Earnings Call Transcript - ISPR Q4 2024

Operator, Operator

Hello, everyone, and welcome to today's conference call to discuss Ispire's Financial Results for the Fiscal Year 2024 Ended June 30, 2024. At this time, I'd like to inform you that this conference call is being recorded and that all participants are in a listen-only mode. We will be facilitating a question-and-answer session following the prepared remarks from the company. Joining us today are Mr. Michael Wang, the company's Co-CEO; and Mr. Jim McCormick, the company's CFO. First, Mr. Wang will brief you on the company's key highlights, and then Mr. McCormick will review the company's financial results. Before we begin, I would like to remind you that this conference call contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements other than the statements of historical facts in this announcement are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are based on estimates and assumptions made by the company in terms of its experience and its perception of historical trends, current conditions and expected future developments as well as other factors that the company believes are relevant. These forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties, and many factors could cause the company's actual results or performance to differ materially from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Further information regarding this and other risk factors are included in the company's filings with the SEC. The company undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements to reflect subsequent or current events or circumstances or to changes in its expectations, except as may be required by law. I would now like to turn the call over to Mr. Michael Wang. Mr. Wang. Please go ahead.

Michael Wang, Co-CEO

Thank you, operator, and thank you all for joining us this morning. Fiscal year 2024 was a foundational year for Ispire. As we achieved strong results, with record-breaking revenue and sustainable margin expansion. We reported record revenue of $151.9 million, a 31.4% year-over-year growth, all of which was organic growth. This organic growth was primarily driven by an increase in sales in the United States, Europe and South Africa. This increase in revenue was accompanied by notable margin expansion. And we reported a gross margin of 19.6%, an increase from 18.0% in the previous fiscal year, mainly driven by product mix and the sales leverage as well as the beginning effects of our Malaysian operations. Throughout the year, we also made significant advancements across the company that have positioned us for future margin expansion, improved profitability and increased revenue generation. Those highlights, which I will go into in more detail shortly, include: One, our Malaysian operation as we aim to drive down internal product costs; two, our investment in the point-of-use technology joint venture; three, our intentional focus on cannabis multi-state operators for MSOs; and four, increased partnerships in the global nicotine space. We have also adjusted our approach to credit management as we aim to improve our customer portfolio by making it more reliable as we limit our exposure to extended outstanding balances. As we head into the fiscal year 2025, we remain optimistic about our future growth and the momentum and believe we are well-positioned to capture further growth and margin upside with the new cannabis and nicotine projects, a stronger customer portfolio and continued expense discipline. Throughout the last fiscal year, we secured several significant strategic partnerships to expand our market presence and distribution channels. Most recently, with Acreage Holdings, Dank Pack, a confidential leading-edge e-cig brand and Hidden Hills Club, all in 2024. In April, we secured a long-term agreement with Acreage Holdings, a multistate operator in the cannabis industry. Ispire will supply Acreage with the company's Ispire vapor products and feeding machines as Acreage aims to streamline its vape production and enhance reliability across its retail facilities in the United States. Furthermore, we also secured an exclusive distribution agreement with Dank Pack, South Africa's leading cannabis hardware supplier in May. This partnership marks Ispire's entry into the rapidly growing South African cannabis market. Under the deal, we will supply Dank Pack with a range of vapor products and accessories, including the Ispire ONE line and various Ispire signature products. This collaboration aligns with Ispire's global expansion strategy and the commitment to deliver high-quality vaping solutions. This partnership has the potential to revolutionize the South African cannabis market and elevate the industry standards. We also entered into an original design manufacturing relationship, commonly called ODM, through our Ispire Science and Technology Limited