructure and customer demand are evolving uniquely across sectors and geographies. We see several ethanol pathways where we can create value faster and without the need for ACJ conversion facilities. In chemicals and biomanufacturing, our ethanol serves as a platform molecule for ethylene, acetate, solvents and other intermediates, supporting customers who want low-carbon or resilient domestic supply chains. In marine fuels, ethanol is emerging as a credible low-carbon option with real advantages in infrastructure, handling and scalability. The EU's FuelEU Maritime regulation creates a real compliance market today, covering roughly 26 million tons of marine fuel used by global ships calling at European ports. As the regulation tightens towards 2030, that compliance need should increase, strengthening the case for scalable, low-carbon marine fuel pathways like ethanol. We are pursuing immediate ethanol offtake opportunities in existing markets, creating near-term revenue and customer demand. ISCC certification will provide access to regulated markets where carbon intensity has economic value today. This supports a deliberate strategy to monetize our ethanol platform across multiple markets and time horizons. While SAF remains a key growth opportunity, our exposure to marine chemicals and other applications provides flexibility, resilience and multiple revenue pathways, including opportunities that do not rely on new conversion plant construction. And with that, I'll turn it over to Sush for the financial update.

Thank you, Jennifer. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us on the call. I'm going to provide additional details associated with our second quarter and year-to-date financial results, including the impact of the cost actions we have taken across the business, and then I'll discuss our updated outlook. As Jennifer mentioned, and as you can see on Slide 7, our second quarter results reflect meaningful progress in reshaping LanzaTech's operating model. For the second quarter, we reported total revenue of $9 million compared with $9.1 million in the second quarter of 2025. For the first half of 2026, total revenue was $21 million compared with $18.6 million in the first half of 2025, an increase of 13% year-over-year. While revenue remained relatively consistent with the prior year quarter, our transformation efforts over the past year drove a significant improvement in our cost structure and operating performance. Before discussing those improvements in more detail, let me first walk through the composition of our revenue. In the second quarter, revenue included $3.9 million of biorefining revenue, $1.3 million of joint development and contract research revenue and $3.8 million of CarbonSmart product revenue. For the first half of 2026, revenue included $10.8 million of biorefining revenue compared with $5.8 million in the first half of 2025, $2.3 million of joint development and contract research revenue compared with $4.7 million in the first half of 2025 and $7.9 million of CarbonSmart product revenue compared with $8 million in the prior year period. Biorefining revenue increased from $2.9 million in the second quarter of 2025, driven by higher engineering and other services revenue. Joint development and contract research revenue decreased from $2.3 million in the prior year period, reflecting the completion of projects with existing customers. CarbonSmart product revenue was essentially flat year-over-year at $3.8 million. For CarbonSmart, near-term activity continues to be influenced by product availability, certification requirements and the timing of customer demand. We believe the certification work we have underway is an important step toward expanding market access. Once certified product is available, customers in these markets would be able to use our ethanol to meet regulatory obligations, which we believe could support both increased demand and improved pricing for higher-value ethanol sales beginning in Q4. As certified sales scale, we also expect to benefit from improved supply chain logistics and a more localized customer base, which should help reduce costs and support margin improvement over time. Turning now to cost of revenue. Cost of revenue was $7.2 million in the second quarter of 2026 compared with $6.2 million in the second quarter of 2025. The increase was primarily attributable to higher engineering and other services costs associated with existing and new customers as well as a modest increase in costs associated with CarbonSmart product sales, partially offset by lower contract research costs. For the first half of 2026, cost of revenue was $15.5 million compared with $13.7 million in the first half of 2025. Gross profit was $1.8 million for the quarter, representing gross margin of approximately 20% compared with $2.9 million in the prior year period. For the first half of 2026, gross profit was $5.6 million, representing gross margin of approximately 26% compared with gross profit of $4.8 million in the first half of 2025. Compared with the prior year period, we are operating with a meaningfully leaner cost structure. Over the past year, we have reduced headcount, reviewed and renegotiated contracts and reduced our R&D cost base as we continue to move from being viewed primarily as an R&D-led company toward a more commercially oriented business model. These actions contributed to lower operating expenses and improved underlying operating performance during the quarter. As you can see on Slide 8, on the operating cost front, second quarter 2026 operating expenses were $11.7 million compared with $35.1 million in the second quarter of 2025, a decrease of 67%. For the first half of 2026, operating expenses were $25.2 million compared with $68.1 million in the first half of 2025, a decrease of 63%. This improvement reflects the restructuring actions we have taken across the business, including headcount reductions, lower personnel and contractor expenses, reduced external R&D services and lower facilities and consumables expenses. These actions represent a structural reset of our operating model and establish a significantly lower ongoing cost base. R&D expense was $2 million in the second quarter of 2026 compared with $14.9 million in the second quarter of 2025. For the first half of 2026, R&D expense was $6 million compared with $31.4 million in the first half of 2025. The decrease reflects the impact of cost optimization and organizational streamlining initiatives, including headcount reductions implemented during 2025. These reductions reflect a more focused approach to R&D investment, prioritizing highest value technology and commercialization initiatives. SG&A expense was $8.8 million in the second quarter of 2026 compared with $19.1 million in the second quarter of 2025, a decrease of 54%. For the first half of 2026, SG&A expense was $17.3 million compared with $34.9 million in the first half of 2025, a decrease of 50%. The second quarter decrease was primarily attributable to lower legal fees, lower personnel and contractor costs and lower facilities-related expenses. For the first half, the decrease was primarily driven by lower professional fees associated with restructuring efforts and initiatives to realign business priorities as well as lower facilities and consumables expenses. And as for adjusted EBITDA, our second quarter 2026 adjusted EBITDA loss was $7.6 million compared with an adjusted EBITDA loss of $29.7 million in the second quarter of 2025. For the first half of 2026, adjusted EBITDA loss was $15.5 million compared with an adjusted EBITDA loss of $60.2 million in the first half of 2025. This improvement reflects the benefit of the transformation and cost optimization initiatives implemented during 2025. As a reminder, adjusted EBITDA excludes the noncash unrealized gain recognized on our SGLT investment and therefore, provides a clearer view of the progress we have made in improving the underlying operating performance of the business. Wrapping up my remarks related to the second quarter of 2026, I'll give an update on our cash position. At the end of June, we had $48.9 million of cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash compared with $17.1 million at December 31, 2025. The increase was primarily due to proceeds from issuing common stock. Cash and cash equivalents were $45 million at June 30, 2026. Importantly, the progress we have made over the last year in simplifying the organization and reducing our cost structure has improved our visibility into the business and positioned us to reintroduce financial guidance. Now turning to guidance. On Slide 9, you can see we are taking a disciplined approach that reflects both the progress we have made on costs and the expected level of investment required to support the business going forward. For full year 2026, we expect revenue of $50 million to $55 million, adjusted EBITDA loss of $22 million to $26 million and operating expenses of $51 million to $55 million. These ranges reflect our current expectations for project timing, partner activity, cost discipline and the commercialization milestones Jennifer discussed earlier. As we think about the balance of the year, our focus remains on executing on our commercial opportunities while maintaining the cost discipline that has driven the significant improvement in our operating performance. With that, I will turn the call back to Jennifer for some closing remarks before we open the call for Q&A. Jennifer?

