Velo3D - Earnings Call - Q3 2025

Executive Summary

• Q3 2025 revenue was $13.6M, up 65% year over year; gross margin turned positive to 3.2% vs (11.7%) in Q2 2025, though it was down y/y given a $5M one-time license in Q3 2024 that inflated last year’s margin to 49.4%.
• Backlog rose to $21.1M as of September 30, 2025 (vs $15.9M as of June 30, 2025; $17.8M as of July 25, 2025), reflecting traction in Rapid Production Services (RPS) and defense/space demand.
• Management reaffirmed FY2025 guidance: revenue $50–$60M, gross margin >30% exiting Q4 2025, non-GAAP adjusted OpEx $40–$50M, CapEx $15–$20M, and EBITDA positive in 1H 2026; Q3 commentary emphasized operational efficiency and RPS momentum.
• Liquidity strengthened via uplisting to Nasdaq and a $17.5M equity offering; cash and equivalents improved to $11.8M at quarter end.
• S&P Global consensus estimates were unavailable via our system mapping, so we cannot assess beat/miss versus Street expectations (see Estimates Context).

What Went Well and What Went Wrong

What Went Well

• RPS momentum and defense/space exposure: RPS backlog rose 22% q/q; 48% of bookings from Space & Defense; new customers >9% of Q3 bookings, supporting backlog growth to $21.1M.
• Cost controls: Total OpEx fell to $11.1M (from $22.9M y/y); non-GAAP adjusted OpEx $9.0M vs $19.7M y/y; adjusted EBITDA improved to ($7.3M) vs ($9.7M) y/y.
• Strategic wins: U.S. Navy CuNi program (~$6M), DEVCOM AvMC initiative (Aluminum CP1), Linde AMT domestic CuNi supply, and AS9100D certification for RPS bolster credibility and pipeline in aerospace/defense; CEO: “positioning the Company for sustained growth and profitability…moving toward positive EBITDA in the first half of 2026”.

What Went Wrong

• Margin profile remains very low: GAAP gross margin 3.2% vs 49.4% y/y due to last year’s one-off license; although improved sequentially from (11.7%), hardware mix and legacy factors still weigh on profitability.
• Continued losses: GAAP net loss ($11.8M); non-GAAP net loss ($9.2M), indicating ongoing scale/margin challenges despite OpEx reductions.
• Risk factors/tone: Forward-looking risk language underscores liquidity, going concern, and capital-raising sensitivity, even after the offering and uplist.

Transcript

Operator (participant)

Welcome to the Velo3D third quarter 2025 financial results. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. The question-and-answer session will follow the presentation. If anyone should require operator assistance during the conference, please press star zero on your telephone keypad. Please note this conference is being recorded. I will now turn the conference over to your host, James Carbonara, Investor Relations. Thank you. You may begin.

James Carbonara (Investor Relations)

Thank you, Operator. Good afternoon, everyone, and welcome to Velo3D's third quarter 2025 earnings call. Before we begin, please note that today's call will contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected. Please refer to our press release issued earlier today, as well as our filings with the SEC, including our 2024 Form 10-K for a discussion of these risks. We will also reference certain non-GAAP financial measures during the call. Reconciliations between GAAP and non-GAAP results can be found in today's press release, which is available on the Investor Relations section of our website. A replay of this call will also be available shortly after its conclusion. With that, I will turn the call over to our CEO, Arun Jeldi.

Arun Jeldi (CEO)

Thank you, James. Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you all for joining Velo3D's third quarter 2025 earnings conference call. This quarter represents another important milestone in Velo3D's transformation into a high-value recurring industrial technology platform, one that is deeply aligned with the future of advanced manufacturing, digital production, and national industrial resilience. Over the past year, we have been executing a disciplined and deliberate transformation strategy, shifting from a hardware-driven model to a scalable platform business built on recurring services, industrial partnerships, and mission-critical applications. Our third quarter results reflect that progress. We are delivering steady growth, operational improvement, and expanding margins, all while maintaining a clear line of sight toward profitability in the first half of 2026. In Q3, we delivered revenue of $13.6 million, consistent with last quarter, and up over 65% year-over-year from $8.2 million in 2024.

