Operator
Good afternoon, and welcome to the MicroVision Third Quarter 2026 Financial and Operating Results Conference Call. At this time, all participants are on a listen-only mode. At the end of management's remarks, there will be a question-and-answer session. Investors can submit their questions within the meeting webcast by typing them into the Q&A button on the left side of their viewing screen. Analysts who publish research may ask questions on the phone line. For an analyst to ask a question on the phone line, please press star 1 on your phone. Please note this event is being recorded. I would now like to turn the conference over to Drew Markham. Please go ahead.
Thank you, Matthew. Good afternoon. I'm here today with our Chief Executive Officer, Glenn DeVos, and our new Chief Financial Officer, Christine Chambers. Following their prepared remarks, we will open the call to questions. Please note that some of the information you'll hear in today's discussion will include forward-looking statements including, but not limited to, expected near-term and future revenue, operating expenses and cash usage, strategic plans and execution, expectations regarding product deliveries and commercial growth, impact of cost reduction activities, product applications Thank you. We will review our SEC filings, including our most recently filed Form 10-K and quarterly reports on Form 10-Q. These filings describe risk factors that could cause our actual results to differ materially from those implied or expressed in our forward-looking statement. All forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this call, and except as required by law, we undertake no obligation to update this information. In addition, we will present certain financial measures on this call that will be considered non-GAAP under the SEC's Regulation G. For reconciliations of each non-GAAP financial measure to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measure, as well as for all the financial data presented on this call, please refer to the information included in our press release and our Form 8K dated and submitted to the SEC today, both of which can be found on our corporate website at IR.microvision.com under the SEC Filings tab. This conference call will be available for audio replay on the Investor Relations section of our website at www.microvision.com. Now, I would like to turn the call over to Glenn DeVos, our Chief Executive Officer. Glenn.
Thank you, Jerome, and good afternoon, everyone. Welcome to Microvision's third quarter 2026 earnings call. Over the past several quarters, we have talked about the transformation underway at Microvision and our strategy to build a fundamentally different LiDAR company. Our goal was to broaden the portfolio to enable Microvision to have the right solutions for our three primary end markets, industrial, security and defense, and automotive. Now, as we enter the final months of 2026, I can We can state with confidence that our strategy is working, and Q3 was a very important quarter for us. It achieved significant progress across all areas of the business, the portfolio, commercial success, as well as the organization. Our progress in Q3 positions microvision for near and long-term revenue growth with an operating model that will drive positive cash flow. We'll first take a look at the financials, and then I will go into more detail about the key developments in the quarter, that are delivering these results. Now, one of those key developments was the addition of Christine Chambers to our team as our Chief Financial Officer, and it's a pleasure to have her with us on the call today. So, with that, I'm going to turn it over to Christine to go through the financials.
Thank you, Glenn, and good afternoon, everyone. During my first two months in microvision, I've spent time with our employees, customers, and shareholders. What I've seen and heard The Q3 report reinforces two priorities that will define our financial strategy going forward. First, improving operating efficiency and reducing cash burn. Second, building a strong financial foundation that supports long-term growth and attracts long-term capital. Today's results demonstrate progress against both of those objectives. But before I provide an update on the Q3 results, let me start with operating discipline, cash flow, and how we fund the business while we execute our roadmap. For the nine months ending September 30, 2026, cash used in operating activities totaled $49.2 million. We remain on track to finish the year near our target operating cash burn of $60 million, depending primarily on the timing of certain working capital items. Looking ahead at 2027, we're targeting approximately $40 million of operating cash burn, a reduction of roughly one-third from current levels. To support that objective, we recently implemented a workforce reduction affecting approximately 28% of our organizations. These functions focus primarily on non-revenue generating functions, while preserving the resources required to support customer shipments, commercialization activities, and continued halo development. These decisions were not made lightly. They were intended to create a leaner, more efficient organization while positioning us to support growth and improved operating leverage as revenue scales. Reductions focused on R&D and G&A groups while strengthening our operations and our supply The more efficient operating cost structure aligned with commercial priorities is real and underway. Turning to revenue, we remain confident in our full year 2026 revenue outlook with $10 million to $15 million. Today we have approximately $10 million of customer purchase orders awaiting shipment with a majority of inventory already built and available for delivery. These orders, together with the $4.8 million of revenue recognized through September, give us visibility into our full-year revenue outlook. The primary variable is going to be shipments rather than customer demand. While certain supply chain dependencies remain, our focus is on shipping products and continuing to scale commercial operations. The second question I frequently get asked is how will we intend to fund the business while we execute our roadmap? For the remainder of 2026, our priority is maximizing non-dilutive sources of liquidity. This includes active working capital management, monetization of non-core assets, and other opportunities to unlock value from assets already on our balance sheet. We also continue to maintain access to existing financing tools and have approximately $40 million remaining on the ATM facility should we determine it appropriate to use. As we look ahead to 2027, we expect revenue to double from our 2026 level. 