LASR - NASDAQ

Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for joining us, and welcome to the nLIGHT, Inc. Third Quarter 2025 Earnings Call. After today's prepared remarks, we'll host a question and answer session. [Operator Instructions] I will now hand the conference over to John Marchetti, VP, Corporate Development and Investor Relations. John, please go ahead.

Good afternoon, everyone. Thank you for joining us today to discuss nLIGHT's Third Quarter 2025 Earnings Results. I'm John Marchetti, nLIGHT's VP of Corporate Development and the Head of Investor Relations. With me on the call today are Scott Keeney, nLIGHT's Chairman and CEO; and Joe Corso, nLIGHT's CFO. Today's discussion will contain forward-looking statements, including financial projections and plans for our business, some of which are beyond our control, including the risks and uncertainties described from time to time in our SEC filings. Our results may differ materially from those projected on today's call, and we undertake no obligation to update publicly any forward-looking statement, except as required by law. During the call, we will be discussing certain non-GAAP financial measures. We have provided reconciliations of these non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measures in our earnings release and in our earnings presentation, both of which can be found on the Investor Relations section of our website. I will now turn the call over to nLIGHT's Chairman and CEO, Scott Keeney.

Thank you, John. Q3 represented another solid quarter of execution for nLIGHT with total revenue at the high end of our guidance range and both gross margin and adjusted EBITDA beating our expectations. Third quarter revenue of $67 million grew 19% year-over-year and were once again driven by record aerospace and defense revenue of $46 million, with defense product sales growing more than 70% year-over-year. I am particularly pleased with the expansion of our product gross margin, which came in at a record 41% and increased from 29% in the same quarter a year ago. Our adjusted EBITDA was also above our expectations at more than $7 million in the quarter. The expansion in our gross margin and the subsequent growth in our adjusted EBITDA demonstrate the leverage that is inherent in our operating model. In Aerospace and Defense, we remain focused on 2 key markets: directed energy and laser sensing. And revenue from both markets outperformed our expectations in the quarter. In directed energy, we are uniquely positioned with our vertically integrated and industry-leading high-power laser technology, developed over the past 2 decades, and spanning the entire technology stack from chips to components to full laser systems and beam directors. All of which are designed and manufactured in the U.S., have generated revenue at nearly every level of vertical integration in the directed energy market, and we have established ourselves as one of the most comprehensive suppliers to the U.S. government, other prime contractors and foreign allies. During the third quarter, we continued to make solid progress on our HELSI-2 program. As a reminder, this is a $171 million program to develop a 1-megawatt high-energy laser with a completion date expected in 2026. The shipment of critical components towards the HELSI-2 program was a significant driver of our record defense product revenue in the quarter and is expected to be a substantial contributor to growth through the remainder of the year and into 2026. We continue to transition our latest generation of amplifier products into advanced production by leveraging nLIGHT's experienced manufacturing teams and implementing quality and control processes. This transition, while not without risk, is progressing well and is critical as we continue to optimize our amplifier production line for higher volumes. Our work on the Army's DE M-SHORAD, Short-Range Air Defense program is nearing completion, and we look forward to delivering this 50-kilowatt high-energy laser and beam director to our partner. Once delivery is completed, the system will begin field testing. Overall interest in U.S. directed energy programs remains high, particularly for counter-UAS applications, and we expect new contracts to be awarded in the coming quarters from different agencies as part of the President's Golden Dome executive order, which specifically highlights non-kinetic missile defense capabilities as an area for development. With a mandate to build these systems in the United States, we believe we are well positioned to benefit from these efforts over the coming years, and we are hopeful that the coming quarters will provide additional details on the scope and timing of these initiatives. We've also continued to have success in the international markets for directed energy. We began shipping to a new international customer last quarter, and we have a growing pipeline of new global opportunities as allied nations look to accelerate directed energy programs for cost-effective counter-UAS and other threats. Our laser sensing markets are also performing well. Our laser sensing products include missile guidance, proximity detection, range finding and countermeasures, and we have been incorporating in several significant and long-running defense programs, all of which are poised to grow in 2026. During the third quarter, we signed a new $50 million contract for an existing long-running missile program that incorporates one of our laser sensing products. nLIGHT has been a long-term supplier into this program, which our customer expects to remain a key priority associated with the nation's munitions restocking efforts. Our historical performance on these programs and our early success in multiple classified programs has increased both the number of prospects and the size of our sensing pipeline. In addition, further opportunities under Golden Dome initiatives have emerged and could also become significant contributors to our growth in 2026 and beyond. Commercial revenue was slightly ahead of our expectations at $21.2 million on a sequential increase in microfabrication sales and relatively flat results in our industrial markets. We have been pleased with the stability of our microfabrication markets year-to-date and have been encouraged by the growth in our advanced manufacturing products, where we see alignment with our aerospace and defense customers and our technology remains differentiated. Let me now turn the call over to Joe to discuss our third quarter financial results.