subsidiary, this is with a leading global e-cig brand in June. Ispire will receive monthly purchase orders of 3 million units per month, which are expected to be consistent over the next 12 months and add an additional $100 million in revenue to our top line. In August, our subsidiary Ispire North America LLC entered into a 30-year global licensing agreement with Hidden Hills Club, marking our expansion into the global nicotine product market. Under this agreement, Ispire will manufacture, distribute and commercialize Hidden Hill's branded nicotine products worldwide, starting with launches in the UAE and South Africa, followed by the UK and the EU. This collaboration builds on our earlier partnership in the cannabis and hemp vaping sector and leverages Ispire's expertise in vaping technology and the global distribution network while capitalizing on Hidden Hill's strong brand reputation and presence. This strategic move positions us to capture a larger share of the rapidly growing e-vapor and cannabis markets worldwide. We continue to make significant progress in our joint venture with Berify and Chemular to create a next-generation point-of-use age verification technology for e-cigarettes that will prevent underaged access and improve user experience. This is a first-of-its-kind vape hardware innovation as we understand the safety and security that is needed for the industry and we are excited to share that we have received the fastest-ever meeting request acceptance from the FDA with our first meeting scheduled for early November. We recently submitted our first PMTA application in four years for a disposable product with four flavors. This is an important milestone for Ispire, as these signals indicate our re-entry into the U.S. end market. We intend to amend or resubmit this application in the coming months, once we have finalized the gating technology solution with our joint venture Itech, which is a joint venture with Berify and Chemular. Our team continues to focus on submitting additional PMTA applications for pod-based end systems, which will include a gating technology in the coming month. We are doing this to ensure that our best-in-class e-cigarette technology can access additional nicotine markets and customers, such as the $80 billion U.S. nicotine market, ultimately driving worldwide demand for our technology and creating long-term value. Another key highlight during this fiscal year is the successful closing of our $12.3 million public offering in March. We are very encouraged by our achievement as our team was able to overcome a very volatile macro environment to successfully complete this transaction, creating additional growth opportunities for Ispire. Gross proceeds from the offering funded, as previously mentioned, the joint venture with Berify and Chemular as well as helped establish and streamline operations in our Malaysian manufacturing facility. Since our opening in February 2024, our Malaysian facility continues to trend in alignment with our operational initiatives to achieve higher gross margins. From our state-of-the-art facility, we continue to ship products, generate revenue and create a tremendous impact on our gross margins. I can't stress that this facility will be a significant advantage for Ispire going forward as we aim to capitalize on the international nicotine market and its considerable market size while streamlining our business and further driving down our product costs. Additionally, we strengthened our leadership team with key appointments, including Jim McCormick as our Chief Financial Officer; John Patterson as our Senior Vice President of International Nicotine; and Dennis Lider as our Senior Vice President for Cannabis Product Sales. These strategic moves have positioned Ispire further for continued success and value creation for our shareholders as we move forward. Fiscal year 2024 was both a foundational year and a transformative year for Ispire, marked by record-breaking revenue from our organic growth across all markets and significant margin expansion. Our focus on innovation and market leadership drove the successful implementation of key strategic initiatives in nicotine and cannabis. We continue to forge new partnerships and strengthen existing relationships, further expanding our reach globally. By introducing our leading-edge technology to new markets in the U.S. and globally, we have exceeded our growth expectations. This year's achievements have truly raised the bar for our product opportunities. We are proud of our progress and remain committed to driving innovation and capitalizing on our expanding market potential. Looking ahead, we are well positioned to build on this momentum and continue our trajectory of growth and market leadership. With that, I will turn the call over to our CFO, Jim McCormick, who will review and comment on our financial results. Jim?

