CVD Equipment - Earnings Call - Q2 2025

Executive Summary

• Q2 2025 revenue fell to $5.11M (down 19.4% YoY and 38.5% QoQ), gross margin compressed to 21.0%, and the company posted a net loss of $1.06M ($0.15 per share).
• Orders totaled $4.5M and backlog slipped to $13.2M from $13.8M in Q1, reflecting tariff uncertainty, reduced U.S. university funding, and product adoption timing; management is tightly managing expenses and headcount.
• SDC gas delivery demand remained strong, and the first CVD4000 SiC coating reactor shipped in early July; resources dedicated to CVD4000 launch reduced revenue from other contracts in progress.
• Liquidity at quarter-end: cash and equivalents $7.02M, with AR up $3.6M tied to achieved milestones, expected to be collected in Q3; management believes cash plus projected operating cash flow covers the next 12 months.

What Went Well and What Went Wrong

What Went Well

• Shipped first CVD4000 SiC coating reactor system; CVD sees opportunity across aerospace & defense, industrial SiC-on-graphite, SiC high-power electronics, and EV battery materials. “We remain committed to our long-term strategy… achieving sustained profitability and positive cash flow.”
• SDC segment bookings strengthened; segment backlog increased significantly in Q2, supported by demand for gas delivery systems.
• Two customers (industrial and aerospace) represented 41.1% of revenue, underscoring traction with key accounts; management is actively monitoring demand and geopolitical developments.

What Went Wrong

• Revenue down 38.5% QoQ and 19.4% YoY; gross margin fell to 21.0% (from 24.3% YoY and 32.4% in Q1) as lower contracts-in-progress at both segments weighed on profitability.
• Orders remained light versus prior year (YTD $7.3M vs. $16.9M) and backlog declined sequentially to $13.2M, reflecting tariff uncertainties, reduced government university funding, and adoption lag in emerging markets.
• Revenue impact from allocating resources to the CVD4000 launch and continued headwinds in SiC power electronics (overcapacity, wafer price declines) pressured segment results and outlook visibility.

Transcript

Speaker 4

Thank you for standing by. Welcome to the CVD Equipment Corporation's second quarter 2025 earnings call. As a reminder, this conference is being recorded. We will begin with prepared remarks followed by a questioning of Nancy 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 events and listing 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 product, and general business conditions and outlook.

These forward-looking statements are based on certain assumptions, expectations, and projections, and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainty described in our practical reach and in our filings with the SEC, including but not limited to the risk factors of the company's 10-K for the year ended December 31, 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 statements based on new circumstances or revised expectations. Now I would like to turn the call over to Emmanuel Lakios.

Speaker 2

Operator, thank you and good afternoon, everyone. Thank you all for joining us today to discuss the second quarter 2025 financial results, another important company development, and pertinent information related to our business. Your thoughts are important to us. We look forward to your questions in our Q&A session. Our second quarter 2025 revenue was $5.1 million, representing a 19.4% decrease from prior year period and a decrease of 38.5% as compared to our first quarter of 2025. Our year-to-date revenue of $13.4 million was 19.2% higher than the prior year period. Our orders for the second quarter were $4.5 million, supported by strong demand in our SEC segment for gas delivery equipment. Orders for the company for the first six months of 2025 were $7.3 million as compared to $15.9 million for the first six months of 2024.

Our bookings and revenue during the second quarter reflected several factors, including the uncertainties related to proposed tariffs, reduced U.S. government funding for universities, the timing of the adoption of our product, and the dynamic nature of the emerging markets we serve. We are actively monitoring the evolving customer demand, geopolitical landscape, and potential tariff impacts as we continue to manage our operating expenses. In early July 2025, we shipped our first CVD4000 silicon carbide coating reactor system to an industrial customer. The system will be used by a customer to apply a silicon carbide coating on OEM graphite components. The remaining two systems of the three system orders are planned for shipment over the next 12 months. Our backlog as of June 30, 2025, was $13.2 million, down from $13.8 million at March 31, 2025.

We believe CVD Equipment Corporation is well positioned to provide solutions across our key markets: aerospace and defense, industrial with applications such as silicon carbide on graphite, silicon carbide high-power electronics, and electric vehicle battery materials. In our aerospace and defense market, our key product offerings include chemical vapor infiltration systems used in the production of ceramic matrix composites for commercial jet engines and for silicon bond post systems for CMC components. Our industrial market customers include silicon carbide on graphite coating systems, and we are also exploring potential uses for the nuclear energy market. Related to silicon carbide high-power electronics, our core products are the PVT150 and PVT200 silicon carbide crystal growth systems. In the electric vehicle markets, we are pursuing new opportunities for our powder coat systems, which could be used in the production of advanced anode materials.

In 2025, we are shipping several FirstNano systems for microelectronic and carbon nanotube applications. We will continue to support the sales activity and development in these areas. We are committed to our long-term strategy of growing our presence across key markets while maintaining expense management to support our goal of achieving sustained profitability and cash flow. I would like to turn the call over to our CFO, Richard Catalano, who will provide an overview of our second quarter results.

