AEye, Inc. Q2 FY2025 earnings call

• Delivered new wins including being certified as an NVIDIA DRIVE AGX partner, selected for GM-backed WinTOR project, and a top global transportation OEM chose Apollo for an autonomous safety program with potential $30 million opportunity. • Launched OPTIS, a next-generation platform deployed to multiple customers with open architecture, AI-driven analytics. • Sales funnel grew exponentially with 30 new high-value customer engagements, 6 revenue-generating contracts, and line of sight to additional orders. • Supply chain ready with manufacturing line with LITEON primed to scale. • Partnership with NVIDIA advanced, with Apollo positioned to integrate into Hyperion platform. • Apollo's capabilities in various verticals like defense, smart infrastructure, rail, etc., with 1-kilometer high-resolution detection and competitive cost. • OPTIS as full stack flexible LiDAR solution enabling intelligent decision-making in complex environments, integrated with NVIDIA Jetson Orin.

No detailed product segment financial performance with absolute terms and revenue contribution % provided in the transcript.

• Full year 2025 cash burn expected to be at the high end of the previously communicated range of $27 million to $29 million. • This updated outlook reflects factors like lease settlement, onetime professional service fees, and anticipated investments in product development.

Q: Could you tell me more about the NVIDIA integration?

A: Apollo LiDAR is at the top of NVIDIA's DRIVE developer website in terms of performance. Have special status with NVIDIA, getting support from sales and marketing channels, paving path for integration into Hyperion platform and getting support outside automotive.

Q: Could you give more details on OPTIS and how it fits into the broader strategy?

A: Automotive is ramping up slowly, so focusing on nonautomotive business with OPTIS as complete solution combining sensor and brain parts, opening platform to third-party developers and using NVIDIA ecosystem for support.

Q: The $30 million opportunity with the transportation OEM, are there additional deliverables?

A: We're on the customer timeline, integrating and deploying, with more details to come in coming weeks.

Q: On the tripling of new business wins, could you give more info on the additional 4?

A: Seeing traction in smart infrastructure, security, defense sectors, with line of sight to thousands of orders, but confidentiality agreements prevent specific details.

Q: Sales and marketing expense stepped up, where are the incremental dollars spent?

A: Mostly reallocation from G&A and R&D, with a little incremental spend.

Q: Can you sense an inflection point in momentum where you'll start closing multiple deals a quarter?

A: Have 100+ customers engaged, 30 in advanced negotiation, with opportunities in various industries, and some customers bringing new use cases.

Q: The $30 million opportunity, is that aggregate or annual?

A: Expected to play out over the next 2 to 3 years.

Q: What about physical AI and how you think about it?

A: Physical AI is AI interacting with the real world, with NVIDIA active in physical AI space, and Apollo's capabilities bringing in business independently.

Q: Do you need to partner with defense contractors for access?

A: Have multipronged approach, working with integrators, DoDs directly, and having SBIRs with DoD.

Q: Can you break down liquidity?

A: Wait for Q report on breakdown, but finished quarter with ~$19.2 million in cash and raised capital to more than triple that.

Q: The top 5 OEM in advanced discussions, is that exclusive of the $30 million contract?

A: Yes, it's exclusive of the $30 million passenger vehicle OEM contract.