2027 is supported by committed purchase orders exiting 2026. Expansion of IRIS sales to existing customers, as well as sales of our Movia products to existing and new customers. Alongside expected lower cash burn, we're evaluating financing of alternatives to secure what I would describe as clean capital. This includes strategic partnerships and commercial and licensing opportunities. Together with continued balance sheet improvements that strengthen our ability to attract long-term capital, we also continue to evaluate strategic alternatives to certain non-core assets, including opportunities to monetize technologies or establish partnerships that can generate value while maintaining focus on our commercialization priorities. The combination of sustainable commercial growth, the lower cash burn, and disciplined financing will create a significantly more attractive financing profile. Turning to our third quarter results, the most important takeaway is that we're beginning to see commercial progress translate into financial results. Third quarter revenue was $2.4 million compared to $0.2 million in the third quarter of 2025, and equal to the $2.4 million generated during the entire first half of 2026. Year-to-date revenue was $4.8 million, Nearly five times the $1 million reported through the first nine months of 2025. Just as important as the growth in revenue is the change in the revenue mix. This time last year, revenue was largely driven by software licensing and royalties. Today, the business is increasingly being supported by product shipments into industrial, security and defense, and automotive sectors. Commercialization progress is beginning to show up in his financial performance, and Glenn will describe details of this progress in a moment. Gross profit was $1.2 million, or 50% of revenue, compared with a negative gross profit of $0.7 million in the third quarter of last year. Year-to-date gross margin improved to 46%, compared with negative 126% in the same period of 2025. The improvement in gross margin was driven by our ability to leverage inventory and assets purchased as part of the Luminar acquisition, including the new manufacturing facility in Orlando. While gross margin will continue to fluctuate based on product mix and shipment timing, these results demonstrate the operating leverage available in the business as revenue scales. Total operating expenses were $22.5 million in the quarter, down approximately 7.5% from our first half quarterly average of $24.4 million. Research and development expenses declined to $13.2 million. SG&A expense was $9.4 million, including approximately $1.2 million of non-recurring finance-related costs. While operating expenses remain above prior year levels due to the acquisitions of Luminar and Scantinol, the third quarter reflects the first benefits of our ongoing cost reduction initiatives. Importantly, we're now actively aligning resources towards program and markets with the greatest near-term commercial potential. Adjusted EBITDA loss was $11.1 million. This compares to our first half quarterly average of $18 million. Noted in Q3, we did recognize a $6.3 million research and development German government grant. While we still have work to do, these results reflect the early impact of both revenue growth And operating discipline. Gap net loss for the quarter was $12.2 million, or $0.45 cents per share, compared with a net loss of $14.2 million, or $0.72 cents per share in the third quarter of 2025. We ended the quarter with $28.9 million in cash and cash equivalents, compared with the $27.2 million in the end of the second quarter. Cash used in operating activities was $13.6 million, improving from $16.5 million in the prior year period. The quarter benefit from the receipt of that German R&D grant. Inventory increased by $3.7 million compared to December 2025 as we built sensors to support customer demand and accounts Most receivable increased $1.4 million on higher product shipments in the quarter. As we look ahead to the fourth quarter and into 2027, our priorities remain clear, continued converting of expanding commercial pipelines into repeatable product revenue and broaden our customer base, and complete the cost reduction initiatives already underway and deliver our Our objective of reducing annual cash burn by approximately one-third while continuing to support Movia production and HALO development. Please continue to strengthen the balance sheet and discipline capital management. We'll focus on clean funding opportunities, strategic partnerships, and further simplification of our capital structure. Before I come back to Glenn, I'll leave you with three messages. First, commercial activity is increasingly translating into measurable financial results, and we're on track to meet the 2026 revenue guidance of $10 to $15 million. Secondly, we're taking decisive actions to improve efficiency and reduce cash burn by a third next year. And third, we're building a stronger balance sheet and financial foundation to support long-term growth and attract long-term capital. We have more work ahead, but I'm really encouraged by the progress we're making and confident in the direction we're taking. With that, I'll be on the call back to Glenn.