Thank you, Scott. Our third quarter results were characterized by another quarter of strong execution. Healthy revenue growth, a favorable mix of business and continued execution from our manufacturing and operations teams drove meaningful upside to our gross margin. That upside, combined with operating expense discipline, resulted in significant improvement to profitability and cash flow, demonstrating the leverage that is inherent in our model. Total revenue in the third quarter was $66.7 million, an increase of 19%, compared to $56.1 million in the third quarter of 2024 and up 8%, compared to the second quarter of 2025. Aerospace and defense revenue was a record $45.6 million in the quarter, up 50% year-over-year and 12% sequentially. A&D growth was driven by record aerospace and defense products revenue, which grew 71% year-over-year and 32% compared to last quarter. Development revenue of $19.1 million grew 28% year-over-year as we continue to execute on multiple directed energy programs. The quarter-over-quarter decline of 8% was the result of several smaller programs having been completed in the prior quarter. We expect A&D revenue to continue to grow sequentially in the fourth quarter. Third quarter revenue from our commercial markets, which includes industrial and microfabrication, was modestly ahead of our expectations at $21.2 million, a decrease of 18% year-over-year, but up slightly compared to last quarter. Revenue from our microfabrication markets was in line with our expectations at $11.6 million, while revenue of $9.6 million from our industrial markets was slightly better than expected as an increase in demand for our additive manufacturing products offset continued declines in cutting and welding. While we are pleased with the overall stability that we saw in our commercial markets in the third quarter, we do not believe that the overall demand picture has significantly changed from what we described in prior quarters. Total gross margin in the third quarter was 31.1% compared to 22.4% in the third quarter of 2024 and 29.9% last quarter. Products gross margin in the second quarter was a record 41%, compared to 28.8% in the third quarter of 2024 and 38.5% last quarter. Third quarter products gross margin was positively impacted by a favorable customer and product mix driven by record revenue from our A&D markets and an overall increase in volume. Development gross margin was 6.4%, compared to 4.7% in the same quarter a year ago and 13.1% last quarter. The sequential decrease in development gross margin was largely the result of some smaller, higher-margin programs that finished in the prior quarter and did not contribute to the third quarter results. Going forward, we expect development gross margin to remain in the 8% range. GAAP operating expenses were $28.1 million in the third quarter, compared to $24.4 million in the third quarter of 2024 and $22.7 million in the second quarter of 2025. Included in our third quarter GAAP operating expenses were higher stock-based compensation expenses associated with previously announced performance shares and a restructuring charge of approximately $1.7 million as we further reduced our activities in China and in cutting and welding. Non-GAAP operating expenses were $17.5 million in the quarter, down from $18.3 million in the third quarter of 2024 and up from $16.8 million last quarter. We expect non-GAAP OpEx to remain in the $18 million range in the fourth quarter. GAAP net loss for the third quarter was $6.9 million or $0.14 per share compared to a net loss of $10.3 million or $0.21 per share in the same quarter a year ago and a loss of $3.6 million or $0.07 per share in the second quarter of 2025. On a non-GAAP basis, net income for the third quarter was $4.3 million or $0.08 per diluted share compared to a non-GAAP net loss of $3.7 million or $0.08 per share in the third quarter of 2024 and non-GAAP net income of $2.9 million or $0.06 per diluted share last quarter. Adjusted EBITDA for the third quarter was a positive $7.1 million, compared to a loss of approximately $1 million in the same quarter last year and a positive $5.6 million in the second quarter of 2025. We ended the third quarter with total cash, cash equivalents, restricted cash and investments of $116 million. We generated $5.2 million in cash flow from operations despite continuing to invest in working capital ahead of growth, and we were free cash flow positive in the quarter. Turning to guidance. Based on the information available today, we expect revenue for the fourth quarter of 2025 to be in the range of $72 million to $78 million. The midpoint of $75 million includes approximately $55 million of product revenue and $20 million of development revenue. We expect sequential growth in A&D in the fourth quarter, and we expect full year 2025 A&D revenue growth to exceed our prior outlook for A&D growth of at least 40% year-over-year. Overall gross margin in the fourth quarter is expected to be in the range of 27% to 32%, with products gross margin in the range of 34% to 39% and development gross margin of approximately 8%. As we've mentioned previously, as a vertically integrated manufacturing business, gross margin is largely dependent on production volumes and absorption of fixed manufacturing costs. Finally, we expect adjusted EBITDA for the fourth quarter of 2025 to be in the range of $6 million to $11 million. With that, I will turn over the call to operator for questions.

