LIDR

Image source: The Motley Fool. Thursday, Aug. 6, 2026 at 5:00 p.m. ET Investor Relations Manager - Keaton Olson Chief Executive Officer - Matthew Fisch Chief Financial Officer - Conor Tierney Operator: Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to AEye Q2 2026 Conference Call. [Operator Instructions] And please note that this call is being recorded. I would now like to turn the call over to Keaton Olson. You may begin. Unknown Executive: Good afternoon, and thank you for joining AEye's Second Quarter 2026 Earnings Call. I'm Keaton Olson, Investor Relations Manager for AEye. And with me today are Matt Fisch, Chief Executive Officer; and Conor Tierney, Chief Financial Officer. Earlier today, AEye announced its financial results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2026. A copy of the press release is available in the Investor Relations section of the company's website. Before we begin, today's discussion may include forward-looking statements as defined in the securities laws and regulations of the United States with reference to future events, operating results or performance and are based on our current expectations and assumptions. Any forward-looking statements are subject to inherent risks, uncertainties and changes in circumstances. Our actual results may differ materially from those contemplated by these forward-looking statements. You can find more information about the risks, uncertainties and other factors in the reports AEye files from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including in our most recent periodic report. The statements to be made are as of today only, and AEye does not intend to update any forward-looking statements regardless of any new information, future developments or otherwise, except as may be required by law. In addition, we will be discussing non-GAAP financial measures on this call, which we believe are relevant in assessing the financial performance of the business. These measures are presented as supplemental information only and should not be considered a substitute for financial information presented in accordance with GAAP. You can find reconciliations of these metrics to the most directly comparable GAAP measures within the press release. With that, I'll hand the call over to Matt. Matthew Fisch: Thank you, Keaton, and thank you all for joining us. I'm excited to report that our overall momentum continued in the second quarter, including the ongoing development of our sales pipeline, having grown to our highest level of engagement yet. And most importantly, I'm pleased to announce that we have been selected as the preferred lidar vendor for a groundbreaking sports analytics provider. As a company, we're hitting our stride, and we extended AEye's reach into an entirely new market category. Q2 revenue grew approximately 9x year-over-year and roughly 100% quarter-over-quarter, marking our fourth consecutive quarter of growth, further evidence of the accelerating commercial interest in our technology. Beyond revenue, our sales funnel continues to be the best barometer of our progress. Proof-of-concept programs from revenue-generating customers grew to 25 from 21 since our last earnings call and both engagements and quote activity increased approximately 25% and 40% quarter-over-quarter, respectively. Commercial momentum is accelerating across the board. New accounts continue to enter and move through the funnel and existing customers are scaling up the scope of their engagement. AI sits at the center of the physical AI opportunity, a market [ Barkly ] sizes at up to $1 trillion by 2035. Lidar is what is machine site and our software-defined architecture positions Apollo and STRATOS as core perception platforms across automotive, trucking, aerospace and defense, rail, infrastructure, ITS and now sports and analytics. Defense continues to be our most active vertical with engagements doubling quarter-over-quarter. Our lead defense customer placed its third consecutive paid order this quarter and repeat business is emerging as Apollo is evaluated across UAV, UGV and counter-UAS applications. Additionally, our partnership with Fintech, a leading international defense systems company, continues to actively promote and ship Apollo to its customers, expanding our addressable pipeline into global markets where Apollo's configurability and long-range performance make it purpose-built for mission-critical and unmanned systems. Increasingly, our customers are finding us rather than the reverse and often for novel applications that continue to expand our TAM. What makes this possible is our software-defined architecture. Because Apollo's behavior is defined in software rather than fixed in hardware, we can quickly reconfigure it to meet a new application without redesigning the sensor. Customers come to us with a problem, and we can adapt the same platform to solve it. Sports analytics this quarter is a great example, a new use case addressed with our same underlying product. For our customers, that flexibility is what turns lidar-based perception into a practical tool for improving safety, lowering total cost of ownership and opening new revenue