Sidus Space, Inc. (SIDU) Q1 2026 Earnings Report, Transcript and Summary

Good evening, and welcome to the Sidus Space First Quarter 2026 Financial Results Conference Call. [Operator Instructions] Please note this event is being recorded. I would now like to turn the conference over to Adarsh Parekh, Chief Financial Officer. Please go ahead.

Good evening, everyone, and thank you for joining us for Sidus Space's First Quarter 2026 Earnings Conference Call. Joining us today from the company is Carol Craig, Chairwoman and Chief Executive Officer; and myself, Adarsh Parekh, Chief Financial Officer. During today's call, we may make certain forward-looking statements. These statements are based on our current expectations with respect to the future of our business, the economy and other events and as a result, are subject to risks and uncertainties. Many factors could cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements made on this call. These factors include our ability to estimate operational expenses and liquidity needs, customer demand, supply chain delays, including launch providers and extended sales cycles. We also expect to discuss certain financial measures and information that are non-GAAP measures as defined in the applicable SEC rules and regulations. Reconciliations to the company's GAAP measures are included in the Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Conditions and Results of Operations within Sidus' quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the period ended March 31, 2026. For more information about these risks and uncertainties, please refer to the risk factors in the company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, each of which can be found on our website, www.sidusspace.com. Listeners are cautioned not to put undue reliance on forward-looking statements, and the company specifically disclaims any obligation to update the forward-looking statements that may be discussed during this call. At this time, I would like to turn the call over to Carol. Carol, please go ahead.

