GSI - Q4 2025

Executive Summary

• Q4 FY2025 revenue was $5.883M, up 14% YoY and 9% QoQ, with gross margin at 56.1% (vs. 51.6% YoY and 54.0% QoQ); net loss narrowed to $2.2M ($0.09 per share) on reduced operating expenses and SBIR offsets.
• Customer mix improved: KYEC contributed $1.7M (29.5% of revenue) vs. $0.544M (10.6%) a year ago, while Nokia declined to 7.5% of revenue; SigmaQuad shipments were 39.3% and military/defense shipments 30.7%.
• Management announced an initial high-margin radiation-hardened SRAM order from a North American prime contractor and progress on Gemini-II/Plato edge-AI programs; Q1 FY2026 guidance: revenue $5.5–$6.3M, GM 56–58%.
• Street consensus (S&P Global) for Q4 FY2025 EPS and revenue was unavailable; the print landed in-line with prior Q4 guidance ranges for revenue and GM provided in January.

What Went Well and What Went Wrong

What Went Well

• Secured initial order for radiation-hardened SRAM from a North American prime contractor; management expects follow-on orders and highlights materially higher gross margins vs. traditional SRAM.
• Strong SRAM demand drove revenue growth; KYEC exposure rose to 29.5% of revenue, reflecting robust orders tied to AI chip manufacturing systems; gross margin expanded to 56.1% on mix and higher revenue.
• APU roadmap execution on track: Gemini-II production-ready chips and Leda-2 boards targeted by end of Q1 FY2026; SBIR milestones with AFRL/SDA progressing, with deliveries of boards/cards and YOLO algorithms.

What Went Wrong

• Ongoing customer concentration risk: KYEC at 29.5% and Nokia volatility (7.5% of revenue, down from 13.5% YoY); military/defense shipments softened YoY to 30.7% vs. 35.5%.
• Strategic alternatives/funding remain unresolved; management is exploring options (sale of assets, funding, R&D support) with Needham, but “nothing specific to talk about” yet—cash used in operations for FY2025 was about $12.9M.
• Prior-quarter gross margin was pressured by severance/mix; although Q4 recovered, the FY2025 GM fell to 49.4% vs. 54.3% in FY2024 on mix and fixed cost absorption, underscoring sensitivity to product mix.

Transcript

Operator (participant)

Welcome to GSI Technology's 4th Quarter and Fiscal Year 2025 Results Conference Call. At this time, all participants are on a listen-only mode. Later, we will conduct a question-and-answer session. At that time, we will provide instructions for those interested in entering the queue for the Q&A. Before we begin today's call, the company has requested that I read the following safe harbor statement. The matters discussed in this conference call may include forward-looking statements regarding future events and the future performance of GSI Technology that involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated. These risks and uncertainties are described in the company's Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Additionally, I have also been asked to advise you that this conference call is being recorded today, May 1, 2025, at the request of GSI Technology.

Lee-Lean Shu, the company's Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer, will be hosting the call today. With him are Douglas Schirle, Chief Financial Officer, and Didier Lasserre, Vice President of Sales. I would now like to turn the conference over to Mr. Shu. Please go ahead, sir.

Lee-Lean Shu (Chairman, President, and CEO)

Good afternoon, and thank you for joining us to review our fourth quarter and the fiscal year 2025 financial results. Let's start with a few highlights from fiscal year 2025. We closed the fourth quarter with solid revenue growth, significantly reduced net loss, and a meaningful improvement in cash burn, finished the year with $13.4 million in cash and a more disciplined operating structure. Revenue for the fourth quarter increased by 14% year over year and 9% sequentially to $5.9 million, driven by strong demand for our eSRAM chip as we exit this year. This revenue growth and low operating expense resulted in a sharp reduction in quarterly net loss and a material decrease in cash usage.

For fiscal year 2025, while annual revenue declined 6% compared to the prior year, we meaningfully reduced our net loss by 47% from $20.1 million in 2024 to $10.6 million, driven by a 35% reduction in operating expenses. This structural cost improvement is central to our goal of preserving cash and extending our runway. We expect to maintain our quarterly operating expenses at current levels to minimize our cash burn until we secure new funding sources. In the fourth quarter, we made good progress across multiple fronts to advance our technology roadmap and the commercial strategy. Notably, we secured an initial order for the radiation-hardened eSRAM from a North American prime contractor, a key validation for our product. We anticipate follow-on orders this fiscal year. This chip carries a significantly higher gross margin than our traditional eSRAM.

Didier is the point person with this customer and will expand further on the opportunity. Our ongoing SBIR programs with government agencies are progressing well, and we are successfully meeting our milestones. Today, our SBIRs have general repayment totaling $1.6 million, and we anticipate receiving an additional $1 million once we complete the program. This quarter, $870,000 was the book as a reduction to R&D expense, further helping to lower operating expenses. We are especially excited about recent enhancements to Plato, adding the integration of a camera interface directly into the chip. This new feature, paired with other connectivity enhancements, allows the chip to interface with a wide range of sensors. This makes Plato particularly well-suited for AI agents requiring object recognition.