streams. And for AI, it means each new application expands our addressable market without the need to make physical changes to our hardware. Alive3D recently selected Apollo as its lidar solution for next-generation sports analytics. Apollo's software-defined technology will enable Alive3D to deliver 3D spatial sports visualization, precise measurement and advanced data analytics. We are able to tune Apollo to meet the needs of our customers, in this case, Elite Sports. This is another clear example of where our software-defined architecture allows us to tailor our solution to deliver for our customers. And Apollo was recently validated on NVIDIA DRIVE AGX Thor, NVIDIA's next-generation automotive and physical AI compute platform, deepening a relationship that expands our participation in the NVIDIA Halos AI Systems inspection Lab and our existing validation on NVIDIA DRIVE AGX Orin. With sensor to compute interoperability confirmed against NVIDIA DriveOS, placing AI as a sensor partner in the NVIDIA DRIVE Hyperion ecosystem, OEMs and Tier 1 suppliers building on the NVIDIA DRIVE platform can source Apollo as a prequalified sensor, reducing integration risk and shortening the path from system design to deployment. Automotive and trucking OEMs continue to treat long-range lidar as essential, not optional for highway ADAS and autonomy. We remain active in multiple OEM Level 3 and Level 4 evaluation projects. In parallel, we signed an MOU to explore combining Apollo's long-range 3D object detection with MoveAWheeL acoustic road surface friction sensing. This partnership seeks to provide real-time predictive friction coefficient of road surfaces to improve ADAS and autonomous driving in adverse weather. Evaluations are underway across select geographies, and we are already having discussions with automotive OEMs about potential applications. In other markets, our OPTIS platform continues to move into deployment. Our live smart intersection in the Bay Area remains operational as do our multiple OPTIS installation in and around Detroit. In APAC, Apollo received the Smart Sensing Technology Innovation Award at the EAC 2026 Zhiyao Awards in Shanghai, validating its role in intelligent sensing for ADAS, autonomous driving and physical AI applications. Additionally, we are now shipping units to an ITS customer we met during our Q1 roadshow in Korea, and our China partnership with ATI remains actively quoting today. Our manufacturing footprint and capital-light model underpin all of this. As an American company with a globally diversified supply chain, we're positioned to navigate geopolitical risk and shifting trade policy better than peers. Through lidar, we have a dedicated production line capable of up to 60,000 Apollo units annually, derived from off-the-shelf telecom components for mass manufacturability at competitive cost. We have begun ramping our output to match our forecast of increased customer demand in the second half of the year. Finally, for those customers that require end-to-end perception solutions, our OPTIS system is underpinned by a partner-led model, spanning NVIDIA, Flasheye, Blue-Band, Black Sesame, Vueron and now MoveAWheeL. This lets us deliver those solutions across market segments without absorbing the cost and balance sheet impact of building every capability in-house, a structural advantage peers with internally developed software stacks can easily scale. With that, I'll turn the call over to Conor to walk through our financial results and the conversion metrics behind this momentum. Conor Tierney: Thank you, Matt. Our active customer base reached a new level of diversification this quarter. And repeat business is now a pattern rather than an exception, which is the strongest indicator we have of product market fit and a direct validation of the performance advantages of our software-defined architecture. Before I turn to the numbers, it is worth framing what we believe is happening in our market because it explains where our revenue is now coming from. The first wave of lidar adoption completed largely on cost and packaging. A second wave is now forming, and it has been decided on something different. Performance and sophistication are the gates to winning the deal. The customers driving this wave and creating novel demand in the physical AI space were absent from the first one because their use cases were simply too demanding for first-generation sensors, detection at extreme range, maximum ruggedness, centimeter level capture across an entire playing field. Apollo's ultra-long-range performance and software configurability paired with our highly scalable partnership and production models put us in a uniquely strong position to capitalize on precisely this class of physical AI customer. We now have commercial proof that this is more than a thesis. During the quarter, we secured a commercial program with Alive3D in a new vertical that was not contemplated a year ago, one on capability rather than price. Behind this program, a growing number of engagements are moving out of proof of concept and into commercial closure. Turning to the financials. Second quarter revenue was $202,000, roughly double the $101,000 we reported in the first quarter and approximately 9x the $22,000 in the second quarter of 2025. First half revenue of $303,000 already exceeds our full year 2025 revenue of $233,000. Two components drove the quarter. The first is product revenue with an increasing share coming from repeat orders rather than first-time evaluations. Repeat orders from our lead defense customer continued to grow in size quarter-over-quarter, and we started shipping units to Alive3D. The second component and new this quarter is $30,000 of contract development revenue from customer-funded engineering work. That line matters more than its size suggests. It is a second distinct source of revenue that did not exist for us 6 months ago, and we expect it to become a more regular contributor in subsequent quarters as programs advance into their engineering phases. GAAP operating expenses were $10.6 million versus $8.9 million in the first quarter. More than half of that increase was noncash stock-based compensation, primarily from performance-based equity awards. The balance was nonrecurring engineering, tooling and test costs as we ramp production capacity ahead of anticipated demand. Non-GAAP operating expenses, which exclude stock-based compensation, were $8.2 million compared to $7.4 million. I would characterize the step-up as investment ahead of volume rather than an increase in our underlying run rate cost structure. We reported a GAAP net loss of $10 million or $0.22 per share compared to $8.3 million or $0.18 per share in the first quarter. On a non-GAAP basis, our net loss was $7.6 million or $0.17 per share versus $6.7 million or $0.15 per share in the first quarter. Second quarter cash consumption was $7.5 million compared to $9.2 million in the first quarter, reflecting a decrease from onetime payroll costs in the first quarter, partially offset by payments for professional fees, nonrecurring engineering costs and inventory purchases in the current quarter. We ended the quarter with cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities of approximately $71.5 million compared to $77.2 million at the end of the first quarter of 2026. We're reaffirming our 2026 full year cash use outlook of $30 million to $35 million, inclusive of approximately $5 million in working capital. I would note that we expect second half consumption to run higher than the first half as we start to ramp the manufacturing build. This outlook reflects continued investment in commercial execution, the sales coverage, partner support and deployment infrastructure required to convert our pipeline into a meaningful and durable revenue ramp. Our capital structure also remains simplified and strong with AI virtually debt-free. That matters directly to the OEMs and industrial customers we're targeting where multiyear program confidence is a prerequisite for selection. The architectural advantage of our sensors Matt described earlier compounds at the financial level. The same software-defined platform that lets us tune Apollo and STRATOS to customer-specific requirements is what lets us enter new markets and solve new customer problems, from defense to automotive to sports analytics without rebuilding our stack each time, and STRATOS extends performance into new tiers without a proportional increase in development costs. Peers with fixed function sensors and internally owned software stacks can't replicate that flexibility without absorbing significant development and integration expense. Our expectation for 2026 remains unchanged. As engagements convert into program commitments, we're building the foundation for a meaningful revenue inflection. And we believe we can reach it without outspending competitors. The difference this quarter is that conversion is no longer theoretical. I'll now turn the call back to Matt for closing remarks. Matthew Fisch: Thank you, Connor. As we enter the back half of 2026, our focus doesn't change, convert engagements into deployments and continue to turn the physical AI tailwinds we're seeing into a durable revenue ramp. We're entering that period with new proof points, Apollo validated on NVIDIA DRIVE AGX Thor and Alive3D selecting Apollo for elite sports analytics, extending our footprint into transportation and stadiums, all from one software-defined architecture. Our technology continues to differentiate. Our balance sheet provides the stability to execute and the partnerships we've built from NVIDIA and LITEON to Alive3D lay the foundation for scale across multiple sectors. Operator, we're now ready to open the line for questions. Operator: [Operator Instructions] And your first question comes from the line of Richard Shannon with Craig-Hallum. Richard Shannon: Congrats on a really nice -- really nice quarter, some good growth here. I got a few questions for you. And the first comment that I'm going to touch on here was a very interesting one about ramping output here in the second half of the year. Obviously, everyone -- since you didn't give any sort of revenue guidance, everyone would like to get a sense of what kind of ramp we're talking about. Any way to quantify or at least characterize that would be helpful here. And