Jim McCormick, CFO

Thank you, Michael. I would like to take this opportunity to summarize our key financial results for the fiscal year 2024. In my comments, I will refer to the fiscal year 2024 as the year ended on June 30, 2024. All comparisons are to the prior year ended June 30, 2023, unless otherwise stated. As Michael mentioned, we achieved significant organic growth for the fiscal year 2024. Overall, our total revenue for the fiscal year increased to $151.9 million or by 31.4% compared to the same period last year. This was driven by the following performance across our key regions. European revenues of $65.3 million in fiscal year 2024 increased by $6.5 million or 11% over the previous fiscal year. This was primarily as a result of increased sales of open vaping systems in the region. In North America, fiscal year 2024 revenues of $63.1 million represented an increase of $21.5 million or 55% over fiscal year 2023. The year-over-year growth was driven by the expansion of our cannabis vaping hardware sales to existing customers as well as the expansion of our overall customer sales base for these products, primarily in the U.S. Asia Pacific revenues were $17.6 million, an increase of $2.7 million over fiscal year 2023. For the rest of the world, revenues were $6 million, an increase of $5.7 million year-over-year, primarily on increased vaping sales in South Africa related to our licensing arrangement with international singer-songwriter Burna Boy and the BrkFsT brand. During the 12-month period ended June 30, 2024, Ispire's gross profit increased to $29.8 million or by 43.3% year-over-year. At the same time, our gross margin grew to 19.6% in fiscal year 2024 compared to 18% in fiscal year 2023. Gross profit and gross margin improvement can be attributed to our overall revenue increase as well as an improved product mix, greater purchasing cost resulting from higher sales volume and the initial benefit of lower product costs being sourced from our Malaysian production facility. Total operating expenses for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2024, were $43.7 million as compared to $25.3 million for fiscal year 2023. This increase was primarily due to expenses required to support the expanded international business footprint. These expenses were reflected in higher payroll and contract wages, sales and marketing expenses, professional fees as well as increased stock-based compensation. As a result of these activities, our fiscal year 2024 net loss for the 12-month period ending June 30, 2024, was $14.8 million, as compared to a loss of $6 million in fiscal year 2023. Turning to the balance sheet and liquidity. As of the end of our fiscal year, that being June 30, 2024, and June 30, 2023, with cash balances of $35.1 million at the end of fiscal year 2024 compared to $40.1 million at the end of fiscal year 2023. For those same periods, we have working capital balances of $16.6 million and $29 million, respectively. Net cash used in operating activities was $18.3 million for the 12-month period ended June 30, 2024, compared to $8.5 million in fiscal year 2023. Net cash provided by investing activities was $3 million compared to $10.2 million used in investing activities in fiscal year 2023. In fiscal year 2024, net cash provided by financing activities was $10.1 million compared to $15.6 million used in financing activities in fiscal year 2023. With that, this concludes the review of Ispire's fiscal year 2024 financial results. I will now turn the call back over to Michael.

Michael Wang, Co-CEO

Thanks, Jim. Before we open the call to questions, I would like to expand on how our key strategies relate to our long-term financial thoughts. As we move forward into fiscal year 2025, we believe our strategic investments and the continued innovation position us for sustained future profitable growth. I would like to reiterate that our focus at Ispire remains on innovation. We strive to be a leader in the industry using our technology to help verify what best-in-class products are and set a new standard for excellence. We are evaluating potential partnerships, growth opportunities and ways to streamline our supply chain so that they align with our overall mission on a consistent basis. We look forward to sharing future updates and progress as they develop. If you have any questions, please contact us through our e-mail at ir@ispertechnology.com. Otherwise, operator, this completes our prepared remarks, and we are now open to questions. Please go ahead.

Operator, Operator

Our first question comes from Scott Fortune with ROTH Capital Partners.

Scott Fortune, Analyst

First of all, I want to focus on margins and the recent improvement in gross margins over the last two quarters since bringing in-house manufacturing to Malaysia. Can you explain the gross margins by category in the fourth quarter, specifically comparing tobacco and cannabis? How should we anticipate the trends for fiscal year '25 as you increase production lines in Malaysia? Additionally, could you provide more details about gross margins and the outlook for each category? How much of the improvement you mentioned is due to savings in Malaysia, changes in product mix, and renegotiating sources in China? That would be helpful.