This growth demonstrates the increasing market validation of our platform, the steady ramp of our rapid production services business, and the strength of our relationships with leading aerospace, defense, and industrial customers. Our backlog grew to $21 million as of September 30th, up from $16 million at the end of quarter two, reflecting strong repeat orders and long-term production contracts from customers who are embedding Velo3D into their mission-critical supply chains. Our RPS platform is at the heart of this transformation. It enables customers to achieve digitally certified high-complexity parts onshore at speed and with unmatched geometric freedom. For many customers, RPS is becoming their preferred pathway to production-grade additive manufacturing, delivering not only agility and precision but also a repeatable digital thread that enhances traceability and reliability across programs. This business is rapidly evolving into a recurring revenue for Velo3D, providing visibility, predictability, and sustainable margin expansion.

The third quarter was rich with progress across our key markets and technology roadmap. We achieved several significant milestones that strengthen our position as the technology partner of choice for high-performance manufacturing. $6 million in sales and service agreements were signed under U.S. Navy's Maritime Industrial Base Program, where we developed and qualified copper-nickel alloys for use in our Sapphire systems. This work supports shipbuilding modernization and repair initiatives, key to strengthening U.S. maritime readiness. We joined the U.S. Army DevCom AvMC Manufacturing and Sustainment Initiative, advancing cost-effective additive manufacturing for aluminum CP1. This broadens our materials portfolio and expands our presence in defense-grade lightweight metals, a critical capability for next-generation platforms. Our partnership with Linde AMT is enabling the domestic sourcing of copper-nickel 70/30 powder, directly addressing one of the most urgent challenges facing U.S. defense and industrial supply chains, which are materials security and traceability.

We achieved AS 9100D certification for our RPS quality management system, a major milestone that validates the maturity of our operations and our readiness to scale production within the aerospace and defense sectors. We announced the integration of Dyndrite LPBF Pro software across our Sapphire and Sapphire XC platforms, unlocking AI-enabled toolpath optimization and rapid process development capabilities that shorten customer time to qualification. Finally, we expanded our partnership with Innovative Rocket Technologies, scaling U.S.-based production for reusable launch vehicle and defense propulsion systems, further anchoring Velo3D in the emerging space and hypersonic manufacturing ecosystem. Collectively, these milestones underscore our technological differentiation, our alignment with strategic U.S. Industrial Programs, and our ability to compete in the highest-value segments of advanced manufacturing. Beyond operations, Q3 marked a defining corporate milestone for Velo3D.

We successfully uplisted our common stock to the Nasdaq Capital Market, a step that not only enhances our visibility and credibility with the broader investment community but also affirms our progress in governance, transparency, and institutional readiness. The uplisting positions Velo3D alongside leading technology innovators and opens across to a broader pool of global investors who share our vision for the future of intelligent digital manufacturing. In conjunction with the uplisting, we completed a $17.5 million underwritten public offering for our common stock. The strong participation in the offering reflects growing investor confidence in our transformation strategy, the scalability of the business model, and our trajectory towards profitability.

The proceeds from the offering have significantly strengthened our balance sheet, enhancing liquidity, improving working capital flexibility, and providing the fuel to accelerate our RPS scaling, advance R&D programs in new materials and software, and invest in automation and capacity expansion at our production facilities. This financial strength enables us to execute from a position of confidence, investing where it matters, scaling where we see opportunity, and maintaining clear focus on EBITDA profitability in the first half of 2026. Our performance in the first nine months of 2025 demonstrates the momentum building across our business. We have a strong order book, expanding customer base, improving margins, and tighter cost discipline. Based on this progress and our current visibility into Q4, we are reaffirming our full-year 2025 guidance. Our revenue will be within $50-$60 million and sequential gross margin improvement reaching 30% or higher by quarter four of 2025.

The non-GAAP operating expenses will be anywhere between $40-$50 million. Capital expenditure will be $15-$20 million. EBITDA positive in the first half of 2026. These targets reflect our continued confidence in the strength of our execution, the resilience of our business model, and the depth of demand across our end markets. We believe that Velo3D is now positioning at a unique intersection where digital manufacturing, material innovation, and national reindustrialization coverage. Our technology is not only enabling customers to build the impossible, but to do so at production scale with quality and repeatability that meet the highest industry standards. We are confident that the steps we are taking today to expand RPS, deepen defense partnerships, and invest in material and software innovation will yield a strong, profitable growth platform for years to come.