maybe any details on any end markets or specific customers you have in mind here for a lot of this ramp. Matthew Fisch: Richard, I'll start it off here and let Conor jump in. Hope you're having a great summer and thanks for joining us today. Look, we're -- I take a look at the company a year ago, we're running around the halls, finishing product and working on product. And today, we're fully loaded with 25 different customer programs. These are all customers who bought sensors and other things from us and such a different place. One of the main things we see here is that we talked about pipeline a lot. So here we are at this record pipeline level, but it takes time, I'll say, measured in months to march things through the pipeline and get things working the way the customer likes. And Alive3D is the first one that we are happy to talk about to come out of that pipeline. And the pipeline is pretty deep. We've got stuff coming in, as we mentioned earlier. So we expect that to continue through the back half of the year. And the way I'll sum it up before I hand it off to Conor here is we're just focused maniacally on quarter-on-quarter growth with the revenue out. We expect that to continue. You've seen that we've managed that -- to run that playbook. The last 4 quarters. we've doubled quarter-on-quarter consistently. We aim to continue down that path here in the back half of the year, and that's what we believe we can achieve. And Conor, anything you'd like to add on that? Conor Tierney: Yes. And maybe I'd just say, look, we've said in the past that we would be very cautious about ramping production, and we would make sure that's gated to customer demand. So I think that's an indication that we're confident in the pipeline, and we're confident in the opportunities here that are kind of moving further down the funnel. And obviously, we have 25 customers in play here. We announced one commercial win. But we think we're on the one yard line here with a few other customer announcements. And we expect to probably getting some news out here in the next few months or so. And so I think that's what's really driving that ramp in production, and we want to make sure that we have our house in order ahead of that. Richard Shannon: Okay. I appreciate that detail. That's my follow-up -- next question is another one of your comments about your first contract development or development contract revenues here. And I think you mentioned you expect this to be a continuing theme going forward here. I guess I'd love to get a sense of the end market for this particular one. What's the pipeline look for this? And like how much revenues would this contribute as a percentage do you think over the next couple of years as you ramp this up? Matthew Fisch: Conor, why don't you take that one? Conor Tierney: Yes, yes, sure. So look, this customer was in the aerospace and defense sector. It had been a customer that we had been engaged with for quite some time. And so I think what's important is just to take a step back and really try and understand the value proposition of our product. And we talked about software definability and programmability and a lot of customers initially take the sensor, they run it through their spaces. There's lots of things we can do on the software side to optimize it. But there are situations where customers may want to change the hardware or configure it in a certain way. A lot of times, that's very easy to do just because the way the sensor is designed is very modular. You can make functional enhancements through changing out the optics lens. And so what we're going to see, I think, here over the next few years is we're going to see contract development revenues become a more meaningful number on our P&L. And that's just by virtue of the fact that we have multiple different ways to generate revenues in that particular discipline. I think one is just through the software configurability piece that we talked to, but also as customers get more involved in the product. You got to imagine as well that we have customers coming to us with very sophisticated needs and different use cases and hardware changes at some point will be part of that. And that's what we're kind of flagging there. I think it's early in those stages, but we're seeing enough of a signal that indicates that this is becoming -- going to become a more meaningful number over time. Richard Shannon: Okay. I would assume that this customer and in the future, as you get more of these, this will be a natural source of some volume sensors over time here. I know that A&D customers tend to take their time going from the sort of work to volume production, but do you see these guys eventually getting to that point at some point in the next, I don't know, a few quarters, a couple of years or something like, just to kind of get a sense of what you're expecting here. Matthew Fisch: I do because the customer is putting skin in the game. And when they're paying for engineering work, they're designing you into their solution, right? And that could be an unmanned ground vehicle or an unmanned aerial vehicle or something, right? But they're putting skin in the game. They're