Thanks, Christine. I'd now like to turn the focus to how we're making this happen, and it really starts with our portfolio and the commercial success we are experiencing Thank you. and is the pathway to HALO, our next-generation 1550 nanometer LIDAR, which will replace IRIS and deliver even greater value to existing and new customers. HALO will launch in Q4 of 2027, and we are now in customer evaluation phase of the program. IRIS and HALO are perfectly positioned to dominate the industrial and security and defense spaces. For 15-50 nanometer harsh environment operation and a high-performance point cloud are essential requirements. 15-50 nanometer LIDAR is also critical for defense applications as it operates beyond the detection range of night vision systems, like night vision goggles. Finally, IRIS and HALO are also fully NDA-compliant products made in the USA. This is exactly what our security and defense customers require. IRIS is delivering, and customers like Overland AI and Lake Fusion Technologies will recognize the value and performance that IRIS brings together for their applications. The selection of IRIS for these programs is another important validation of the technology and the broader opportunity for microvision in ground autonomy and aviation applications. Now, we are also seeing traction with the Intelligent Transportation System-Related Customers, or ITS, for traffic Traffic management and analytics, which represents a new customer base within the security and defense space. In Q3, we made critical deliveries to our development partners for work in this area. We see ITS and traffic management as a key growth area for us in 27 and beyond as HALO is a perfect fit for these applications with its range and field of view. Furthermore, as we now have the critical suppliers fully engaged, Q4 will see a significant increase from Q3 for IRIS shipments as we accelerate our deliveries. In August, we announced initial and repeat purchase orders from customers in North America and Europe representing thousands of IRIS sensors across industrial security and defense applications. Those orders spanned applications including off-road autonomy, space systems, material handling, logistics, robotics, and other intelligent systems. Now, this is important for two reasons. First, near-term revenue confidence for 26 and 27. Those are the IRIS shipments. But also, IRIS is the gateway to HALO. Existing IRIS customers will be able to seamlessly transition to HALO starting in Q4 of next year. And new customers can start their development using IRIS for the planned migration to HALO in early 28. This secures both near-term and longer-term revenue expansion. Halo will bring the same outstanding performance and reliability in a smaller, lower power, and lower-cost package. We have already begun customer evaluations of Halo during Q3, and we will have our pre-production samples available early next year for full customer testing and evaluation. Now, IRIS isn't the only thing that's going on. Scantanel continues to make significant progress with the development of their 1550 nanometer FMCW ultra-long-range A samples scheduled for early next year. As we have discussed, the progression from discrete components to a LiDAR on a chip is exactly how we will continue to drive down costs for LiDAR while expanding performance, and that's exactly what Scantanel does. Now, in addition to long-range LiDAR, Scantonell is fundamentally technology, which is the packaging of high-powered lasers and amplifiers onto a low-cost photonic integrated circuit, or PIC. This applies to adjacent industries, and that is why the introduction of Scantonell's ELSFP, which stands for the External Laser Source Small Form Factor Package, why that ELSFP product is so compelling. The move to photonic interconnects for high-speed processing requires energy and cost-efficient solutions. Cantonell's ELSFP delivers exactly that, and this is as part of the overall trend going to optical interconnects for high-speed data. Now that creates an opportunity for microvision and AI data center infrastructure where increasing compute density is creating those significant challenges around bandwidth, power consumption, and data movement. To frame it up, the external laser source market is rapidly expanding with the TAMs growing into the multi-billion dollar levels by 2030. Now, as Christine mentioned earlier, we are currently in discussion with potential licensees and development partners as we evaluate commercialization paths for this technology. It's just an amazing opportunity for us, and it's a good example of what we mean when we talk about extracting greater value from the technology portfolio we have assembled. You know, we didn't have to build an entirely new technology stack to do this. We identified an additional significant commercial application for the technology we already own and as part of our portfolio. Now, in addition to Iris and ScanFinal, we have continued to develop our Movia short-range flash LIDAR products. Now, Muvia 120 continues its success for the European UGV market, and we plan to replace that in 27 with Muvia Pro, which we've launched this month. Now, I'll come back to Muvia Pro in just a moment, but first I want to talk about Muvia L60, the foundation for our Muvia Air platform. We now have three offerings within that Muvia Air platform. The first is Muvia Air, which is based on the Muvia L60 sensor and adapted for use in drones to provide navigation and collision avoidance capability. This is especially important for package delivery and near ground applications, delivery drones, or drones that operate in congested areas. The second is Muvia Air Plus, which is a complete LIDAR and camera-based mapping and ISR, or Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance payload that can be mounted to any drone to provide real-time ISR capabilities and real-time communications to the ground. And this is where Microvision's perception platform shines in being able to fuse camera and LiDAR into a human and computable-readable 3D map in real time. No post-processing, no waiting for the drone to come back. The payload develops a lightweight and highly detailed map that is securely transmitted to the ground, UGVs, or to other assets in real time. And third, we now have Movia Air Plus ISR, where we can deliver the entire system, including the drone and the supporting peripheral equipment. This allows our customers to have a complete out-of-the-box solution ready to deploy. We've demonstrated the complete system with our development partner, Robinson Unmanned, at GIFX AUSA and have a full slate of upcoming U.S. and European demonstrations scheduled for the next months. Our partnership