CVD Equipment - Earnings Call - Q1 2025

Executive Summary

• Q1 2025 delivered higher volume and margin: revenue $8.316M (10‑Q) with gross margin 32.4%, producing operating income $0.269M and net income $0.360M ($0.05 diluted EPS). Management also cites $8.3M revenue and +12.2% q/q growth; note a disclosure discrepancy where the 8‑K exhibit lists revenue $8.174M—10‑Q shows $8.316M and is used herein.
• Mix and execution drove margin expansion: gross margin improved to 32.4% vs 27.3% in Q4 2024 and 22.4% in Q3 2024; management attributes gains to higher volumes, better overhead absorption, and stronger contract margins.
• Bookings softness and backlog drawdown: orders were $2.8M in Q1 (vs $7.1M in Q4), reducing backlog from $19.4M (12/31/24) to $13.8M (3/31/25); a $1.2M semiconductor system order arrived in early April.
• Macro/tariffs headwinds and cost actions: management flagged recently imposed tariffs as a new uncertainty and reduced the workforce to align OpEx with demand; cash was $10.2M and working capital $14.5M at quarter‑end.
• Estimates context: S&P Global showed no published Q1 2025 Wall Street consensus for EPS or revenue; therefore no beat/miss determination. Values retrieved from S&P Global.*

What Went Well and What Went Wrong

What Went Well

• Revenue and profitability inflected: “First quarter 2025 revenue was $8.3 million, up 69.0% versus the prior year quarter and up 12.2% from the fourth quarter of 2024… Our net income for the quarter was $360,000”.
• Margin execution improved: Gross margin rose to 32.4% (vs 27.3% in Q4 and 22.4% in Q3), driven by higher revenue, overhead absorption, and improved in‑process contract margins.
• SDC demand held up; CVD segment drove growth: Strength in gas delivery (SDC) persisted, while CVD Equipment revenue rose on two large contracts (industrial and aerospace).

What Went Wrong

• Orders slowed materially and backlog declined: Q1 bookings were $2.8M (vs $7.1M in Q4 and $4.1M in Q3), reducing backlog from $19.4M to $13.8M.
• Tariffs introduced new uncertainty: Management warned tariffs may raise component costs and affect order rates, creating incremental execution risk.
• Cash use in operations: Cash fell to $10.2M (from $12.6M) due to increased contract assets (+$3.0M) and lower contract liabilities (‑$1.3M) as revenue was recognized ahead of billings.

Transcript

Operator (participant)

Greetings, and thank you for standing by. Welcome to the CVD Equipment Corporation's first quarter 2025 earnings call. As a reminder, this conference is being recorded. We will begin with some prepared remarks followed by a question-and-answer session. Presenting on the call today will be Emmanuel Lakios, President and CEO and member of the CVD Board of Directors, and Richard Catalano, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. We have posted our earnings press release and call replay information to the investor relations section of our website at www.cvdequipment.com. Before we begin, I would like to remind you that many of the comments made on today's call contain forward-looking statements, including those related to future financial performance, market growth, total available market demand for our products, and general business conditions and outlook.

These forward-looking statements are based on certain assumptions, expectations, and projections that are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties described in our press release and in our filings with the SEC, including but not limited to the risk factor section of the company's 10-K for the year ended December 31st, 2024. Actual results may differ materially from those described during this call. In addition, all forward-looking statements are made as of today, and we undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statement based on new circumstances or revised expectations. Now, I would like to turn the call over to Emmanuel Lakios.

Emmanuel Lakios (President and CEO)

Operator, thank you, and good afternoon, everyone. Thank you all for joining us today to discuss our first quarter 2025 financial results and other important company developments and pertinent information related to our business. Your thoughts are important to us, and we look forward to your questions in our Q&A session. First quarter 2025 revenue was $8.3 million, up 69% versus the prior year quarter and 12.2% higher than the fourth quarter of 2024. Revenue from our CVD Equipment segment was driven by revenue recognized principally by two contracts, one in the industrial markets and one in the aerospace. Our SEC segment continued to see strong demand for its gas delivery equipment. Increased revenue and lower-than-expected orders in the quarter of $2.8 million are backlog declined during the quarter from $19.4 million at the end of December 2024 to $13.8 million March 31st, 2025.