With that, I will turn the call over to our CFO, Hull Xu, for a deeper look at our financial performance.

Hull Xu (CFO)

Thank you, Arun. Third quarter revenue was $13.6 million, up 65% compared to $8.2 million in the year-to-quarter. This increase was driven primarily by higher systems and printed parts sales as RPS operations continue to ramp up. Gross margin for the third quarter was 3.2% compared to 49.4% in the year-to-quarter and a negative 11.7% in the prior quarter. If you recall, the year-to-quarter had a one-time license revenue that significantly lifted gross margin. Sequentially, gross margin improved due to higher absorption of overhead as RPS volume increased along with more efficient system sales turnover. We expect margins to continue to improve as RPS scales and new Sapphire systems are built to order. Operating expenses were $11.1 million, down from $22.9 million a year ago. On a non-GAAP basis, excluding $2 million of stock-based compensation, operating expenses were $9 million, demonstrating continued cost discipline.

GAAP net loss for the quarter was $11.8 million compared to a net loss of $23.1 million in the year-to-quarter. Non-GAAP net loss for the quarter was $9.2 million compared to $14.5 million in the year-to-quarter, and non-GAAP net loss excludes stock-based compensation of $2.6 million. Adjusted EBITDA for the third quarter of 2025 improved to negative $7.3 million compared to negative $9.7 million in the third quarter of 2024. As of September 30th, 2025, we had a backlog of $21 million. This compares to $16 million of backlog at the end of 2024 and $15.9 million at the end of the previous quarter. Importantly, the composition of the backlog made a significant shift toward RPS, driven by strong demand from the system and the defense sector, from the space and defense sectors.

In terms of our balance sheet, as at the end of the third quarter, we had a cash and cash equivalent of $11.8 million compared to $1.2 million at the end of 2024. We remain confident in our liquidity position and capital plan to reach EBITDA profitability by mid-2026. In conclusion, we remain focused on executing our business strategy with a clear path to profitability. With that, Operator, we can open the call to questions.

Operator (participant)

Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, at this time, we will conduct our 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 that your line is in the question queue. To remove yourself from the question queue, you can press the star key followed by the number two. Once again, to ask a question, press star one on your telephone keypad. We will pause for a moment while we pull for questions. Your first question comes from Jaeson Schmidt with Lake Street Capital Markets. Please state your question.

Jaeson Schmidt (Director of Research)

Thanks for taking the questions and congrats on the progress. Just curious if you could comment on if the government fund backdrop is causing any kind of return correction here. I might have missed it, but did you guys provide what bookings were in Q3?

Arun Jeldi (CEO)

Sorry, Jaeson, I think it comes up a bit choppy, but if we're understanding correctly, you're asking about the government shutdown, whether there's any impact to our bookings?

Jaeson Schmidt (Director of Research)

Yeah. Yeah, if the government funding backdrop is causing any sort of correction in sort of the returns here, as well as what bookings were in Q3.

Hull Xu (CFO)

Jaeson, I can answer that government shutdown and the impact on the booking side for, I mean, the government shutdown started on October 4th. We were a little—we're not that worried because of the momentum, and some of the programs what we are leading actually has already been approved. The government shutdown might have a little impact of it, but the good thing is that they're moving in the right direction. Hopefully, they'll ramp up some of those backlog in the last 30 days or so to move fast on some of the programs. It seems like the bookings might impact a little bit, but we're pretty positive on getting what we are guiding.

Arun Jeldi (CEO)

Yeah. Obviously, it depends on when it opens back up, right? So we are pretty close in signing a couple of things with the Primes. I think the timing would be probably the only thing.

Jaeson Schmidt (Director of Research)

Okay. That makes sense. Obviously, you guys are seeing some really nice traction in RPS. What percentage of revenue could it be exiting this year?

Hull Xu (CFO)

We're at—

Arun Jeldi (CEO)

Go ahead.

Hull Xu (CFO)

Go ahead.

Arun Jeldi (CEO)

Oh, yeah. Okay. So, yeah, it continues to run.