with JA Green is now a key part of moving from this demonstration phase to engagement and contracts. Similarly, our work with Avular in Europe is opening up that region for us. Air, land, and sea-based autonomy are massive growth areas for microvision, and we can play a critical role in all of these systems. Our full range of Muvia Air platforms enables Microvision to deliver exactly what our customers need at every level of system capability. We first announced Muvia Air products in August, and they are now ready to go. Let's come back to Muvia Pro. You've heard me talk about Muvia S in the past. This was the generic description of our next-generation Muvia short-range flash LIDAR platform. MUVIA Pro is the first configuration to launch, and it is like no other short-range LIDAR in the industry. MUVIA Pro not only delivers exceptional point cloud with unmatched uniformity and coverage, it has the full capability of an onboard system on-ship and IMU, which means it can support not only the sensor model or the point cloud model, but full perception and advanced features. This eliminates the need for costly external compute and interconnects, and Muvia Pro is supported by MicroVision's open software framework, making it easier than ever for our customers to develop and integrate advanced features using Muvia Pro's histograms, point cloud, or metadata. Muvia Pro brings physical AI to the edge in a fully solid state, compact, and cost-effective package. We are currently engaged with requests for Movia Pro lighters with over 70 end customers, a significant increase versus the prior period when we were doing the pre-development with Movia S. With our launch of Movia Pro now taking place, we will begin that process of converting these customers from development to production contracts. The strong customer interest and orders from Movia Pro gives us confidence in our revenue outlook for 2027 and beyond. And Muvia Pro is just the beginning for the Muvia family of products. Over the course of the next year, we will be announcing additional Muvia variants as Muvia replaces existing Muvia L applications and begins production with new Muvia customers across all of our end markets. Shifting gears a bit, in July, we announced the formation of Microvision Semiconductor in Colorado Springs, our advanced ASIC development and mixed signal design center. With more than three decades of custom IC development experience, MSI expands Microvision's ASIC internal development capabilities, which is critical for us, really, on all of our products, but also opens up external revenue opportunities, as we announced in September with our Photonics Application Award. MSI brings a critical capability in-house while being able to serve the broader market and as an additional source of engineering service revenue for us. And finally, earlier this month, we announced our strategic commercial alliance with Blueband, an established leader in intelligent transportation system design and implementation. While Blueband will continue to support their existing customer and partnership base, This alliance immediately opens up the ITS market for both hardware and software sales from MicroVision. ITS is a high-value, rapidly expanding market, and this partnership enables MicroVision to accelerate its position in the space, expand its customer reach, and generate revenue from Blue Band's established customer base. Also, separate from our Blue Band alliance, a leading smart mobility technology provider recently selected Iris This has its long-range sensor for applications within its automated traffic safety solutions. IRIS is also in the final stages of evaluation by a provider of autonomous and intelligent system solutions to deliver an integrated LIDAR perception solution for automatic traffic enforcement applications. These are two really good examples of programs starting with IRIS that will continue to grow over time with Halo. As I mentioned, Q3 was the inflection point for Microvision, and we have made tremendous progress in strengthening and broadening our portfolio. Why is this so impactful? It enables Microvision to win in our primary end markets, delivering near-term revenue for 26, as well as strong growth in 27 and beyond. And this is exactly what we are now seeing. So let me shift First over to the organization, the third element. As Microvision advances its commercial growth strategy and path to profitability, we're taking deliberate steps to align our organization talent and resources with our highest priority opportunities. Our focus is on building a leaner, more agile, commercially driven organization that operates with greater precision, accountability, and efficiency. This includes restructuring our teams to To ensure we have the right capabilities and resources directed towards the markets, products, and customer opportunities, we believe, offer the greatest potential for near-term revenue generation and long-term growth. These decisions are part of a broader commitment to financial discipline and operational efficiency. By prioritizing investments, streamlining our organizational structure, and reducing our costs where appropriate, We are positioning Microvision to execute more effectively, accelerate commercialization, and make measurable progress towards positive cash flow. Our objective is clear. Focus our people, our capital, and our capabilities where they can create the greatest impact. This restructuring is not simply about reducing costs. It's about building the organization Microvision needs for its next phase of commercial growth. With the discipline, focus, and execution capabilities required to deliver on our priorities and advance our path to profitability. Now, before we call for questions, I want to leave you with a few thoughts about where Microvision stands today and where we are headed. When I started as CEO of Microvision just over a year ago, we set out a plan to transform the company, and that is exactly what we have been doing. Over the past three quarters, we've consolidated an industry-leading ladder-based technology portfolio that can translate into commercial opportunities across a much broader set of markets. Q3 demonstrated that we are delivering on that plan. At the same time, as Christine discussed, we remain focused on disciplined execution and capital allocation. We are clearly focused on our growth factors and have the resources aligned and able to deliver. However, as we look towards 2027, we have more ways to win than at any point in MicroVision's history, across more markets, with more products, and with a clear path for growth and profitability. With that, let's open the call for questions. Operator, I'll turn it over to you. Thank you.
