Earnings Labs

Energous Corporation (WATT)

Q4 2021 Earnings Call· Thu, Feb 24, 2022

$32.89

+4.98%

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Transcript

Operator

Operator

Good day and welcome to the Energous Corporation Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2021 Financial Results. [Operator Instructions] Please note this event is being recorded. I would now like to turn the conference over to Matt Sullivan, Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

Matt Sullivan

Analyst

Thank you, Andrew and welcome everyone. Before we begin, I would like to remind participants that during today’s call, the company will make forward-looking statements. These statements whether in prepared remarks or during the Q&A session are subject to inherent risks and uncertainties that are detailed in the company’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Except as otherwise required by federal securities laws, Energous disclaims any obligation or undertaking to publicly release updates or revisions to the forward-looking statements contained herein or elsewhere to reflect changes in expectations with regard to those events, conditions and circumstances. Also, please note that during this call, Energous will be discussing non-GAAP financial measures as defined by SEC Regulation G. Reconciliations of these non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable GAAP measures are included in today’s press release, which is posted on the company’s website. Now, I would like to turn the call over to Cesar Johnston, CEO of Energous. Please go ahead, Cesar.

Cesar Johnston

Analyst

Thanks, Matt. Good afternoon and welcome to the Energous 2021 fourth quarter conference call. Joining me today is Bill Mannina, our Acting Chief Financial Officer. Today, it’s a pleasure to deliver my first earnings call as Energous’ CEO. We are very proud to report that during the fourth quarter of 2021 we successfully fulfilled our first customer orders for the first WattUp PowerBridge distance charging products that can be commercially deployed in real world and potential volume applications. We are excited for this accomplishment. As we noted on earlier calls, that this was a top goal for us to achieve before the end of 2021. As you have seen, Energous’ focus has evolved in the last year. And today, we strive to be a leader in IoT wireless power networks. Our goal is to use our unique capabilities to deliver power at a distance, allowing customers to deploy IoT systems without power cables and wires, alleviating the need and significant cause for cumbersome battery replacement and supporting a new generation of battery-free IoT devices. Our aim is to produce distance charging technology that can power a new generation of IoT received devices, giving them placement flexibility while also delivering higher levels of sustained power to support, for instance, advanced artificial intelligence processing capabilities. Our WattUp technologies, in conjunction with several recent certification achievements and the fast rise of connected IoT devices, position the company well for the development and deployment of IoT wireless power networks. The wireless power networks market opportunity is huge, and it includes up to 39.3 billion IoT devices by 2025, as reported by IDC in their Worldwide Global Data Sphere IoT Device and Data Forecast 2021 to 2025. Also, multiple applications can be supported with potential IoT WPN deployments. We have targeted RF tags and electronic…

Bill Mannina

Analyst

Thanks, Cesar. Hello, everyone. Recapping 2021, we recognized $757,000 in revenue compared to $327,000 in 2020. Revenue for the fourth quarter was approximately compared to approximately $201,000 in the third quarter and approximately $90,000 in the same quarter last year. For 2022, as Cesar mentioned, we are forecasting year-over-year revenue growth. Total expense for the year on a GAAP basis was $42.2 million, which was $10 million or 31% and higher than the $32.2 million of total expense in fiscal 2020. The higher expense was primarily due to a $4 million severance accrual for executive personnel restructuring, a $3.7 million increase in stock-based compensation and an increase of approximately $800,000 in R&D and chip development costs. Total expense for the fourth quarter was $9.6 million which was a decrease of $3 million or 24% compared to the third quarter, mainly due to the $4 million nonrecurring severance accrual in the third quarter. Compared to the fourth quarter of 2020, we saw an increase of $21 million or 27.6%, primarily due to a $1.8 million increase in stock-based compensation. Net loss on a GAAP basis for fiscal 2021 was $41.4 million, approximately $9.6 million or 30% higher than the $31.8 million net loss in 2020. This translated to a net loss per share of $0.64 on 64.9 million weighted average shares compared to a $0.76 loss per share on 41.7 million weighted average shares in the prior year. Net loss for the fourth quarter was $9.4 million or $0.13 per share on 72.9 million weighted average shares which was $3 million less than the $12 million – $12.5 million loss or $0.20 per share loss on 63 million weighted average shares in the third quarter and $1.9 million more than the loss of $7.5 million or $0.15 per share loss on…

Cesar Johnston

Analyst

Thank you, Bill. We would like to thank our investors and shareholders for their support. This was an important quarter for us as our first IoT WPN product was delivered, opening up the RF tag IoT WPN market through our strong partnerships with Wiliot. Energous continues to be a leader in the development of at-a-distance charging power. We are now in a good position to grow our business and revenue to participate in the deployment of the future 39.3 billion device market as described by IDC’s market report. At this time, we would like to open the call for questions. Operator?

Operator

Operator

[Operator Instructions] The first question comes from Jon Hickman with Ladenburg Thalmann. Please go ahead.

Jon Hickman

Analyst

Hi, can you – out of this first order that you received and delivered, were you able to recognize the revenue in Q4 from that order?

Bill Mannina

Analyst

Yes, we were.

Jon Hickman

Analyst

Okay. And so there is no cost of goods sold in your P&L statement. Like can you explain how that’s happening? How are you accounting for that, the manufacturing costs?

Bill Mannina

Analyst

Well, our initial units were developed in-house. So we are transitioning to reporting COGS in 2022. So right now, we were still building those initial units. So those are in R&D for Q4.

Jon Hickman

Analyst

The cost of those are in R&D. Okay. And then can you be any more specific with your year-over-year revenue growth? Like do you expect 10% or 100% or anything that you can help us with for a model going forward?

Bill Mannina

Analyst

No, not at this time. We may be able to provide more guidance during ‘22, but that’s the message we’re sending out today.

Jon Hickman

Analyst

When might you be able to provide more guidance?

Bill Mannina

Analyst

Possibly in 2022.

Jon Hickman

Analyst

We’re in 2022.

Bill Mannina

Analyst

I mean later in 2022.

Jon Hickman

Analyst

Okay. Okay, so let me ask another question. Your current cash balance, do you expect that to take you through the rest of this year?

Bill Mannina

Analyst

Well, our current operating levels, that’s 2 years’ worth of cash. Yes, do have – so if we found it advantageous for further financing, we could look at that. We have another shelf on file as well.

Jon Hickman

Analyst

So, but basically, do you anticipate, I mean if things stay the same, you’ve got 2 years of operating?

Bill Mannina

Analyst

Correct. Yes.

Jon Hickman

Analyst

And that’s with no revenues, right?

Cesar Johnston

Analyst

We do have some level of revenue. But we have report it like no revenues.

Jon Hickman

Analyst

No, I mean, but minimal. I mean, okay, that’s it for me. Thank you.

Cesar Johnston

Analyst

Okay. Thanks a lot.

Bill Mannina

Analyst

Thank you.

Operator

Operator

This concludes our question-and-answer session. I would like to turn the conference back over to Cesar Johnston, CEO, for any closing remarks.

Cesar Johnston

Analyst

We are looking forward to develop a new IoT wireless power network, we are well positioned. We have looked into those applications. We have new partnerships as we reported, and we do have products that are being shipped in the form of modules and semiconductors. And as John asked, we will be reporting on revenues as the markets mature, and we have indications of growth. So thank you very much.

Operator

Operator

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