Your first question comes from the line of Greg Palm with Craig-Hallum.

Congrats on the results. I was wondering, first, if you could just address HELSI-2, I mean, based on the results, the guide, I mean, is there a chance that you're pulling ahead the completion date here? I know you've talked about completion in 2026, but curious if that time line has changed at all just based on the volumes that you're able to complete.

Greg, it's Scott here. Thanks for the question. No, we're on track is the bottom line. We will announce progress results when we are able to do so, but we're on track for 2026.

And then as it relates to product, so your guiding revenue up quite a bit sequentially, but gross margins down. I know you're coming off of a pretty tough compare, I guess, sequentially when you put up 40-plus percent product gross margins. But just can you give us a little bit more color what's going on? It doesn't sound like mix is going to change all that much?

Yes. No, Greg, thanks for the question. As we've talked about in the past, you can have some pretty -- what seems like a pretty big swings from a gross margin perspective when you're still talking about revenues at the levels that we are at. Really not much in terms of Q3 to Q4 on the gross margin guide, probably 150 or 200 bps of it is related to actually freight and duties, right, as we've had the higher cost of materials that are going to -- we're now going to start to feel in Q4. And then the rest is really just mix within each of our end markets. The mix within defense, the mix within commercial can change in any given quarter. And then there's just a handful of other items that as we forecast in any given quarter that are there. But generally speaking, we're pleased that gross margin has expanded, and it remains really a function of 3 things: higher volume mix, where we are and then just overall how we're levering the factory. So we're pretty happy with where we were in Q3 and not much to think about for us in Q4.

Your next question comes from the line of Ruben Roy with Stifel.

This is Sahej Singh on for Ruben Roy. First off, congrats. You guys are past your breakeven point, which I think was $55 million to $60 million and turning profitable, so congrats on that. HELSI-2, I think if I do the math is, you said it earlier, $171 million contract with 3-year estimated time line. So annualized, that's about $57 million ceiling per year, which is about $14 million lower than what you're operating on, on a trailing 12-month basis within Aerospace and Defense products. So 2 questions there, and then I have a follow-up. It seems like a fixed firm price contract with the moves you're making on amplifiers. Can you give us some sense of how much incremental margin benefit you're seeing from that this quarter and expect to see maybe through the course of next year as you're ramping down on that contract? And the second part to this is as that contract ramps down, do you see sensing tied to Golden Dome and the classified programs and maybe international sales more than offset that HELSI-2 contract revenue loss, which I imagine will be probably starting second half of '26?

