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    Bill Nicklin • Bill White Insights

    Bill Nicklin is the co-founder and CEO of Horsesmouth, focusing on research and strategic consulting for financial advisory firms and distributor organizations. He is recognized for building data-driven strategies to help financial professionals grow their practices, notably conducting large-scale industry studies and developing adviser performance frameworks. Nicklin has led Horsesmouth since its founding and is regarded for shaping the firm's reputation as a source for adviser benchmarking and best practices; earlier, he established himself as an industry thought leader through published research and survey work with more than 2,500 advisers and managers. His professional standing includes executive management experience and a record of fostering high-impact adviser-wholesaler partnerships, though public data does not show current FINRA registration or active securities licenses.

    Bill Nicklin's questions to Sono-Tek Corp (SOTK) leadership

    Bill Nicklin's questions to Sono-Tek Corp (SOTK) leadership • Q4 2025

    Question

    Asked about future backlog drivers, specifics of the medical device market opportunity and its total addressable market (TAM), justification for recent spending levels, potential manufacturing efficiencies, and the status of the share repurchase program.

    Answer

    Future growth is expected from medical and semiconductor markets, leveraging technology developed for clean energy. The medical opportunity is shifting to higher-priced ($250k+) balloon catheter coating systems, a large and growing market. Recent spending has enabled the company to offer these high-value products. They are focused on standardizing subsystems to improve manufacturing efficiency. The current $2M share buyback program is active and regularly reviewed, but no future guidance was provided. The TAM for the new medical areas is potentially 2-3x larger in dollar value than the traditional stent market due to much higher system prices.

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    Bill Nicklin's questions to Sono-Tek Corp (SOTK) leadership • Q4 2025

    Question

    Bill Nicklin from Circle N Advisors asked about future backlog drivers, seeking more detail on the medical device market's total addressable market (TAM), the rationale behind recent spending levels, potential manufacturing efficiencies, and the status of the share repurchase program.

    Answer

    President & CEO Stephen Harshbarger highlighted that expertise from clean energy is transferable to new high-value products in microelectronics and medical. He noted a significant opportunity in balloon catheters, where systems could sell for around $250,000, a higher price point than the legacy stent coater market. Executive Chairman Christopher Coccio added that the balloon insertion market is a newer, strong segment. Harshbarger also discussed benchmarking spending against growth and ROI, efforts to standardize subsystems for efficiency, and confirmed the active $2 million share repurchase program is regularly reviewed by the board.

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    Bill Nicklin's questions to Sono-Tek Corp (SOTK) leadership • Q2 2025

    Question

    Bill Nicklin asked for an overarching perspective on Sono-Tek's strategic journey over the last few years, focusing on the heavy investments in R&D, the shift to new markets with higher average selling prices (ASPs), and how these achievements are expected to shape the company's growth and profitability trajectory over the next couple of years.

    Answer

    CEO and President R. Harshbarger described the journey as a successful strategic shift to drive ASPs higher, moving from selling $10,000 nozzles to complete systems worth over $1 million. He explained that by becoming a partner to customers in developing next-gen coatings, Sono-Tek unlocked significant demand. He noted that heavy investments in projects like 'Aries' and 'Altair' are now paying off with large orders. The core strategy is to use smaller R&D system sales to secure large, multi-unit production orders. Harshbarger emphasized that the company is currently prioritizing reinvestment for growth but retains the ability to shift focus toward higher profitability at any time.

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    Bill Nicklin's questions to Sono-Tek Corp (SOTK) leadership • Q2 2025

    Question

    Asked for a high-level overview of the company's strategic journey of investing in R&D and new capabilities, and how these efforts are expected to impact Sono-Tek's growth and profitability over the next few years.

    Answer

    The company's journey has been focused on increasing the average selling price (ASP) of its machines by becoming an engineering partner for customers with next-gen products. The strategy is to sell smaller R&D systems to land much larger, multi-unit production orders at high ASPs. This has been successful, with orders now reaching $0.5 million to $1 million. The company is currently prioritizing reinvestment for growth due to the large market opportunity but could shift to maximizing profit at any time.

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