Operator
At this time, we are conducting a question and answer session. Investors can submit their questions within the meeting webcast by typing them into the Q&A button on the left side of their viewing screen. Analysts who publish research may ask questions on the phone line. For analysts to ask questions on the phone line, please press star 1. Our first question is from Casey Ryan of Amarex. Your line is live.
Hi. Thank you. Terrific update, Glenn and Christine. A lot to talk about, but excellent questions. Thank you. Thanks, Casey. Yeah, you bet. So quickly, can you talk a little bit more about microvision, I guess, semiconductor, this sort of unit that's developing some core technology? And so is that feeding the overall business all the LiDAR products, but it's also developing essentially merchant products? And it sounds like you're calling out kind of a defense opportunity in this quarterly update.
Yeah, so maybe a little bit of context for that. MSI, or Microvision Semiconductor, was originally Black Forest Engineering, so we acquired the capability with the purchasing of Luminar, not necessarily the name. Okay. And what we realized is they were critical for designing key parts of the silicon inside of both Iris as well as Halo. And so that was a capability, and really it gets to being able to design the chips that are sensitive enough to deliver the performance that Iris and Halo are delivering, which is that range and detection capability. And so we know, you know, it's a capability we want to maintain and really have control over. At the same time, when we looked at that group, what we recognized was, well, they have a really unique skill set in mixed signal, now in photonics, where that, you know, that serves our needs, but it also serves a lot of needs in the broader industry. And in particular for markets and applications where, you know, they want, you know, in defense and in space where they want to, you know, their customers want to maintain control of that, you know, in the U.S. with security, et cetera. And so what we determined was MSI can be a great capability for us, but also, you know, basically a nice revenue generator so that we essentially can keep that capability running, but without incurring a lot of additional costs and overheads for it. And so it's kind of the best of both worlds.
Okay. Okay. So what MSI's core technology isn't necessarily built into the, like, broader pre-existing microvision product line. It was really serving Luminar and then also the third-party markets, I guess, or new markets.
Not today. It was definitely part of the Luminar product line. We brought them in to support Scantanel on the photonics integrated circuit design that's being done, and they are actually helping on custom silicon now in Mubia, but those products and technologies haven't gone to production, so they're not, you know, those haven't launched yet. So they're now supporting the broader organization within Microvision, but in addition to that, are attracting outside customers as well.
Okay. All right. Thank you. I know that was a little in the weeds, but that's helpful for me to understand. Well, so sort of more importantly and broadly, the commercial engagement seems to have really accelerated across multiple end markets. And I'm curious if you could describe maybe, you know, how you've done that, what's helped do that. But it seems like the level and sort of, you know, what I'm more impressed by with is the broadness, right? All of a sudden, there seems to be a lot happening in defense and industrial and ITS. And so something has changed for the positive. But I wonder if you'd elaborate more on how you've done that.
Yeah, I think there's three pieces to that. The first starts with really good products, and so Iris is just an amazing performing product. It develops a point cloud that is just outstanding at range, really good detection, and so as we brought that to other customers, it's just easy to demonstrate and showcase that. And the same with Movia now. When you look at a point cloud that Movia Pro develops, it's just beautiful. And so it starts with good products and having the right product for the end market. And those were two where we knew the demand was going to be there. It's just a matter of how do you get the right product to it. The second is there is some tailwind in terms of the technologies that we have now, and the fact that we're a U.S.-German company building in the U.S., and so whether it's, you know, FCC rulings or it's just the general concern about sourcing LiDAR from other countries, you know, they want to, you know, German OEMs and the defense want to source, and European want to source some European suppliers. And so there's some tailwinds in terms of just we're positioned really well to be able to provide that, you know, manufactured in the U.S. and NDA compliant. And so certainly that's a tailwind. And then the third part of it is I would say James and the commercial team really getting traction. James joined us back in early August and, I mean, just, you know, has been able to drive engagements to closure and really move things. And so, you know, when you look at those three things, those three factors, that's, you know, that's what's driving the, you know, overall really step function improvement and trajectory now going forward.
Okay. Terrific. That's helpful. And then quickly, I'll get out of the way here. On sort of on the financials and looking forward, I think in the past we've talked about gross margins, which were good in the quarter, but sort of being in the range of kind of 40 to 50 is maybe a rough guide for what you're aiming for. Does that still feel comfortable as you move into Q4 and maybe thinking about 27 in kind of a general sense?