Michael Wang, Co-CEO

Thank you for the question, Scott. Regarding gross margins by category, I want to highlight the most recent quarter, Q4. Both the cannabis and e-cigarette sectors experienced increased gross margins, with each exceeding 20%. The cannabis sector, in particular, surpassed 25%. Q4 was indeed a record quarter for gross margins in both categories. Looking ahead to the new fiscal year, we are optimistic that this trend will persist. We expect gross margins for both segments to continue expanding, and by the end of this fiscal year, we anticipate that the margins for both sectors will be very close. Our goal is to achieve high 20% margins on both fronts. Scott, does that address your question?

Scott Fortune, Analyst

Yes. No, it's helpful. Just remind us kind of the savings you're getting in Malaysia from that standpoint as you move more in-house products coming from Malaysia?

Michael Wang, Co-CEO

Yes. For Malaysia, there is a slight, I would say, we are pivoting in terms of priority. Previously, we wanted to utilize Malaysia primarily for cannabis hardware production. However, things changed quite a bit in the last four months, especially after the June World Vape Expo in Dubai, we received tremendous requests and demand from brands and distributors for us to produce e-cigarettes for worldwide markets from Malaysia. This is partially because worldwide, many of the players realize that there is going to be a geopolitical risk associated with factories in China. And given such high demand, we internally have decided we are shifting Malaysia priority more in the direction for high-quality premium e-cigarette products. So Scott, I think that's one part of my answer to your question. But certainly, from a gross margin point of view, the goal is the same, to continue to hand more production to Malaysia, so that we can benefit from the higher gross margin, whether it's e-cigarette or cannabis hardware. Scott?

Scott Fortune, Analyst

Thank you for the update. You have those great details there. Next question, can you provide kind of an update on the global vape sales as the tobacco sales look like it ramped up 18% year-over-year? But the expansion of your brands, you have your own brands, you have third-party brands that you've added on distribution and adding on Hidden Hills here. But just kind of get a sense for the tobacco opportunity as you move into Africa, continue to expand into Europe and the Middle East from that standpoint. And additionally, are you currently producing that 3 million units with your new ODM partner, just kind of the ramp-up of that ODM partnership would be great.

Michael Wang, Co-CEO

I'll answer your second question first. On the ODM deal, we are in July and August, we were increasing production capacity. Especially when this relationship was formed in June, we didn't have enough, let's just say, production tooling or molds, number of sets more available to immediately produce 3 million units. But in the first two months of the new fiscal year, we rapidly increased that. So starting with the month of September, we have the 3 million-a-month capacity finally. So it will go forward that way. In fact, based on the demand towards the end of this calendar year, we may even need to further increase production capacity. So we are already standing where we are today, we are already where we upgrade our promise to the customers. We certainly are hoping that the products will be received well by consumers so that we could further increase beyond 3 million units a month rather quickly. So that's on that front. As far as the global nicotine overview and strategy. On one hand, as we launched our global nicotine initiative, we started with the Burna Boy BrkFst brand. And their brand, certainly, just strategically, we decided to launch it in South Africa first, followed by North African countries or markets and the Middle East. And then early next year, we'll expand into Europe and we are on track there. Of course, like any launch of a new brand in any market the initial momentum building phase is critical. So we selected South Africa as a launching market for this product. So far, the reception has been tremendously positive. Just in South Africa alone, we expect demand for BrkFst branded products to ramp up from an initial estimate at about 1 million units a month to toward the end of this fiscal year, 2 million units. So as we continue with the build-out in South Africa, we have already established signed supply agreements and distribution agreements in the Middle East, Egypt and several North African countries. So that has proven to be very successful. We are mindful, Scott, of which brand is best suited in what market. That's why Hidden Hills Club comes into the picture and completes our global roadmap very nicely. Hidden Hills is absolutely well received in the Middle East, in Europe and more importantly, in Latin America. So with that, it gives us a very complementary brand in combination with BrkFst to give us just a global footprint. This global footprint is important to us also because as we know, tobacco, let's just say whether it's BAT or Imperial and so on or PMI, their attention often is not focused on some markets that we are attacking right now. So we do feel we have a strong advantage in this exercise where we can become one of the top players in those markets, taking advantage of the lack of focus from the big tobacco competitors. Scott, did I answer your question?