Good evening, and thank you for joining us. I want to start by saying that the first quarter of 2026 reflects continued progress as we translate several years of development into operational capabilities supporting both space and defense missions across multiple domains. Our team has remained focused on disciplined execution, advancing our next-generation satellite builds, expanding our technology platforms and delivering on customer commitments. For those who may be new to our story, Sidus was founded as an agile and vertically integrated company to deliver high-quality, cost-effective end-to-end space and defense solutions for multi-domain operations, integrating satellite design, manufacturing and on-orbit operations with advanced computing and data capabilities. Over the past several years, we have made disciplined investments in our technology stack, operating infrastructure and workforce to support our mission and strengthen our position as a provider of scaled space and defense technology capabilities and data-driven solutions. We are now seeing those efforts materialize into tangible mission-ready capabilities. Today, Sidus is a proven U.S.-based vertically integrated space and defense technology company, delivering end-to-end satellite infrastructure, space and defense-grade hardware and AI-enabled data platforms. From quarter-to-quarter, our progress has been supported by continued momentum and expanding activity across the commercial space sector. Most recently, the successful Artemis II mission was splashed down in April marks the first crewed flight beyond low earth orbit in more than 50 years and reinforce the viability of the cislunar economy where Sidus is well positioned. More broadly, there is sustained investment across commercial space, expanding national security priorities and a growing demand for space-based data and resilient compute architectures, which all align with the capabilities we have built. The market is seeing meaningful investor attention return to the commercial space sector, including a much anticipated public listing of a major peer, which could be the largest IPO in history. As a nimble small cap player, we benefit from this rising tide while focusing on specialized opportunities that complement larger players. The first quarter of 2026 saw record investment in the commercial space industry. This strategy is not theoretical. The strongest validation of our technology is not what we say, but what our systems are doing operationally. With multiple satellites on orbit, Sidus is progressing into a new phase, where our focus shifts from proving technical capabilities to executing and operating mission-ready platforms for our customers. We successfully launched 3 LizzieSat satellites between March 2024 and March 2025, each one building upon the last and demonstrating increased capability across design, operations and mission performance. Together, these missions validate our platform, strengthen our credibility and support our transition to commercialization and most importantly, revenue. Turning to our on-orbit fleet. LizzieSat-2, operating in equatorial inclination, remained in commissioning during the quarter with continued system checks and communication passes supporting readiness activities. LizzieSat-3 successfully completed full bus level commissioning and progressed through payload level commissioning activities during the quarter. The satellite continued to collect AIS data and advanced on-orbit testing of customer payloads, including HEO USA's non-earth imaging camera. In March, we achieved a meaningful technical milestone with the receipt of initial imagery from the HEO camera aboard LS3, demonstrating sub-5-meter resolution. This represented an important step in the commissioning process and along the path toward initiating subscription-based data service delivery following completion of commissioning. Our mission control center now in its third year of full 24/7 operations continues to support satellite operations, collection management and data distribution for our own fleet with capacity to support additional customer satellite constellations. Throughout the first quarter, we continued to advance Sidus' Fortis VPX platform, our modular computing system for challenging and constrained environments. Fortis includes a SOSA aligned single-board computer and a precision navigation and timing module designed for GPS-denied environments. We're currently engaged with multiple commercial customers and defense prime contractors who are evaluating Fortis VPX for satellite payload processing, unmanned systems and ground-based computing. Converting these evaluations into commercial revenue is a near-term priority for our business development team. These capabilities position us across both commercial and defense markets. Our award under the Missile Defense Agency 10-year SHIELD IDIQ contract remains an important pathway for our satellite onboard processing and modular compute capabilities. SHIELD is part of the broader Golden dome missile defense strategy designed to deliver capabilities faster through digital engineering, open systems architectures and AI where appropriate. National security is a growing priority with substantial funding with an increased DoD investment in space defense. We are preparing to pursue task orders on this contract and our strengthened balance sheet positions us competitively for these high-value national security programs. We also expanded our existing agreement with Lonestar Data Holdings to build and deliver an additional StarVault Orbital data storage payload. This expansion reflects Lonestar's continued progress towards scaling its Orbital data storage architecture. Sidus is currently building the first StarVault payload, which is scheduled to launch no earlier than spring 2027 aboard LS4. Looking at the year ahead, our strategic priorities in the near term are focused on 2 of our core areas, compute hardware and satellites. Our operational execution remains focused on continuous improvement, disciplined resource alignment and scaling capabilities with a structured and intentional go-to-market approach to drive customer adoption and revenue generation. While we have been intentional and disciplined in how we deploy capital, we have built a full technology stack spanning hardware, software and data, primarily through internal development, complemented by a small, highly targeted acquisition of Exo-Space in 2023, which formed the foundation of our Orlaith AI Ecosystem. Unlike some competitors that pursue multi-domain capability through large debt finance acquisitions, we built these capabilities with a disciplined approach, leveraging a decade and a half of heritage experience while maintaining a clean balance sheet and retaining full control over our intellectual property. With regard to our satellite platform, one of the key advantages of our LizzieSat architecture is that it is software-defined, meaning capabilities are not fixed at launch. Over the past year, we've demonstrated this advantage by deploying autonomous navigation software and commissioning FeatherEdge 100i entirely on orbit, delivering capability upgrades to an operational asset without additional hardware or launch costs. This model allows us to extend mission utility and adapt to changing requirements over time while maintaining a more efficient approach to capability upgrades. In parallel, we continue to advance our next-generation satellite builds, including LS4 and LS5, which are being developed as software-defined platforms, incorporating enhanced capabilities such as laser communications and software-defined hyperspectral imaging. This architecture is designed to provide customers, including international partners such as the Netherlands Organization, or TNO, with the ability to adapt mission requirements on orbit. During the fourth quarter, we achieved an integration milestone with Maris-Tech, whose advanced edge computing and video processing payload is scheduled to fly on LS4. We also formalized our strategic collaboration with Simera Sense during the quarter through a memorandum of understanding to advance AI-enabled hyperspectral imaging focused on enabling near real-time intelligence-driven earth observation capabilities. During the quarter, we also strengthened our governance with the appointment of Kelle Wendling to our Board of Directors. Kelle brings more than 3 decades of executive leadership and government contracting experience across space systems, ISR and FAA markets. Her perspective will be valuable as we scale our space and defense offerings. Building on the capital raises completed during 2025, we continue to invest in key technology development, especially related to compute hardware, including our dual-use Fortis VPX product line while maintaining a disciplined approach to operating expenses as we scale. Subsequent to quarter end, we announced continued advancements to our Fortis Command and data handling platform through a strategic collaboration with Microchip Technology. Microchip's space-grade flight-proven semiconductor technologies allow us to develop systems faster. They reduce integration complexity and shorten the path from design to mission-ready hardware. As we move forward, this operational transition informs how we think about scalability, margin durability and capital efficiency. And with that, I'll turn the call over to Adarsh for our financial review.