Thank you, Sush. I want to close by reiterating a few key points. This was a quarter of continued progress in reshaping LanzaTech for commercialization. The cost actions, restructuring and operating discipline we've discussed in prior periods are now showing through consistently in our results, and they reflect the company that is moving decisively from an R&D-led model towards project development and commercial execution. Notably, we're executing this while still advancing the core technology priorities that got us here. Further, the certifications we're pursuing should serve as a near-term catalyst to unlock additional commercial opportunities and support improved ethanol margins. To date, our demand and margins have been constrained by our ability to supply certified products rather than a lack of customer interest. We expect European road transport to be our most immediate commercial opportunity for EU-certified ethanol, while we continue to view SAF and marine as important near-term markets. We remain committed to executing our strategy, maintaining cost discipline and advancing our certification and key project milestones. From there, we will convert our technical progress into commercial and financial results and long-term value creation. Taken together, this is the LanzaTech story. We have significant embedded value in scaled platforms, real industrial deployment and innovation that has proven resilient through long technology policy and market cycles. This reflects a team that has not just envisioned the new industrial carbon economy but has stayed in the fight long enough to help build it. We appreciate your continued support, and we look forward to updating you on our progress next quarter. Thank you. With that, let's open up the call for questions.

[Operator Instructions] And at this time, I'm showing no questions in queue. I will now turn the meeting back to Dr. Jennifer Holmgren for additional or closing remarks.

Thank you. I want to thank everybody for joining us today as we continue our journey. It's been a year of transformation and a quarter of progress, and we look forward to working with you for the rest of the year. Thank you.

Thank you. This brings us to the end of today's meeting. We appreciate your time and participation. You may now disconnect.