Yeah, maybe I'll turn it over to you, Christine, and then I can add a comment.
Yeah, absolutely. So I think, you know, obviously, we've seen great gross margins in Q3 and, you know, tried to give some context to that with the, you know, some of the assets and the inventory that we had on hand. Saying that, I think, you know, they will continue to fluctuate. I think, you know, as we change our product mix and the timing of our shipments, we'll see some of that leverage that we've experienced in 2026. With the new product mix, you know, we'll probably get back to more normalized levels. But I'll let Glenn add any context to that that you want to add, Glenn.
Yeah, I think Iris has been a very strong performer. We've, you know, the team has done a really nice job negotiating with suppliers and really controlling, you know, the costs, you know, the cogs on the product. And then as demand has increased, it's helped us. You know, Movia, kind of what Christine is alluding to, is your first launch of product, not uncommon, for gross margin to be a little bit thinner as your volumes aren't there yet. But in terms of long-term target, no, for these products, with the markets that we're serving at 40 to 45 percent, that's where we need to be. And I think we have a clear path to getting there.
Okay. Thank you. And then with the workforce reduction, you know, I think Christine mentioned 28% was sort of the headcount reduction. Is it fair for us to sort of think about OPEX being at least 28% lower going forward, I guess? Is that sort of a reasonable thing to think about?
Yeah, you know, I talked about the reduction in cash burn, and that is directly related to your comment in that we focused the cost reductions, the reductions in force in R&D and G&A, so we will continue, we'll see those sort of in 2027 materialize and then drop to the bottom line as well as we think about improvement. So, yes, is the answer. We'll see that next year.
Okay. Terrific. Thank you. Well, I'll get out of the way. Great quarter, great update, and thanks for taking my questions.
Operator
I will now turn this call back over to Christine Chambers to read questions submitted by shareholders.
Thank you. Thank you, Operator. So, looking at the questions here, Glenn, I think there's a first question for you, Which talks a little bit about our customers and our brands. So the first question is, why has Microsoft only named a couple of customers? Is it because they don't exist? And if we don't name them, you know, why are we confident?
Yeah, it's a great question. And, you know, it's one I understand totally because then, you know, when I was in automotive for many years, I used to get the same question. And why don't the OEMs let you talk about them? Now, the two comments I'll make is, one, we've been able to now start naming customers. So whether it's end partners, whether it's Robinson, Overland, partners like Avular, Blueband. So names will be increasingly forthcoming. And, but the big gating factor there is, you know, the brand management at the customer or the program management at the customer. In a lot of cases, where we are with these customers is pre-production. So, you know, and this, by the way, is a key element to our growth story because we're shipping, we're shipping, you know, we're really happy with the Irish shipments that we're making, but in many cases, the volume really ticks up as we get in more into 27, 28, and not so much in 26. And so those customers haven't announced their programs. And what's very common in our industry is that customers will, you know, hold off on announcing partners, essentially until their programs have been announced. So they control the narrative around the end product and the end platform. And that's what we're seeing here. Believe me, we ask our customers, hey, can we talk about this, but we can't do it until they give us their explicit permission, then we can. And so you'll see more because the customers do exist, the POs are real, so you'll see more of that as we go into Q4 and as we go into Q27, but at this point in time, we announce when We can with the customers, you know, that are supportive of that. And like I said, as those programs mature and they get into production, and then they complete their announcements, you know, they're going to say, hey, sit tight, and, you know, we want you to hold off. But I totally understand the frustration because I would love to be talking about what we're doing with our customers. And, you know, you just have to sit tight until you have their permission. So, you know, more to come on that.
Thanks. Thanks, Glenn. The second question is around our products and applications. Which product applications and markets are expected to contribute most to Microvision's revenue growth in full year 2026 and full year 2027? And what is the central value proposition? Maybe I can take part of that, Glenn, and then you can add to it. I think what we've mentioned is that we have, as we think about supporting 2026 and 2027, you know, I've mentioned that we have, first of all, POs, $10 million of POs that we just need to get shipments to. The second thing is that we talked about the work that James is doing, and we really have that committed pipeline for Iris, which supports, you know, roughly half the revenue projected in 2027. And the timing of, you know, the shipments and supply chain availability will determine revenue timing. But there is really a robust, you know, committed pipeline behind both those new products, the IRIS, you know, inventory, as well as new products in Fomovia and demand Fomovia in 2027. Glenn, would you want to add to that?