Thank you, Carol. At Sidus, we continue to build a scalable, vertically integrated company across space, technology and artificial intelligence. Our focus remains on operational excellence, rapid innovation and delivering cost-effective, high-impact solutions for our customers. Our investments to date have centered on expanding our satellite fleet, advancing innovation and implementing a robust ERP system to support scale and profitability. Momentum from full year 2025 carried into the first quarter of 2026, which continues to reflect both our transition to commercialization of dual-use multi-domain products and the near-term financial impacts of scaling a deep tech space-based enterprise. Our rich space and defense heritage positions us to take advantage of opportunities across multiple sectors with a combined focus on commercial space innovations and national defense priorities. Let's review our results for the 3 months ended March 31, 2026. Total revenue for the first quarter of 2026 was approximately $359,000 compared to $238,000 in the first quarter of 2025. This reflects an increase of 51% and was primarily driven by the addition of new customer contracts, including Lonestar Data Holdings and Teledyne Marine. The impact of milestone-based revenue recognitions also influenced year-over-year performance and comparison. Cost of revenue for the first quarter of 2026 was $1.4 million, a decrease of 25% from $1.9 million in the first quarter of 2025. The decrease was primarily driven by lower satellite and related software depreciation expense and improved cost discipline in the manufacturing side of our business. Gross loss for the first quarter of 2026 was $1.1 million compared to a gross loss of $1.6 million in the first quarter of 2025, an improvement of 36%. The improvement was driven primarily by higher revenue and lower satellite and related software depreciation costs. When adding back depreciation included in cost of revenue, gross loss for the quarter was $531,000 compared to $792,000 in the first quarter of 2025. Selling, general and administrative expenses for the first quarter of 2026 were $4.4 million, essentially flat compared to $4.4 million in the first quarter of 2025. We view this as a meaningful indicator of cost discipline. We have held operating expense effectively constant while continuing to support a broader scope of programs, mature on-orbit operations and an expanded sales and business development effort. To provide a broader view of our performance, we also report adjusted EBITDA, a non-GAAP measure we use internally to guide strategic decision-making. Adjusted EBITDA loss for the first quarter of 2026 was $4.6 million compared to $4.7 million in the first quarter of 2025, essentially flat period-over-period. The reconciliation, including interest, depreciation and amortization, fundraising costs, severance and equity-based compensation is included in our quarterly report on Form 10-Q. Net loss for the first quarter of 2026 was $5.2 million compared to net loss of $6.4 million in the first quarter of 2025, an improvement of $1.2 million or 19%. The improvement also reflects the swing in other income and expense to net income this quarter, primarily driven by the elimination of asset-based loan expense following the payoff of the loan in January and by increased interest income from cash holdings. Turning to the balance sheet. We entered 2026 with $43.2 million in cash and no outstanding term debt, a meaningful distinction in an industry where many peers continue to carry substantial debt obligations and the associated interest burden. As of March 31, 2026, we had $27.3 million in cash. During the first quarter, we used cash to support operations, ongoing satellite production and the full repayment of our asset-backed line of credit in January, which has eliminated the associated interest expense going forward and further simplified our capital structure. Subsequent to quarter end, on April 21, 2026, we closed a best efforts registered direct offering, generating gross proceeds of $58.5 million. The company intends to use the net proceeds for working capital and general corporate purposes. This offering materially strengthens our liquidity position and gives us the financial flexibility to deploy capital toward optimizing growth, mitigating risk to critical milestones and driving operating efficiencies as we scale. Taken together, we believe the capital we have raised, combined with the operating discipline reflected in this quarter's results, materially strengthens our balance sheet and reduces our near-term financing risk. This gives us the financial flexibility to execute on our growth strategy and continue investing in platforms and product lines we expect to drive recurring revenue in the periods ahead. As we move forward, we continue to manage cash conservatively while making strategic investments in our next-generation satellite builds and high-growth product lines. We have implemented meaningful cost reduction activities and operating efficiencies to support long-term profitability, and we remain focused on driving sustainable growth in the periods ahead. With that, I'll hand the call back to Carol for closing remarks.

Thank you, Adarsh. Each capital raise we've undertaken has been guided by a clear purpose to strengthen the balance sheet, fund the technology development required to support our growth and position the company to compete for the larger commercial and defense programs that we believe represent the most meaningful long-term opportunities. Sidus has raised materially less capital than many public peers while achieving milestones that include satellite launches, on-orbit operations, vertically integrated manufacturing, proprietary computing and AI architectures and a growing patent portfolio. Importantly, we achieved these milestones through organic development alone, building, proving and retaining ownership of every capability in our portfolio. Following the recent successful raise of significant capital, we are now positioned to evaluate and potentially pursue strategic investments that could strengthen our core capabilities, expand our technology stack and accelerate market access across key defense and commercial segments. Any such effort will be guided by a disciplined focus on economic merits and clear pathways to revenue growth and margin expansion. The capital we've raised also enables accelerated product development and expanded customer pipeline and the pursuit of larger contracts aligned with our growth strategy. As Sidus continues to strengthen its balance sheet, expand its operational footprint and execute against a growing number of strategic opportunities across the space and defense sectors, the financial and operational complexity of the business has increased significantly. The company is entering its next phase of growth with greater emphasis on scalable financial operations, capital market strategy, long-term planning, government contracting infrastructure and support for a multifaceted commercial and defense business model. Looking ahead, our focus is on translating the platforms and capabilities we have built into recurring revenue and durable margins. We remain committed to disciplined capital allocation, cost discipline and execution. I want to personally thank our team, our partners and our investors for your continued support and confidence. Thank you again for joining us on the call today. We look forward to updating you on our progress as the year continues. Thank you.

The conference has now concluded. Thank you for attending today's presentation. You may now disconnect.