Scott Fortune, Analyst

Yes. That's great. And then, one quick one, one last one, here around the balance sheet and priorities as you have meaning improved your gross margins as you mentioned that was your execution from last year, but can you provide your timeline now to reach breakeven and generate cash flow or next quarters here from that standpoint? And then also address your accounts receivable, accounts payable and activities towards improving that side of the business too.

Michael Wang, Co-CEO

Okay. I will briefly touch on the profitability and breakeven part. And then I will turn to Jim to talk about our AR matters. Yes. As far as the breakeven target, we are aiming, especially now with heavy investments into the gating technology and the PMTA applications. As we all know, PMTA applications are expensive exercises and more importantly, investment into our global lighting initiatives. Our breakeven target is now moved to the fiscal third quarter. So we are aiming to break even by the end of March 2025. However, just another data point I want to share with you is on a non-GAAP basis, I do want to share this piece of data because it's indicative of where we are and where we are headed. On a non-GAAP basis, even though for the quarter, for the June quarter, we reported about $3.4 million in net loss, but on a non-GAAP basis, we were actually making $1.3 million in profit. The key factors there are really, as Jim mentioned earlier, stock option-based compensation expenses actually was significant. And some other like patent-related expenses or amortization and some other noncash provisions contributed to that. So this is important partially because from operating activities, we are actually on good track, solid track toward profitability. So the $1.3 million non-GAAP target truly gave us the confidence that we can get to GAAP-based profitability by the March quarter 2025. So Jim, can you answer the AR related questions from Scott?

Jim McCormick, CFO

Sure. So Scott, we look at the balance sheet and managing the balance sheet is obviously a very high priority of mine and Michael's, and the whole company. We saw a significant increase in accounts receivable to $59.7 million from $24.5 million last year. Now that was largely the result of our expansion into the U.S. cannabis market and getting new customers on board and getting them into our ecosystem, if you will. Now that comes at a price because I think most people on this call will know the challenges faced by the U.S. cannabis industry with the banking issues, high levels of taxation, et cetera, et cetera. So it's a very cash-strapped industry at the moment and we see that reflected in our accounts receivable. So getting that market share came at a bit of a price in terms of collecting on those accounts not as quickly as we'd like in all cases, but our customers are doing their best and we're staying on top with them to get that accounts receivable down. I will say, going forward, and I think it's in the release that we talk about refocusing our efforts in the U.S. cannabis market. With that increased scale comes the opportunity to service larger customers, the MSOs at the level that they need to be serviced, and we're confident we can do that. So we are looking at improving the overall quality of our receivable base going forward, so as to get that cash flow coming in quicker to the company. In terms of accounts payable, the increase there is in the related party line item. And that's really one hand-in-hand with what I just said about the expansion into the U.S. market. So we have favorable terms with our related party factory, and that will carry forward and be taken down as we collect on that AR going forward. Is that good for you, Scott?

Michael Wang, Co-CEO

By the way, Scott, I'll add one more element to our AR, I guess, in going forward. In addition to what Jim said about our focus on the larger customers, MSOs and so on, on the cannabis side. That's another reason we are more determined than ever to push forward with full force on the global nicotine side because payment terms on the nicotine side are just far more favorable for us. And it will certainly help with overall AR as a percentage of the total sales.

Operator, Operator

Our next question comes from the line of Bo Pei with US Tiger Securities.

Bo Pei, Analyst

Can management give us some sort of outlook or even guidance for fiscal year 2025, especially for the revenue growth for both cannabis and e-cigarette?