Yeah, I think in terms of the central value prop, it really varies a little bit by end market. You know, if you think about the three markets that we serve, you know, industrial tends to be – industrial has a large range inside of it. For instance, for us in the industrial market is off-road autonomy. So it's trucking, that's off-road, that's autonomous, that needs LIDAR. Or it's heavy equipment, mining, that kind of thing. Those are long-lived programs that have multi-year development activities and testing. And so, you know, you have a clear line of sight to what that revenue is going to be on that platform, typically, you know, for four to five years. On the other hand, on the other extreme with industrial, you have distributors that are selling, you know, 10, 15, 20 at a time to, you know, automation companies or, you know, small buyers that are spot buys. And so, you know, you try to aggregate demand and come up with a schedule, but those are very short, you know, time to purchase order and purchase order to invoice. And so it really, really varies quite a bit across industrial. Security and defense tend to be a little bit more predictable, you know, not unlike what I talked about with kind of the industrial off-road vehicle base, where you have longer live programs, longer range of, you know, longer line of sight to what that revenue is going to look like. And so, you know, for us, as we, you know, kind of put together the picture for 2027, as Christine, as you mentioned, there's a, you know, it's really nice to have a significant portion of that revenue stream, more or less in either NPOs or in high confidence. Then the balance really, we then say, look, based on customer input to us and what they need and what they're, what they want to buy, here's where we think that'll be. And, you know, our goal, of course, is always to overdrive that piece of it because that's where we can get, I think, some overachievement. But, again, across those three-end markets, it's really a lot of variability in terms of those lead times and the sell cycle, if you will.
That's great. Thanks, Glenn. The next question is about the capital raising alternatives and how should the investment community think about the framework management applies when evaluating future capital risk alternatives to maintain sufficient operating liquidity? And maybe I'll start with that because I've mentioned a few of those in our remarks earlier, but I think there's three aspects to it. We're, first of all, really prioritizing and maximizing those non-dilutive sources of liquidity. And, you know, we have some of those examples with Blue Band and the strategic alliances and strategic partners and licensing opportunities. You know, we do also, as a reminder, as we have the ATM as a $40 million facility. And then I think the third one is around is developing and focusing on communicating fundamental financial results in terms of growth, cost reductions, and about cleanup of the balance sheet to help sustain, to help attract and bring long-term capital. So that's really our focus as we think about capital phase alternatives for operating liquidity. The next question for MicroVision. MicroVision previously indicated that certain industrial customers evaluating MoVR-L choose to wait for MoVR-S. Has MicroVision received any material pre-orders or other firm commitments for MoVR-S, and when will these ship, and if so?
Yeah, and that's not uncommon where a new customer, you know, looks at Movia L and then looks at Movia S and wants the latest generation. So not a surprise. You know, the good news for us is I'm confident in our ability to move all the Movia L inventory that we have. So that's not a concern for me. But what's great is the excitement around Movia S. And I mentioned that we already have engagements and demand coming out of 70 POs, or 70 customers. We have already shipped to over 18 of those customers in terms of evaluation units and samples. So as we kind of ramp up the build plan now, the plan is we'll continue to ship out to the balance and more. And, you know, what that is is this is that phase of, you know, moving through evaluation and then getting into POs. And really for us, it's two paths. One is, you know, direct to the OEM. The other is, you know, a lot of interest from large distributors that want to, that think, you know, hey, this is a great product that they can move. And so, you know, we're going We're going down both channels, but right now, really, really excited about the fact that, you know, I think last time we talked, it was about 25 customers. Now it's about 70, over 70 now. So it's just a real strong growth in looking for that product and all of its capabilities. And so that, I think, is one of the real bright spots for the quarter is being able to get that into people's hands.
Thanks, Glenn. The next question is, does the FCC action or foreign product robotics components create a measurable tailwind? We've talked a little bit about that tailwind earlier today, but to what extent do customers favor domestic supplies and how much competition does microvision face from Chinese LIDAR manufacturers compared with Western and Chinese competition? How much does Microvision see itself as differentiated?