Speaker 3

Thank you, Manny, and good afternoon. Our revenue for the second quarter of 2025 was $5.1 million, as compared to $6.3 million for the second quarter of 2024. Revenue from our CVD Equipment segment was primarily driven by two customers, one in the industrial sector and one in aerospace. These customers represented 41.1% of our revenues for the quarter. The decrease in revenue versus the prior year quarter was primarily attributable to lower revenue of $0.7 million from our CVD Equipment segment and a $0.6 million decrease in revenue in our FDC segment. The decrease in the CVD Equipment revenue of 17.4% was principally due to lower revenues from contracts in progress of $1.1 million, offset by higher non-system revenue of $0.4 million. The resources we focused on our new product launch of the CVD4000 partially attributed to the reduced revenue from other contracts in progress.

While our FDC segment revenue of $1.4 million was lower than the $2.2 million recorded in the second quarter of 2024 due to fewer contracts in progress, orders for SEC's gas delivery systems were strong during the quarter. The gross profit for the three months ended June 30, 2025, was $1.1 million, with a gross margin of 21%. This compares to a gross profit of $1.5 million at 24.3% for the three months ended June 30, 2024. The decrease in gross profit of $0.5 million was primarily due to lower revenues for contracts in progress at both CVD Equipment and SEC segments, partially offset by higher CVD Equipment non-system revenues. Our operating loss for the second quarter of 2025 was $1.1 million, as compared to an operating loss of $0.9 million in the second quarter of 2024.

After other income, which consists principally of interest income, our net loss for the second quarter is $1.1 million or $0.15 per share for both basic and diluted. This compares to a net loss for the second quarter of 2024 of $0.8 million or $0.11 per share for both basic and diluted. As for our balance sheet, our cash and cash equivalents at June 30, 2025, was $7 million, as compared to $12.6 million at December 31, 2024. This decrease was principally due to the net loss of $0.7 million for the six months ended June 30, 2025, an increase in accounts receivable of $2.8 million as we achieved certain contract milestones late in the quarter, a net change in contract assets and liabilities of $2.6 million, offset by non-tax items of $0.9 million.

Our working capital at June 30, 2025, was $13.9 million, comparable to what we had at December 31, 2024, of $13.8 million. Our returns 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 planned capital expenditures and operating expenses. In addition, our revenues and orders have historically fluctuated based on changes in order rates, as well as other factors in our manufacturing process that impact the timing of our revenue recognition. Accordingly, both orders received from customers and revenue recognized historically 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 product, assess our operations, and take actions anticipated to maintain our operating cash to support our working capital needs.

Speaker 2

Rich, thank you for your presentation. Our focus remains on our customer market, our employees, our shareholders, and the pursuit of growth and return to consistent profitability. Your comments or questions are important to us. With the close of our presentation, I would like to open the floor up for your questions.

Speaker 4

Ladies and gentlemen, if you would like to ask questions, please press star one on your telephone keypad, and a confirmation tone will indicate you're in the question queue. You may press star two to remove your questions from the queue. For participants using speaker equipment, it may be necessary to pick up your handset before pressing the star key. One moment, please, we'll take your questions. Our first question comes from the line of Frankie Urbella, private investor. Please proceed.

Speaker 1

Hello, Manny and Mr. Catalano. I just wanted to ask you a question regarding the question I asked about a few quarters ago. It's about the NDAs that you have. Can you specify if it's a domestic client or if it's an international client? Because of the tariff environment right now, that might be more important for us to know.

Speaker 2

Frank, how are you? Good evening. Can you be, and I apologize, my memory doesn't recollect the question, which is the first time around two quarters ago. I apologize. Can you just rephrase that a little bit when you refer to the NDA?

Speaker 1

I want to know specifically what kind of company it was, you know. Probably indirectly, I meant if it was a domestic or international client. Back then, we didn't have the problem with the tariffs. Now we do have a problem with the tariffs. If it's domestic or if it's international, it might make a difference.

Speaker 2

It's domestic. The facility is located here in the United States.

Speaker 1

Okay, your clients that signed an NDA with you guys, these clients, are they international clients or are they domestic clients?

Speaker 2

Oh, it could be both. U.S. domestic as well as North America, and you know, then expand to Europe and Asia as well. We have NDA, non-disclosure agreements, with most, most if not all of our clients. As far as the impact of tariffs on our business, the majority of the orders that we're speaking to are U.S. based.

Speaker 1

All right. You won't have no problems with tariffs on those orders?

Speaker 2

The tariffs that we do have clearly affect the cost of the sold line on the cost of the product, where some of the components come from pumps and things of that sort come from either Europe or from Asia, and there are some import tariffs. There is some inflationary pressure on the cost of the sold line, but we're managing through that. That's something that we spoke about in circle four.

Speaker 1

One more thing, just like on my thought, on that delivery that you had in July, early July, would that be recorded in the third quarter?

Speaker 2

We recognize our revenue using the overtime concept. As we manufacture the product equipment, we recognize the pro-rata amount of revenue. We've recognized a good portion of that revenue as we've been manufacturing it.

Speaker 1

At the time of manufacturing. Thank you very much.

Speaker 2

Thank you, Frank.

Speaker 4

You're welcome.

Speaker 0

Okay. Just one sec.

Speaker 4

Sure. I'll answer the questions at this time. I'd like to turn the call back over to Emmanuel Lakios for closing remarks.

Speaker 2

Thank you, operator. Appreciate that. Thank you all for joining the call today. We appreciate the attendance on the call and this report and the loyalty of our shareholders and of our employees. If you have any further questions, please feel encouraged to reach out to myself or to Rich. This concludes our second quarter earnings call.

Speaker 4

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