Michael Wang, Co-CEO

Thank you for the question, Bo. This is the first time I won't be able to provide an answer on that topic. Given the numerous projects and opportunities we are pursuing, it will be really challenging to predict this fiscal year. The growth rate could range from 30% to 50% to 100%, and it’s difficult to say right now. We prefer not to share any numbers because, honestly, we are uncertain whether it will lean towards 100% or remain at 30% or 50%. I apologize for that.

Bo Pei, Analyst

Yes. Yes, that's totally understandable. Thanks for the clarification. But can you also maybe just briefly talk about the baggage opportunity you see, the revenue opportunities you see in 2025? Will that come from cannabis or e-cigarette or in terms of geographic distribution, where will the incremental demand come from?

Michael Wang, Co-CEO

I can definitely provide more insight. Regarding the cannabis sector, as Jim pointed out, we're all aware of the hurdles the industry is experiencing due to banking challenges, oversupply, and price competition among brands and retailers. It’s not an ideal macro environment for anyone involved. The positive aspect for us is our global nicotine strategy, which is being actively implemented. Therefore, we expect to see significantly higher growth in the e-cigarette market, particularly from international markets in this fiscal year. As I mentioned, ODM alone is set to generate considerable revenue, potentially doubling or exceeding our e-cigarette revenue by itself. Additionally, we have other branded businesses like BrkFst and Hidden Hills, and we are preparing to launch another brand on a global scale. To summarize, the majority of our growth is expected to stem from global nicotine. Furthermore, we are optimistic that by fiscal year 2026, we will start to see the impacts of our PMTA applications in the U.S. market. When that happens, it will be monumental, as our age-gating technology will finally enable us to offer a range of flavors to consumers while safeguarding minors from accessing e-cigarettes, which is a primary concern for both the FDA and consumers at this time. We are confident that our age-gating technology will allow us to provide a variety of flavors, positioning Ispire favorably in the years to come.

Operator, Operator

Our next question comes from Pablo Zuanic with Zuanic & Associates.

Pablo Zuanic, Analyst

Mr. Wang, can you provide more details about the gating technology? For instance, how unique is it? Will you be the first to market with this product, and when do you expect to have it available? Please address that first.

Michael Wang, Co-CEO

Yes, thank you, Pablo. Currently, there are several proposed solutions for age gating in the market, but we have a distinctive advantage with our solution for several reasons. Firstly, it is built on blockchain technology, which is inherently secure and not easily hackable. Young users often find ways to bypass software solutions, but with our blockchain-based system, even if one device is compromised, it doesn’t affect the others since each device has its own unique token. This is a significant advantage that is important to both parents and the FDA. Another key advantage is that we leverage existing technology as our backbone, setting us apart from other solutions which tend to be web-based and complicated to navigate. These web-based solutions create friction for users, while our app-based solution is straightforward and easy to use. We collaborate with reliable back-end technology partners, such as Clear, which is used in airport security, and ID Me. This results in a seamless experience once age verification is complete. We are very confident in our solution, which we presented at several conferences. Consequently, we received a response from the FDA for a meeting within three weeks of our request, which is exceptionally quick given the usual timeframe for FDA responses. We believe our solution will be well received, and we plan to collaborate closely with the FDA to advance this technology. If all goes as planned, we hope to launch products in the U.S. by the end of 2025.

Pablo Zuanic, Analyst

That's great. And then just following up on the request for a meeting with the FDA, which is typically a lengthy process but they responded in just three weeks. We believe this will be well received and we plan to collaborate closely with them to advance this technology. If everything goes well, by the end of 2025, we hope to be close to launching products in the U.S.

Jim McCormick, CFO

Michael, can I add just one thing, Pablo, Jim McCormick here. I'd just add that this is a global product, while it's going through the FDA process. This product also has application around the world, especially Europe, where obviously, the youth access is as much of an issue as it is here, and it has application not just in the e-cigarettes, but also in the cannabis hardware. So I just thought I'd add that.