The new capability has increased strategic interest in Plato, and we are currently in preliminary discussions with multiple parties to secure partnerships and asset funds for the next phases of development. Didier will provide more detail on this exciting development. As we look ahead to fiscal year 2026, we plan to build on the progress of our APU development, drive continued growth in eSRAM sales, and advance the execution of our strategic initiatives across both commercial and government markets. At the same time, we remain committed to maintain operational efficiency. In parallel, we continue to explore strategic alternatives, with a primary focus on securing funding to support the next phase of Plato development. We are also working with our banking team to explore other options that could provide new sources of cash to execute our AI strategy. With that, I will now hand over to Didier.

Didier Lasserre (VP of Sales)

Thank you, Lee-Lean. As Lee-Lean mentioned, this quarter's primary revenue driver was the continued strong demand for our high-density eSRAM. Our eSRAM has been deployed in critical systems used in chip manufacturing, and the recent uptick in business with KYEC is being driven by surging demand for our next-generation AI chip from a leading GPU provider. Despite the ongoing tariff negotiations between the U.S. and its trading partners, we currently anticipate the demand from this customer to continue in fiscal year 2026 at a similar level to what we experienced in 2025. With that said, we may have some variability in the timing of the shipments, but importantly, the demand is still anticipated to remain consistent. The big news this quarter is an initial order for our radiation-hardened eSRAM. While waiting for the forecast from the prime contractor, we anticipate follow-on orders in fiscal 2026.

In addition, we are actively working with this customer to secure heritage status. Gaining this status would enhance the market acceptance of our radiation-hardened eSRAM and unlock access to new high-value sales channels. It is worth noting that radiation-hardened eSRAMs carry a gross margin well above those of our traditional eSRAM chips, providing a strong financial lever as we work to reduce our net loss and cash burn. Let me switch to Plato and elaborate on Lee-Lean's earlier comments. By integrating a camera interface directly into the chip alongside enhanced connectivity features, Plato significantly broadens its addressable market. Able to process data locally without relying on cloud infrastructure, it's now optimized for edge devices and ideal for agents performing object recognition. To clarify what an agent is, it's helpful to look at how the approach to AI is shifting to agentic AI.

These AI systems do not just analyze data, but they also act independently, for example, generating motor commands for a robot or a drone. This involves multiple capabilities that a single-purpose GPU is not well-suited for. Plato, on the other hand, can manage a combination of computing tasks that involve more than just a single number crunching or graphic workloads. Put another way, agentic AI goes beyond basic data analysis. It must make decisions, process inputs from sensors like cameras and microphones, respond in real time, and take actions in the physical world. In this context, Plato's capabilities position it at the forefront of sectors preparing for significant growth driven by the increasing demand for intelligent autonomous systems or agents across various industries at the edge. Thus, interest in Plato has grown among the strategic partners we have engaged with over the past year.

Pivoting to our ongoing SBIRs, as Lee-Lean stated, these projects are on track, and we are meeting the milestones. As a reminder, we are currently working on a phase two contract from both the Space Development Agency and the Air Force Research Labs, along with our most recently announced phase one contract with the U.S. Army. As planned, we delivered a server with a LIDA2 board to the Air Force Research Labs and will shortly deliver another LIDA2 board to the Space Development Agency. The phase one SBIR for the U.S. Army contract is evaluating the use of Gemini 2 and edge computing AI solutions, and we are on track to meet all expectations with this partner. This quarter, we also delivered a YOLO algorithm for the Air Force Research Labs, including the benchmarks for a real-time object detection application.

We continue to increase the performance of the YOLO algorithms, which can immediately determine the exact placement and identify the type of objects. We plan to deliver the improved YOLO3 and YOLO5 algorithms this summer. Lastly, an update on our SAR projects. We made further progress with an offshore defense R&D customer, which ordered a Gemini 2 system to evaluate the chip's capabilities for low-power in-flight application. We will be shipping this system this quarter. This organization is also a potential funding partner for Plato. In addition, a U.S. aerospace company continues to evaluate our Gemini for onboard satellite applications. Taken together, these activities support the use of Gemini 2 for integrated edge applications such as SAR generation and drones, with subsequent object detection and actionable decisions. Now I will move on to the customer and product breakdowns for the fourth quarter.