So there's a lot there. So help me if I don't get it all right, I can follow up. I would say on the HELSI-2 contract, first, it's a good way to look at it, right, it's $171 million contract, but it's not going to be recognized linearly, right? So it's a cost-plus type contract. So it really depends on the type of activities that we are engaged in at any given period of time during that contract. So you shouldn't think about that linearly. Certainly, it is a big driver of the A&D products revenue that we have been generating and amplifiers are the key component that we are selling into that contract. Now more generally, as we think about products gross margin expansion, we've really focused on products that enable us to drive incremental gross margins of meaningfully north of 50%. And so amplifiers and other products that we are selling are meeting that today, and we expect that to continue to expand. I think the last part of your question just around the trajectory of HELSI-2 into 2026, you're absolutely right, right? At some point in the back half of 2026, we'll start to see the revenue that we're generating from HELSI-2, everything around HELSI-2, start to trail off. But we've got plenty of other programs, both in directed energy and in laser sensing that will make up for that reduction in the second half revenue.

Very helpful. And then the second -- the follow-up I have is -- on DE M-SHORAD, which I guess is now ramping down, if I'm not wrong, and please correct me if I am, it's an R&D contract, which means it probably sits in advanced development. That said, advanced development seems to be ramping quite nicely also on a trailing 12-month basis. What's driving that growth? And I guess, to what degree should we look at that as a leading indicator for future sales on the A&D laser products, as you're mentioning into '26, '27, let's say?

So you are correct that DE M-SHORAD is ramping down. So we are at the very end stages of delivering that product to the customer. So that's not really contributing meaningfully at all to revenue this quarter nor will it contribute to revenue going forward. The advanced development segment of our business includes all of the development revenue that we do, including HELSI-2 and other programs. And while not all of the programs that we are working on that are classified as advanced development go into -- will ultimately end up as programs of record, it is a good indicator that the activities that we have in directed energy and in laser sensing are putting us in a good position so that when those programs do transition or there are new programs, where there are opportunities to become program of records that we're well positioned to capture them. But you can't draw a line directly from our advanced development revenue to what long-term defense product revenue will be.

Your next question comes from the line of Jim Ricchiuti from Needham & Co.

So the question I had is just relating to the previous question. If HELSI-2 does wind down in the second half of the year, you've talked about a pretty full pipeline. If you -- when would you have to see new orders come in, should be able to offset some of the hole that we could see from having completed HELSI-2. In other words, is it -- do you anticipate orders coming in, in the next couple of quarters that would allow you to fill a potential hole related to HELSI-2 in the back half of next year?

Jim, based on what we are working on today, the hole is already filled. What is somewhat dependent upon timing of bookings and how quickly we can get to work on a handful of new programs will determine how much we grow in 2026.

Could you also maybe just clarify, I just maybe misheard. On the laser sensing contract that you alluded to, is this a follow-on piece of business?

Yes is the short answer. It's an ongoing program of record that we have been supporting for over a decade.

So Scott, this basically just extends that. And then one final question. I know all of the questions have been around the A&D business, but it's interesting to see, I guess, what, a second quarter of sequential improvement in the microfabrication area. You're characterizing it as stabilizing. What is leading to some of the stabilization? Where is it coming from?

Yes, it's coming from -- certainly, in microfabrication, that has always been a business that is difficult for us to predict. It's largely book and ship in the -- during the quarter, it's a really long tail of customers. And the last couple of quarters, we've seen some stabilization in that business. So it's difficult to point to 1 or even 2 things that are driving that business, but we're pleased to see stabilization there. Similarly, on the industrial side of our business, the quarters have been, frankly, a little bit better than we had expected, which is a welcome development for us. But what we'll say is our overall view of the commercial business as we go into 2026 is the same as we've been saying now for a couple of quarters, right? That business is expected to again decline in 2026.

And just with respect to microfabrication, the seasonality of that business tends to fall off a little bit in Q1. But the levels that we're seeing Q2, Q3, is that a reasonable level moving aside from the seasonality we might see in Q1?