making a bet on our product. They're investing in us. And so I think, obviously, it's going to be a combination of development revenue, but also that comes along with product sales as well. So yes, I think you're thinking about that the right way. Richard Shannon: Okay. Perfect. My last question, I'll jump out of line here is just kind of looking at your business by end markets here, and you pointed out multiple times today about your success in the defense space, which is great to see here. I would assume this is your biggest market, but I'd actually love to talk and ask a longer-term question to Matt here in the auto space here about the kind of the RFI, RFQ process with ones you've already been in and any future ones you're seeing here coming forward, particularly as I think you called out Level 3, Level 4 programs. Matthew Fisch: Yes. Great. I think it's a great call out, Richard. Defense is certainly making up, I can say, a majority of our pipeline and certainly most all the growth that's happened over the last quarter. But automotive and trucking remains incredibly active. And in fact, we had a new evaluation start on that over the quarter even from last time around. And -- we've had an RFQ come in. So I would say it's been steady and the automotive programs take a lot longer time to process. So we talked about months for some of these other markets. But the automotive guys, since they are ramping volumes that require a substantial financial commitment, their evaluation period is quite a bit longer. So everything we started this year continues at this point. We've seen a new one come in this quarter. So steady as she goes. I mean I think that's the way I'd say it, and it's good to see a new name come to the picture since we had the last call. But it does take time. It's a long process and the process continues. Operator: [Operator Instructions] And our next question comes from the line of Poe Fratt with Alliance Global Partners. Charles Fratt: Can you expand a little bit more on the benefits of your technology that not only attracts customers, but also retains them? Matthew Fisch: Yes. Thank you. I'll take that one, and good to hear your voice again there, Poe. Look, there's a very different thing we're seeing that are getting folks in the door. And that's the -- we'll call it the 1 kilometer sensing range headline. What customers understand is that this kilometer, it's a statement about how much budget they get to spend on performance. Conor alluded to this in the script about the market shifting towards meeting their use cases rather than trying to conform to a sensor use case. The good news is that when we talk about a kilometer, it's a budget. It's a really big budget that the customer gets to spend and they get to spread it across different technical vector detection range, how far they can see, what's the frame rate, what's the resolution, so on and so forth. We give that flexibility through the software defined team. And this was really essential in our collaboration with Alive3D. They had a use case that stressed a particular portion of performance that we're working with them who would spend that budget, if you will, and really push it towards their very unique and very special use case. By the way, there is some fierce competition with other players in the space. And because we were able to reallocate that performance in a very unique way, nobody else can do that as far as we know. And that's why we won that project with them, trying and simple. And so as the world begins to understand physical AI, the flexibility, we believe, is key to helping them move forward because we don't know all the use cases. We didn't know all the use cases 2 years ago, but we knew that we're going to see things that we didn't pick up in advance and sports analytics is one of those topics and the fact that we're so flexible, we were able to make the sensor meet the customer's use case instead of the other way around, where the customer has to confine their use case to what the sensor can do. And that's just one data point, and I'm confident that we'll see other cases like this, a growing number in the back half of the year where our flexibility and able to allocate that very generous performance budget is going to win us additional deals. And yes, it's very exciting. Charles Fratt: That's great. Can you give a little more color about the interest you're seeing in the defense sector? And maybe just -- are you also seeing a broadening of use cases there? Matthew Fisch: Yes, absolutely. So just to kind of slide back over what we talked about in the script. So number one, I think Richard touched on this a little bit. It's our largest source of income at this point, our most popular segment and not only that, but the one that grew the biggest quarter-on-quarter. What we had been very deeply focused on, I would say, over the last quarter was unmanned aerial vehicle, even manned aerial vehicles, we talked about like collision avoidance cases like power line detection. A very important topic is unmanned vehicles and even manned vehicles like helicopters continue to expand needs and autonomy needs. And then similarly, on unmanned