Executive Summary

Q4 2022 was marked by a sharp R&D ramp that swung the year to a loss; quarterly revenue was $12.82M and net loss was $27.09M, yielding deeply negative margins despite full-year revenue growth of 28.8% to $72.51M .
Mix skewed to services: Q4 services were ~$9.25M vs products ~$3.58M, consistent with the full-year services share (75%) .
Gross margin compressed to 47.4% in Q4 and to 45.8% for FY 2022 (vs 69.7% in 2021), driven by higher outsourcing costs in advertising/promotion; nine months gross margin was 45.4% .
No Q4 guidance or call transcript was furnished; Wall Street consensus (S&P Global) was unavailable for Q4 2022, limiting beat/miss analysis. Estimates will need updating as the market digests the R&D step-up and margin reset (S&P Global data unavailable).
Post-SPAC cash increased; company received $33.2M net proceeds at the Sept 16, 2022 business combination, ending FY with $21.9M cash, providing near-term liquidity .

What Went Well and What Went Wrong

What Went Well
- Revenue growth: FY 2022 operating revenues rose 28.8% to $72.5M on increased demand for holographic solutions and successful business development .
- Strategic positioning: Management emphasized entering an “exciting phase” with public capital markets resources to accelerate R&D and scaling globally (“execute more rapidly and efficiently”) .
- Liquidity boost: $33.2M net cash proceeds from the business combination in Sept 2022 strengthened the balance sheet, ending FY with $21.9M cash .
What Went Wrong
- Margin compression: FY gross margin fell to 45.8% from 69.7% as outsourcing costs in advertising/promotion outpaced revenue growth; Q4 margin at 47.4% .
- R&D step-up: R&D expenses jumped to $49.2M in 2022, with an estimated ~$31.68M in Q4 alone (FY minus 9M), driving a Q4 operating loss of ~$27.04M .
- Receivables quality: Provision for doubtful accounts increased to $0.44M in 2022 (vs $0.08M in 2021), reflecting increased credit risk on customer exposures .

Quarterly performance and comparisons (USD):

Segment mix (USD):

Segment	Q3 2022	Q4 2022
Products Revenue	$2.81M	$3.58M (FY $18.52M − 9M $14.94M)
Services Revenue	$21.43M	$9.25M (FY $53.99M − 9M $44.75M)

KPIs and operating metrics (USD):

KPI	Q3 2022	Q4 2022
R&D Expense	RMB 6.89M (reported; % of revenue 28.4%)	~$31.68M (FY $49.23M − 9M $17.55M)
Cash & Equivalents (period-end)	$46.96M	$21.91M
Accounts Receivable (period-end, net)	$13.38M	$11.65M
Working Capital	RMB ~~350.5M (~~$49.3M) at 9/30/22	~$23.0M at 12/31/22

Versus estimates:

Wall Street consensus (S&P Global) for Q4 2022 EPS, revenue, and EBITDA was unavailable due to data access limits; no beat/miss analysis can be provided at this time (S&P Global data unavailable).

Metric	Period	Previous Guidance	Current Guidance	Change
Revenue	Q4 2022/FY 2022	Not provided	Not provided	—
Margins/OpEx	Q4 2022/FY 2022	Not provided	Not provided	—
Tax rate	Q4 2022/FY 2022	Not provided	Not provided	—
Segment-specific	Q4 2022/FY 2022	Not provided	Not provided	—

No guidance was issued in the Q4 2022 materials reviewed .

No Q4 2022 earnings call transcript was found. Key narrative threads across Q3 and FY documents:

Topic	Previous Mentions (Q3 2022)	Current Period (Q4/FY 2022)	Trend
AI/ADAS LiDAR R&D	Emphasis on ADAS/LiDAR solutions, SDK services, and segment revenue detail	R&D surged to $49.2M to advance LiDAR, algorithms, vision tech; team depth highlighted	R&D acceleration
Supply chain/costs	Hardware distributor role; inventory risk/pricing power noted	Hardware resale strategy with bargaining power vs vendors; chip cost pressures offset by scale	Stable but cost-sensitive
Macro/regulatory (China)	COVID disruption and regulatory environment discussed	Extensive PRC regulatory/data security risks outlined; potential cybersecurity reviews	Heightened focus
Product performance	Services dominated revenue (CPA/SDK); Q3 revenue $24.24M	FY growth led by advertising/promotion; margin pressure from outsourcing costs	Growth with margin headwinds
Regional footprint	China-centric operations; office leases and assets	Offices in Shanghai/Shenzhen/Horgos/Kashgar; 2,218.82 m² leased	Consistent footprint
Capital & liquidity	Business combination closing; cash increased	FY cash $21.9M; net proceeds $33.2M; working capital ~$23M	Adequate liquidity

“We are entering an exciting phase for our company where the resources of the public capital markets will be available to enhance our research and development efforts and business growth…execute more rapidly and efficiently in delivering and scaling new services, designs and products to our customers worldwide.” – Wei Peng, Chairman .
Strategy: “We will continue to expend significant resources in the research and development of holographic technology…focused on developing our autonomous driving, 5G, AI, and machine learning technologies…” .
Business model: “We are also a distributor of holographic hardware…Although gross profit for hardware products is relatively low, we intend to run the business line through sheer volume…with bargaining power against vendors…” .

No Q4 2022 earnings call transcript located; no Q&A content available.

Wall Street consensus (S&P Global) for Q4 2022 EPS, revenue, and EBITDA was unavailable due to access limits. As a result, we cannot assess beats/misses for the quarter (S&P Global data unavailable).

The R&D reset: A step-change in Q4 R&D (~$31.7M) underpins a pivot to technology investment in LiDAR/ADAS and holographic vision, but it drove a −$27.0M operating loss and a −$27.1M net loss in the quarter .
Margin pressure: Full-year gross margin fell to 45.8% (from 69.7%) as outsourcing costs surged in advertising/promotion; investors should watch service cost discipline and in-house capabilities to regain margin .
Services-led mix: Services (~75% of FY revenue) remain the growth engine; Q4 services ~$9.25M vs products ~$3.58M, sustaining the mix but with higher cost intensity .
Liquidity is adequate near term: $33.2M net proceeds from the SPAC combination, $21.9M year-end cash, and ~$23M working capital provide runway as spending rises .
Regulatory risk premium: Extensive PRC data/cybersecurity oversight and other legal constraints present ongoing risk factors that may influence valuation and capital access .
No guidance/call: Absence of formal guidance and transcript increases uncertainty; monitoring future disclosures for margin restoration and spending cadence is key .
Near-term trading: Expect sensitivity to any signals on cost control, service margin improvement, and commercialization milestones that validate the Q4 R&D intensity.