Yeah, that's a big question. So let me just go through the different pieces of that. Yes, the FCC action on foreign-produced robotic components definitely creates a tailwind for us. And we're seeing that effect. So that's one of the reasons, as I mentioned earlier, Whether it's, you know, FCC or the desire for NDAA or it's, you know, those types of things, that's one of the tailwinds that we're seeing drive interest in the product and engagement because if you're developing a robotic system for the U.S., the last thing you need to be told after you've done all the work is, well, you can't use that component. So microvision becomes a safe bet for them. You know, to what extent do customers favor domestic suppliers? It depends a little bit by industry. In automotive, you know, generally speaking, there's not a lot of, you know, their supply chain management will buy from anywhere in the world. It's a global market. It's a global supply market. You've got to be competing head-to-head with every global supplier out there. When you get into more specialty markets like robotaxis, that's a bit of a different animal. They're going to be a little more concerned about, you know, the impact of a Chinese lighter on a U.S. robotaxi. So you're going to see, you know, there's a greater degree of sensitivity there. As you get into security and defense, there's a very high level of sensitivity there. And in fact, defense is kind of the extreme. So, as we think about the end markets and paths to revenue for us, you know, we're looking very clearly at, okay, how do I leverage that? Now, geopolitical advantages are never permanent. That, you know, over time, that changes. So, at the end of the day, we have to be competitive with Chinese or with the rest of the world, like our providers. And so when you think about that, one part of your question was, you know, how do we see ourselves as differentiated? Well, one of it is through the products that we make, the technologies, 1550, the, you know, it's a real advantage in defense and those applications where we don't want to, you know, be able to see and have visibility through night vision goggles or those types of detection because 905 and 940, You can see, you know, very easily. It's in the visible light spectrum, you know, everything, the sensor and everything it illuminates gets, can be seen. So, you know, we play to those advantages as well as the open software framework approach that we have taken to essentially make our products easier to integrate into our customer systems. And so, you know, we look at, you know, each aspect of the end market, identify those markets where we think we have differentiated advantages and that can maintain better pricing and margin. And that's where we're going after. So it's, you know, and that's where we have to just keep innovating every year to stay ahead.
Yeah, thanks. Thanks. And pivoting to production readiness, are there concerns about production readiness in 2026 and 2027?
No, I think on the production readiness side, from a capitalization, from an operational side, you know, I think we have a good plan for that and managing that. Now, you know, depending on how demand goes, if we have more demand, we'll have to react to that. You know, that's certainly a good problem to have. But I'm confident that PTN can do it. And this was one of the, I mean, this was one of the benefits in the Luminar acquisition is we were able to acquire a facility that had in place a full, you know, operations capability and then consolidate the capital equipment into that operation with very low levels of, you know, investment. So we were able to, you know, bring together those lines and that equipment. So, you know, we're staffing, we're training, we're prepared for that on the operations side. The bigger risk, and this is always the case now, is on the supply chain. And that's primarily driven by a little bit by tariffs and just managing costs. That's kind of tamped down a little bit, but that's still there. But then also data center demand. Circuit boards are now a constraint. And, you know, with a lot of price pressure on circuit boards and material cost pressure there, you know, FPGAs and memory chip, I mean, there's, you know, the data center demand and, you know, the growth of data centers just has a lot, has put a lot of stress on the electronic supply base for those particular compounds. So, you know, that's why earlier in the year, you know, we did pre-buys on FPGAs, we did pre-buys on memory, we did a number of, you know, spot buys to make sure that we had access to, you know, enough materials so we could, you know, start production effectively while demand grows. But that's the one area that we'll continue to focus on and strengthen is supply chain and supply chain risk management.
Great. And I think we've got time just for one more question, so it's a slightly different area. How is the perception software stack monetized, along with the MoviRS hardware for non-automotive customers, and what role does software play in improving customer adoption and reducing system costs and improving gross margins?
Sure. You know, so software will play a role, depending on the end market, for security and ITS-related applications like tolling. Movia Pro is a great product for toll booths, basically monitoring. And, you know, that's where ITS software and analytics plays a great role. In defense, it's really all about the real-time mapping and analytics that Movia Air delivers and Movia Air Plus deliver. So creating that map, building that map, transmitting it securely to the ground or to the UGVs. Broader industrial, it's being able to put safety features like LCAS or features that our customers want to put onto our products. And that's where Open Software Framework comes in. And so, you know, we've talked about software plays an important role in reducing cost of the product. Software can play an important role in terms of customer adoption through Open Software Framework, which in turn reduces system and development costs for our customers. And, you know, do those things correctly. That's how you expand gross margins.
Glenn, so I'm just going to hand it back to you for some closing remarks.
Thanks, Christine. I want to emphasize, as we close up today, three key points that we've discussed. First, you know, when you look at where we are today, we have the product and technology portfolio that compete and win in our end markets. That's what we're seeing in this quarter. Second, we're now delivering sustainable and diversified revenue growth across that expanding customer base. So very healthy, resilient, and diversified revenue growth. And then finally, we have the organization aligned and our operating cost model aligned to deliver the revenue while driving to positive cash flow. You know, it's been an amazing year for microvision so far. And personally, I could not be more excited about our future. So with that, Christine, I'll turn it back to you to wrap up.
Thanks, Glenn. And this concludes our question and answer session. I want to thank everybody for their participation in our results call and everybody's continued support of microvision. With that, I'll hand back to the operator.
Operator
Thank you. This concludes today's conference call. All parties may disconnect and have a great day.