In the fourth quarter of fiscal 2025, sales to KYEC were $1.7 million, or 29.5% of net revenues, compared to $544,000, or 10.6% of net revenues in the same period a year ago, and $1.2 million, or 22.7% of net revenues in the prior quarter. In the fourth quarter of fiscal 2025, sales to Nokia were $444,000, or 7.5% of revenues, compared to $694,000, or 13.5% of net revenues in the same period a year ago, and $239,000, or 4.4% of net revenues in the prior quarter. Military defense sales were 30.7% of fourth-quarter shipments, compared to 35.5% of shipments in the comparable period a year ago, and 30.0% of shipments in the prior quarter. SigmaQuad sales were 39.3% of fourth-quarter shipments, compared to 42.4% in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2024, and 39.1% in the prior quarter. I'd now like to hand the call over to Doug.

Go ahead, Doug.

Douglas Schirle (CFO)

Beginning with the results for the quarter, we reported net revenues of $5.9 million for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2025, compared to $5.2 million for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2024, and $5.4 million for the third quarter of fiscal 2025. Gross margin was 56.1% in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2025, compared to 51.6% in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2024, and 54% in the preceding third quarter of fiscal 2025. The year-over-year and sequential increase in gross margins was primarily due to higher revenue and product mix. Total operating expenses in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2025 were $5.6 million, compared to $7.2 million in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2024, and $7 million in the prior quarter. Research and development expenses were $3 million, compared to $4.8 million in the prior year period, and $4 million in the prior quarter.

Research and development expenses in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2025 were reduced by $870,000, reflecting government funding under the SBIR programs. Selling general and administrative expenses were $2.6 million in the quarter ended March 31, 2025, compared to $2.4 million in the prior year quarter, and $3 million in the previous quarter. Fourth quarter fiscal 2025 operating loss was $2.3 million, compared to an operating loss of $4.5 million in the prior year period, and $4.1 million in the prior quarter. Fourth quarter fiscal 2025 results included interest and other income of $52,000, and a tax provision of $6,000, compared to $108,000 in interest and other income, and a tax benefit of $85,000 for the same period a year ago. In the preceding third quarter, net loss included interest and other income of $70,000, and a tax provision of $44,000.

Net loss in the fourth quarter fiscal 2025 was $2.2 million, or $0.09 per diluted share, compared to a net loss of $4.3 million, or $0.17 per diluted share in the fourth quarter fiscal 2024, and a net loss of $4 million, or $0.16 per diluted share in the third quarter fiscal 2025. Fourth quarter pre-tax stock-based compensation expense was $512,000, compared to $693,000 in the comparable quarter a year ago, and $429,000 in the prior quarter. Turning now to the full year results for fiscal 2025, we reported net revenues of $20.5 million for fiscal 2025, compared to $21.8 million for fiscal 2024. Gross margin for fiscal 2025 was 49.4%, compared to 54.3% in the prior year. The decrease in gross margin was primarily due to product mix and the effect of lower revenue on the fixed costs and our cost of revenues.

Total operating expenses were $21 million in fiscal 2025, compared to $32.3 million in fiscal 2024. Research and development expenses of $16 million, compared to $21.7 million in the prior fiscal year. Selling, general and administrative expenses were $10.8 million, compared to $10.6 million in fiscal 2024. The decline in research and development expenses was primarily due to cost reductions announced in August 2024. Research and development expenses in fiscal 2024 included pre-production mass costs of $2.4 million related to our APU2 product. Research and development expenses in 2025 and fiscal 2024 were reduced by $1.2 million and $440,000 respectively, reflecting government funding under the SBIR programs. Operating expenses in fiscal 2025 include a gain on the sale of assets of $5.8 million from the sale of the company's headquarters building in Sunnyvale, California, and a sale and leaseback transaction.

The operating loss for fiscal 2025 was $10.8 million, compared to an operating loss of $20.4 million in the prior year. The fiscal 2025 net loss included interest and other income of $326,000, and a tax provision of $130,000, compared to $414,000 in interest and other income, and a tax provision of $70,000 in the prior year. For the fiscal year ended March 31, 2025, we reported net loss of $10.6 million, or $0.42 per diluted share, compared to net loss of $20.1 million, or $0.80 per diluted share in the prior fiscal year. On March 31, 2025, we had $13.4 million in cash and cash equivalents, compared to $14.4 million at March 31, 2024. Working capital was $16.4 million as of March 31, 2025, versus $24.7 million at March 31, 2024.

Stockholders' equity as of March 31, 2025, was $28.2 million, compared to $36 million as of the fiscal year ended March 31, 2024. Operator, at this point, we'll open the call to Q&A.

Operator (participant)

Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, we will now be conducting a question-and-answer session. If you would like to ask a question, please press star and one on your telephone keypad. A confirmation tone will indicate your line is in the question queue. You may press star and 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. Ladies and gentlemen, we will wait for a moment while we poll for questions. Our first question comes from the line of Michael Cooper, private investor. Please go ahead.

Speaker 6

Good evening. Can you talk a little bit about the market for the Plato chip and the Gemini 2 chip? How large are these markets? How do they scale over what time period? Just give us a sense for the market conditions here. Thank you.