Hull Xu (CFO)

Compared to third quarter, second quarter, and first quarter, third quarter was greater than second quarter. Second quarter was greater than first quarter. We expect RPS to land somewhere between 20-30% for the year.

Jaeson Schmidt (Director of Research)

Gotcha. The last one for me, and I'll jump back into queue. You're obviously seeing some nice traction in defense and space. Just curious, what are some other notable verticals you're seeing momentum in?

Hull Xu (CFO)

Yeah. So we're seeing a lot of traction. I mean, you can see in the future bookings so far, like space is picking up pretty fast because we reduced the barrier for entry for RPS programs. Space and semiconductor markets are really, really getting their qualified parts in Q4. That is a big turn along with defense contracts. Energy is another sector. If you see, we're doing a major impact in the energy sector, especially oil and gas. We're pretty much focused on what our core sectors are: defense, space, semiconductor, and energy.

Jaeson Schmidt (Director of Research)

All right. Thanks, guys.

Hull Xu (CFO)

Thank you.

Arun Jeldi (CEO)

Thanks, Jaeson.

Operator (participant)

A reminder to the audience to ask a question, press star one on your phone. To remove your question, press star two. Your next question comes from George Marema with Pareto Ventures. Please state your question.

George Marema (Analyst)

Yeah. Good afternoon, Hull and Arun. Thanks for taking the question. I have two questions for you. The first one is on the Q4 gross margin uptick. Is that more about mix of RPS versus systems, or more about efficiency of production of systems that's shifting?

Hull Xu (CFO)

It's also—I mean, the company actually increased its production on the new machines, so the overhead. Overall operational efficiency, one part. The second part is the RPS gross margins is pretty high. As we mentioned before, the Q2, Q3, it's a snowball effect. We are raking up and increasing the RPS percentage of revenue, and that actually helps quite a bit. We are very careful on our gross margins on the new machines what we sell. That's where our confidence level is. That's why we are still guiding at 30%.

George Marema (Analyst)

In Q4, will you have kind of gone through most of the old legacy backlog from like a year ago?

Hull Xu (CFO)

Yes.

George Marema (Analyst)

Okay.

Hull Xu (CFO)

Yes. Yeah. If you see our inventory levels and others in the past and what you see, that has almost gone. We are building the new machines, so the overhead and everything will be reduced.

George Marema (Analyst)

Okay. Great. My second question, I was wondering if you could provide some more color on the DoD segment, excluding the shutdown period, of course. What kind of demand signals are you seeing in terms of—is there a higher uptick in velocity of RPS? Are there any concrete examples you can provide of just what is the velocity of the DoD segment for 3D printing parts?

Hull Xu (CFO)

I'll give a few examples, and you can relate to those. One of the things is the munitions program. That's upticking quite a bit with a lot of promises in the recent press release. DoD is basically ramping up their manufacturing in the U.S., and they want to increase their stockpile. That's another reason, if you recently heard that the defense secretary has conducted these acquisitions and is cutting the red tape to increase the production. That's where all that demand is coming from. We are in the right place in the right business. In one sense, it's like the manufacturing is the key here to actually increase the production. All these defense companies now are leaving the traditional legacy way of doing things and saw more value.

Like one of the programs we are involved has showed them that it can be cheaper and faster than traditional, and that is ticking up pretty fast. They are moving some legacy parts, some Munitions Programs, and shipbuilding. You see a lot of army programs and CP1 and other things. That is where the demand comes from.

George Marema (Analyst)

Okay. That's excellent. Thank you for the examples. Appreciate it.

Hull Xu (CFO)

Yeah. Thank you.

Operator (participant)

Ladies and gentlemen, it appears that there are no further questions at this time. So I'll hand the floor back to management for any closing remarks. Thank you.

Arun Jeldi (CEO)

Thank you, everyone. It's me, Arun Jeldi, CEO of Velo3D. Before we close, I want to recognize our employees, customers, and investors for their continued confidence and partnership. The transformation underway at Velo3D is real, and the results are visible across every dimension of our business. We are executing with focus, innovation with purpose, and positioning Velo3D for long-term value creation, both for our shareholders and for the industries we serve. Thank you again for joining us today and for your continued support.

Operator (participant)

Thank you. That concludes today's conference. All parties may disconnect. Have a good day.