Michael Wang, Co-CEO

Great point, Jim. Pablo, I didn't mention that. Jim is totally right. In fact, this technology we presented to some European regulators. They are absolutely excited about it. So from that point of view, it's highly likely we would use this technology in our products for the European market much sooner than for the U.S. market. Jim, thank you.

Pablo Zuanic, Analyst

And then just following up on the PMTA, you mentioned 4 flavors. Can you roughly talk about the timeline there? I know it's hard to predict with the FDA. Are we talking mostly around disposables? And if it gets approved, roughly what could be the sales contribution from those 4 flavors in the U.S. market for the PMTA?

Michael Wang, Co-CEO

Yes. Pablo, that's a great question. As we all know, for typical consumer sell smokers, they would rather that e-cigarette having flavors or let's say, food flavors, mango flavor, for example, right? The reason today, the FDA approved products generally only contain tobacco flavor or in some cases, menthol flavor is because FDA is worried if you offer a flavor. And without age gating technology, kids and minors will get their hands on their devices. So that's their primary concern. And that's why the flavors that have been approved so far only tobacco and menthol. However, consumer demand for food-flavored e-cigarettes is absolutely out of this world. As you know, in the U.S. market, still a vast majority of the e-cigarettes sold are not PMTA approved or essentially are illegal. Yes. So that's why it's important to have a technology that will enable flavored devices. This way, you can check the black market players out, right? So I don't want to put a number to it. By all measures, U.S. total, including the black market, total e-cigarette retail sales is $80 billion a year. So if you break down that number to, let's say, wholesale revenue from brands to distributors, it's roughly $30 billion. So that is a total addressable market available to us. You can just imagine if we are the first with age-gating technology that offers food flavors, how much potential there is. Certainly, it will be in the billions.

Pablo Zuanic, Analyst

And one final question, which is somewhat broad. For instance, you attended the next-generation nicotine delivery event in June. What are the general updates regarding nicotine delivery? I understand it's a broad question, but when considering vapes, the focus often shifts to all-in-ones or larger formats. So, in terms of nicotine delivery, what significant developments are on the horizon?

Michael Wang, Co-CEO

Yes. In addition to age gating technology, that's important for consumer protection. Of course, product safety is another key concern. That's why we are working on a new technology that will provide safer devices getting away from the traditional, let's say, ceramic-based vaporizer technology. So we haven't publicly announced our technology yet, but it's a very safe technology, no heavy metal, no ceramic. It's a very clean technology that will offer to this market. So I think between age gating and clean technology, that's what the market is looking for in the years to come.

Jim McCormick, CFO

Michael, can I add to that, please?

Michael Wang, Co-CEO

Yes.

Jim McCormick, CFO

Pablo, one of the other dramatic changes we've seen in nicotine delivery is the emergence of the pouch sector, which Zyn, for example, in the U.S. has gone ballistic and is out of stock and driven the category in the U.S., but it's not just a U.S. phenomenon. We're seeing that globally especially in Europe, where the nicotine pouches are becoming very popular as an alternative to combustible traditional cigarettes. And we're jumping on that trend. And so we actually have pouches in the pipeline for our launch in South Africa with the BrkFst brand and plans to launch in other markets as well. But that's been a very dramatic emergence of a category that's growing at 30-some percent CAGR every year. So it's a very interesting phenomenon that something we're going to take advantage of, hopefully.

Operator, Operator

Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, that concludes our question-and-answer session. I'll turn the floor back to Mr. Wang for any final comments.

Michael Wang, Co-CEO

I just want to thank you all for joining us today. And I look forward to the next call, which is only about a month and a half away for our first quarter 2025. Thanks again.

Operator, Operator

Thank you. This concludes today's conference call. You may disconnect your lines at this time. Thank you for your participation.