Subsequent to the quarter end, we did receive a $1.2 million semiconductor system order in our CVD Equipment segment. During the quarter, we implemented a plan to reduce our operating costs to be consistent with current customer demand and improve our operating performance. We continue to evaluate the demand for our products and opportunities to reduce our operating costs. Our net income for the quarter was $360,000, while the first quarter of 2025 represented the third consecutive quarter of net income. Due to the nature of our business, we expect that our order and revenue levels will continue to fluctuate given the markets that we serve. In addition, the recent imposition of tariffs has presented us with a new challenge and uncertainty as such tariffs may affect our costs of components and materials, as well as contribute to economic uncertainty, which may potentially affect our order rate.

We're evaluating the tariff environment and planning accordingly. We believe we are well positioned for the future, and we are remaining focused on identifying opportunities in our key targeted markets of aerospace and defense, high-power electronics, and EV battery energy storage. We are staying the course of our strategic efforts to maintain and grow our order rate while carefully managing our expenses to achieve our goal of long-term profitability and positive cash flow, while simultaneously focusing on growth and return on investment. With that, I would like to turn the call over to our CFO, Richard Catalano, who will provide an overview of first quarter results.

Richard Catalano (EVP and CFO)

Thank you, Emanuel, and good afternoon. As Emanuel mentioned, our revenue for the first quarter of 2025 was $8.3 million, $3.4 million, or 69% higher than the first quarter, I should say, of 2024. This increase in revenue was primarily attributable to our CVD Equipment segment. Gross profit for the first quarter was $2.7 million, with a gross profit percentage of 32.4%. This compares to a gross profit of $0.8 million or a gross profit percent of 16.2% for the first quarter of 2024. The increase in gross profit of $1.9 million and also the increase in our gross profit margin percent was primarily the result of higher overall revenues, improved absorption of overhead, as well as improved margins on contracts in progress as compared to the contracts in progress in the prior year quarter.

Our operating income for the first quarter was $269,000 as compared to an operating loss of $1.6 million in the first quarter of 2024. This improvement in operating income was primarily due to the increase in gross profit margin as operating expenses were consistent with the prior year quarter. After other income consisting principally of interest income, our net income for the first quarter was $360,000 or $0.05 per share for both basic and diluted. This compares to a net loss for the first quarter of 2024 of $1.5 million or $0.22 per share for basic and diluted. Now turning to our balance sheet, our working capital at March 31st, 2025 was $14.5 million. This compares to $13.8 million at the prior year end. Our cash and cash equivalents balance was $10.2 million as of March 31st as compared to $12.6 million at December 31st, 2024.

This decrease in cash and cash equivalents was principally due to costs incurred on contracts in progress that resulted in an increase of $3 million in contract assets and a decrease of $1.3 million in contract liabilities. This was offset by our net income and our non-cash expense charges. We are unable to predict the impact of the current economic and geopolitical uncertainties, including tariffs, that will have on our financial position and future results of operations and cash flows. Our return to consistent profitability is dependent, among other things, on the receipt of new equipment orders, our ability to mitigate the impact of inflationary pressures, as well as managing our operating expenses and capital expenditures. In addition, our revenue and orders have historically fluctuated based on changes in order rate as well as other factors in our manufacturing process, which may impact the timing of our revenue recognition.

Accordingly, orders received from customers and revenue recognized may fluctuate from quarter to quarter. After considering all these factors, we believe our cash and cash equivalents and our projected cash flow from operations will be sufficient to meet our working capital and capital expenditure requirements for the next 12 months. We will continue to evaluate the demand for our products, assess our operations, and take actions anticipated to maintain our operating cash to support our working capital needs. I'll turn it over back to Emanuel.

Emmanuel Lakios (President and CEO)

Richard, thank you for your presentation. Our focus continues to remain on our customers, markets, our employees, and our shareholders, of course, and the pursuit of growth and return to consistent profitability. We look forward to continuing to build on our success in the year ahead of us. Your comments are important to us and questions. With the close of the presentation, I would like to open the floor up to your questions.

Operator (participant)

Thank you. We will now be conducting a question-and-answer session. If you would like to ask a question, please press star one on your telephone keypad. A confirmation tone will indicate your line is in the question queue. You may press star two if you would like to remove your question from the queue. For participants using speaker equipment, it may be necessary to pick up your handset before pressing the star keys. One moment, please, while we pull for questions. As a reminder, it is star one to ask a question. All right. I'm not seeing any questions. I'd like to turn the floor back over to Emmanuel Lakios for any closing remarks.

Emmanuel Lakios (President and CEO)

Thank you, Operator, and thank you, everyone, for dialing in today. We appreciate the attendance on the call and your support and loyalty of our shareholders and our employees. If you have any further questions, please feel free to reach out to Richard or myself directly. This concludes our call.

Operator (participant)

You may disconnect your lines at this time. Thank you for your participation.