Didier Lasserre (VP of Sales)

Sure. We have not actually put out the TAM numbers yet, but just to talk about the markets. For the Gemini 2, think of it as an extension of Gemini 1, but for the edge. Gemini 1 was really to illustrate our capabilities in search and also some high-performance computing applications like SAR. What Gemini 2 will do is take that, but take it to the edge. Gemini 1 was not built to be a low-power solution with the accompanying FPGA that we have talked about in the past. With the Gemini 2, we can get closer to the edge. We are looking for, while Gemini 1 would do SAR applications on ground level in a building, we are now looking at Gemini 2 to do a SAR application actually on a drone or on a satellite at the edge.

We are looking at search and high-performance computing at the edge for Gemini 2. For Plato, this is going to be, it is not going to be for the search market. It is going to be for the LLM market. When most folks think about large language models and GenAI, they think of it in the data center. We are taking that capability to the edge. Think of GenAI and LLM models more at the edge.

Speaker 6

Thank you.

Didier Lasserre (VP of Sales)

Thanks, Michael.

Operator (participant)

Michael, does that answer your question?

Speaker 6

Yes, it does. Thank you. Yeah, that's it. Thank you very much.

Operator (participant)

Thank you. The next question comes from the line of Robert Christian with Acoustic Technologies. Please go ahead.

Robert Christian (Analyst)

Yes, thanks for taking my call. I was wondering, is the company experiencing any interest in the Gemini 2 standalone chip from commercial companies other, say, than military? Is the company still working with the hyperscalers? Thank you.

Didier Lasserre (VP of Sales)

Good question. Honestly, the majority of the early interests have come from more of the middle defense type of applications. They are looking at it on a component level as well. We do have what we call the LIDA2 board, which I discussed a little earlier, that we have delivered and will be delivering to some of our partners. With the board, we're delivering it with a SAR algorithm or some kind of a YOLO algorithm that's been developed, which is why they're getting a card. Some of the folks that we have been having discussions with are looking for a chip only because they will be mounting it on a drone or in a satellite. One of our other integrating partners that we've discussed in the past is actually going to be developing their own miniaturized board.

They will be procuring just the Gemini 2 chips from us to put on their proprietary board. The answer is yes, we are seeing interest on the chip level, but there is also some board-level interest as well.

Robert Christian (Analyst)

Okay. How about the hyperscalers?

Didier Lasserre (VP of Sales)

Yeah, the hyperscalers, we're really focusing more on the edge right now. We have had discussions with them. It's just that's a longer process with those folks. We find that with the military folks, it's just a much quicker path to revenue.

Robert Christian (Analyst)

Okay. Can you share with the shareholders a little more detail, if you can, on what Needham is bringing to the table?

Douglas Schirle (CFO)

Really nothing is off the table at this point. It could be sale of assets. It could be funding into the company. It could be helping us with opportunities for R&D funding, help with development of products that we're looking at. It really could be just about anything.

Robert Christian (Analyst)

Okay. You can't share any specifics at this time, then?

Douglas Schirle (CFO)

There's nothing specific to talk about at this point or at this time yet.

Robert Christian (Analyst)

Okay. Thank you.

Operator (participant)

Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Michael Cooper, an investor. Please go ahead.

Speaker 6

Actually, I'm sorry. The last part of that last question answered my question, which was, what has Needham actually presented as options or opportunities for you? It doesn't sound like they've done an awful lot there.

Douglas Schirle (CFO)

There have been things that we've looked at, but nothing's resulted in anything yet or nothing to talk about.

Speaker 6

Great. Thank you.

Operator (participant)

Thank you. A reminder to all the participants, if you wish to ask a question, please press star and one on your telephone keypad. The next question comes from the line of Jeff Bernstein with Silver Bernstein Capital. Please go ahead.

Jeff Bernstein (Portfolio Manager)

Yeah, just a quick one. Could you give us what cash flow from operations was in the quarter and what your CapEx was?

Douglas Schirle (CFO)

I don't have it for the quarter, but I have cash flow for the year. For the year, cash use and operating activities would be about $12.9 million.

Jeff Bernstein (Portfolio Manager)

Okay. What was CapEx for the year?

Douglas Schirle (CFO)

Very little. Fixed asset additions during the year were like $45,000. Very little. Very minor. We're not looking at fixed asset acquisition right now.

Jeff Bernstein (Portfolio Manager)

Yep. Okay. That's great. Thank you.

Operator (participant)

Thank you. As there are no further questions, I would now like to hand the conference over to Mr. Shu for closing remarks.

Lee-Lean Shu (Chairman, President, and CEO)

Thank you all for joining us. We look forward to speaking with you again when we report our first quarter fiscal 2026 data. Thank you.

Operator (participant)

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