AEye, Inc. Q1 FY2024 earnings call

• Partnership with LITEON is off to a strong start with them completing technology and supply chain audits and being pleased with 4Sight technology. Working jointly on multiple OEM opportunities.
• 3-way partnership with ATI and LighTekton to access China market for automotive, trucking, and rail safety markets, leveraging AEye's software-defined architecture.
• Apollo product passed first power on milestone and expected to unveil first samples to OEMs in Q2.
• Achieved $1.8 million reduction in net cash burn to $7.6 million, fourth consecutive quarter of cash burn reduction.
• Actively pursuing strategic investment opportunities and have a capital-light model with 10x lower burn rate than peers.

No specific product segment financials with revenue contribution % were detailed in the transcript. Key focuses were on partnerships and product milestones such as the 4Sight Flex platform, partnership with LITEON, 3-way partnership with ATI and LighTekton, and progress with the Apollo product.

• Surpassed cash guidance in Q1 and on track to achieve $25 million target cash burn for 2024, a 75% reduction from Q1 2023.
• Negotiated an annual reduction of $500,000 for certain professional services fees.
• Bullish on partnership revenue opportunities and expect to recognize revenues from these initiatives later this year.

• Forward-looking statements are subject to inherent risks, uncertainties, and changes in circumstances that are difficult or impossible to predict, and actual results may differ materially from forward-looking statements.
• Non-GAAP financial measures are presented for supplemental purposes only and should not be considered a substitute for GAAP measures.

Q: Congrats on the partnerships. Are you still looking to expand partnerships with other Tier 1 suppliers? Or do you feel pretty comfortable with your partnership with LITEON?

A: Thanks, Kevin, and welcome back. Remember, our business model is designed to scale with multiple Tier 1s. We are continuing to explore that pipeline and are in active discussion on those, and we also announced a very strategic partnership with ATI to get us into the China market. We look forward to sharing more progress on that in coming earnings calls.

Q: Can you just give some more color on the trucking and railway system partnerships, Conor, I think you mentioned you should see some revenue generation potentially later this year from them. So is that you guys selling your LiDAR to these partners? Or is this for customers that these partners already have?

A: Okay. The nature of this partnership is very similar. We're going to be very consistent on our business model. ATI accompanied by LighTekton, boots on the ground in China will be driving the detailed discussions, providing local support for those customers. It's very similar to the type of business model we've used in the past, where we're aligning with partners that can do both manufacturing and also the sales channel element. It will be a very similar approach here with the work that we're doing with ATI. And just to add some color there, that's obviously a market that currently exists today. That's why we're very bullish about the opportunity. And what I would say is we now have multiple kind of shots at goal from a revenue opportunities perspective. Obviously, there's room for opportunities with LITEON on the entry side. And then as Matt alluded to, we have plenty of opportunities in China. And then, of course, we're going to be opportunistic about selling through our inventory as well on the industrial side, too.