Yes. Jim, you're absolutely right. That is probably the most seasonal of our businesses. And in the last couple of quarters, we've seen that plus or minus $10 million of revenue. I think that a good range for us is probably $8 million to $12 million. We don't have better visibility than that. And obviously, China microfab business has declined precipitously over the last couple of years, and we've seen continued sequential declines in that business as well.

Your next question comes from the line of Keith Housum with Northcoast Research.

Congratulations on a great quarter, guys. I think I heard you guys say the amplifier transition continues to progress. One, I guess, is that correct? And then once that's complete, how should we see that reflected in results? Will it make for more efficient and easier recognition of revenue? Or is it going to be lower cost? Or what's going to be the financial statement impact when the transition is complete?

Well, I'm not sure the amplifier transition is not complete per se. I think what is going to be complete is the amplifiers that are delivered into one particular program, which is HELSI-2, and that will happen over the course of 2026. Generally speaking, we have a lot of programs into which we are delivering amplifiers domestically. And as we've said the last couple of quarters, there's also opportunities for us that we are working on with a host of allies internationally. So we expect our amplifier business to continue to grow. And so that is one of the reasons that you are starting to see some of the margin expansion is due to the fact that we are selling higher volumes of amplifiers. And at the same time, we're working hard to take what is a really difficult product that is pushing the limitations of physics and make it more manufacturable. So I think over time, you're going to see both revenue growth and margin expansion as we start to mature our ability to manufacture those amplifiers.

That's helpful. Appreciate it. Your restructuring charges in China cutting and welding, is that more to rightsize these businesses based on your expectations going forward? Or what's the reason behind that?

Yes. No, that's exactly what it is, right? I mean we were operating in Shanghai for a very long time, not an easy transition to move assembly of our lasers from Shanghai to Fabrinet and to the U.S. And so there's lots of ongoing support activities that are required to do that. And so you're seeing some of that in that restructuring charge. And then there's also a bit of expectation that the cutting and welding business are going to continue to decline. And so we want to make sure that we are rightsizing our investments for our expectations of those markets going forward.

Appreciate it. And then I'm not sure if it's a true statement or not, but is there an opportunity for you guys in the counter-drone technology space?

Sure. Yes, absolutely. That's one of the big applications for directed energy.

So we're still in relatively early innings in that area as well. But obviously, it gets a lot of press that we read today.

Correct. And direct energy goes well beyond counter drones.

[Operator Instructions] We have a follow-up question from Greg Palm with Craig-Hallum.

You said something that I thought was pretty important in terms of programs next year that could offset or that could make up the absence of HELSI-2. So I just want to make sure we're clear. Are those programs that have been booked? Or is that still in the pipeline?

Those are programs that have been booked, Greg.

And then I'm just curious, can you talk a little bit about -- are those directed energy? Are those laser sensing? And I don't know if I missed it, but the 2 confidential laser sensing programs, one of them was supposed to go to LRIP by the end of this year. Is that still the case? Has that begun? And what's the status of the second one?

Good. So let's see your first question is the work for '26 that is key that we're highlighting is in both directed energy and in sensing first. Let's see your second question was around.

Yes, the 2 major sensing programs that you -- the confidential ones that we've been talking about for the past, well, multiple quarters.

Yes. The summary is they're both progressing. I want to be pretty sensitive to the specifics of the time line, but they're both progressing that supports the outlook that we're providing generally in the business.

But -- and then to be clear, going back to my first question, there are programs -- these are not the programs that are necessarily supposed to offset, it could help, but there's new additional programs that have been once booked, that is going to help offset that loss in HELSI-2 business.

Yes, Greg, so let me parse it a little bit more finely for you. So there are programs that we are on today that are not HELSI-2 that we expect to continue to grow. There are new programs that we've won, right, that will plug the hole that we will see as HELSI-2 trails off. Those are both directed energy and laser sensing. And then there are other very high probability of win and go programs that we expect in 2026 that will drive growth in defense beyond what it is today. Hopefully, that helps.

Your next question comes from the line of Brian Gesuale from Raymond James.

Really nice job on the quarter. I'd like to maybe talk a little bit when I've spent some time in D.C. the last few weeks, and it just seems like there's a lot of opportunities around directed energy. Could you maybe take -- give us the thoughts on the pipeline, both domestically and globally? And then maybe talk about your capacity because it seems like demand is pretty vibrant right now.

Yes, that's right, Brian. I've been spending a lot of time in D.C. also. And I think there is a lot of new work that's going on. It's a little frustrating, obviously, with the details around the shutdown on some of the details. But at the senior level, we are seeing very good engagement across all levels, whether it be from Pentagon to the services and really across the breadth of direct energy from the lower power systems through the higher power systems. So we are seeing continued progress in the U.S. programs and that is supported, it's reinforced by also some of the international programs. I think over the last quarter, we've seen news out of Israel of the demonstrations of the success of Iron Beam out of the U.K. We've seen success out of Dragonfire, and there have been other international efforts that both are opportunities for us as we engage internationally, but they also have played a role in reinforcing what's going on in the U.S. So high level, yes, direct energy remains a very important area for us in addition to sensing.

Fantastic. Is there any thoughts on the urgency with some of the things that are happening in Europe? Do you see more rapid adoption there over the next few quarters, particularly with the government shutdown or it seems like the domestic market has accelerated a lot when I talk to a lot of the customers and look at some of their demand outlook over the next year or so.

Yes, I think that's right. And I think in the coming weeks, you'll learn more about the acquisition reform that's being promulgated to address that. So I think we're all eager to see some of that formally launched to change the way that at least the U.S. pursues procurement to more rapidly implement some of these systems. So I think we will see some of that. I think there is urgency around the world actually to get the technology implemented in new ways.

Your next question comes from the line of Troy Jensen.

Sorry, can you hear me?

Yes.

Sorry about that. So first of all, congrats to another great print for you guys. Just a quick question. I know you're getting lots of questions on the development revenues here, but can you just give us the number of customers that are in your development product line or revenue line?

We're probably working in total on a dozen, just plus or minus a dozen programs. They're all of obviously different sizes and at different periods of time, but that's a pretty good number.

And then just on the sensing stuff, I did -- as you were going through your prepared remarks, Scott, it kind of felt like you're upticking on that. I guess most of the strength in A&D over this past year or so has been on the directed energy side. Would that be a true statement? Do you feel like you're upticking? Or are these contracts just kind of sustaining?

On the sensing side, Troy, you mean?

Yes, sensing specifically.

Yes. Yes, I think you read that correctly. I think that direct energy, there's a greater awareness of the set of applications in directed energy and what's going on. Sensing, it gets a little more challenging to describe how lasers are, I would say, supplementing, augmenting radar and other systems, but that is a very important area and listed as one of the critical technologies by the Pentagon and one that we're very well positioned for.

We have a follow-up question from the line of Ruben Roy with Stifel.

Just trying to understand, so your comment on HELSI being an R&D contract makes sense, while it's an advanced dev. And of course, it is my mistake there. But the jump up in revenue really looks like it's coming from your products within A&D. And I know you guided advanced dev to $25 million next quarter. So I'm assuming that's either -- I'm assuming that's mostly HELSI. But can you maybe talk through the A&D product side and just help us understand what drove this jump this quarter? I think someone asked whether it was government shutdown or are you expecting this to sort of sequentially improve?

Yes, we are expecting A&D products to continue to improve. When we sell -- so we sell a variety of products that are booked as in the products segment of our financial statements. Amplifiers that we sell into the HELSI-2 program, which is a cost-plus development program, those amplifiers are reflected in our revenue as product revenue. There are also laser sensing products that are being sold that are A&D product revenue. And so you start to look at that, and that's why you see the growth in the A&D product side of the revenue.

There are no further questions at this time. I will now turn the call back to John Marchetti for closing remarks.

Thanks, everyone, for joining us this afternoon. And as always, thank you for your continued interest in nLIGHT. We will be participating in a number of conferences over the next several months. So we look forward to speaking with everybody as we continue to go through the quarter. And thank you again for joining us today.