ground vehicles, it's -- think about it as a subset of what's happening in the robotaxi space. Our lidar has some very unique characteristics there, for example, doing a great job at -- just one example, doing a great job at seeing chain link fence. Chain link fence is a very difficult problem for many sensors. And you can imagine a military vehicle to navigate in very rugged territory. We do a great job there. And that's just one example of our sensors capability has attracted part the UGV unmanned ground vehicle sector of defense. However, Q2 has been a very large influx of counter UAS, which in plain English, it's counter drone detection. And certainly -- and unfortunately, there's a lot of conflict in the world, but drones are becoming a huge factor in that conflict and lidar has some very unique capabilities to bring to the table in that area. And it's become very busy in the counter UAS space over the last quarter. And by the way, defense demands performance. It's a fabulous fit for the capabilities with that. Conor Tierney: Yes. I was just going to say one thing just to add to what Matt said. We may initially engage with the customer about one particular use case. And a lot of times, that may lead to opportunities elsewhere. So initially, we may engage based on unmanned ground vehicles. And then as we start to move forward and they realize the capabilities of the sensor itself leads to some other opportunities. And we've seen other opportunities expand more broadly into UAV counter threat detection, as Matt mentioned. So I think that's good that initially, we start very narrow and we can go broad. And it's a sign that the customer is engaged and excited about the technology. Operator: There is no further question at this time. I will now turn the call back over to Matt Fisch for closing remarks. Matt? Matthew Fisch: Great. Thank you. Thanks to everybody for joining the call today. We appreciate the great questions and the dialogue that we've had here and really excited about what's around the corner in the back half of the year. We look forward to coming back towards the end of Q3, early Q4 and updating you on our progress. Thank you, and have a great day. Operator: This concludes today's call. You may now disconnect. 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Our analysts just identified a stock with the potential to be the next Nvidia. Tell us how you invest and we'll show you why it's our #1 pick. Tap here. Revenue grew approximately 9x year-over-year and 100% quarter-over-quarter, marking the fourth consecutive period of doubling revenue as commercial interest accelerates. The company secured a groundbreaking selection as the preferred lidar vendor for Alive3D, marking a strategic entry into the elite sports analytics market. Defense remains the most active vertical, with engagements doubling quarter-over-quarter and repeat business emerging across UAV, UGV, and counter-UAS applications. Management attributes success to a software-defined architecture that allows the same hardware platform to be reconfigured for diverse use cases without costly redesigns. Validation on NVIDIA DRIVE AGX Thor positions AEye as a prequalified sensor partner, reducing integration risk for automotive and trucking OEMs. The company maintains a capital-light, globally diversified supply chain with a dedicated production line capable of 60,000 units annually. Strategic partnerships with firms like MoveAWheeL allow AEye to deliver end-to-end perception solutions without the high cost of internal software development, while partnerships with companies like Fintech expand the company's addressable pipeline in global defense markets. Management expects the trend of doubling revenue quarter-over-quarter to continue through the second half of 2026 as the pipeline converts to deployments. Manufacturing output is being ramped up in anticipation of increased customer demand and volume shipments scheduled for the back half of the year. Cash consumption is expected to run higher in the second half of 2026 compared to the first half due to manufacturing build-out and inventory purchases. The company reaffirmed its full-year 2026 cash use outlook of $30 million to $35 million, supported by a nearly debt-free balance sheet. Contract development revenue is expected to become a more regular and meaningful contributor as programs advance into deeper engineering phases. Introduced a new revenue stream of $30,000 in contract development revenue, representing customer-funded engineering work that signals deep design-in commitment. Operating expenses increased to $10.6 million, primarily driven by non-cash stock-based compensation and non-recurring engineering costs for production ramping. The company holds $71.5 million in cash and equivalents, which management cites as a critical factor for winning multi-year OEM programs. Repeat orders from a lead defense customer grew in size, validating product-market fit and the reliability of the Apollo platform in mission-critical environments. One stock. Nvidia-level potential. 30M+ investors trust Moby to find it first. Get the pick. Tap here. Management aims to continue the trend of doubling revenue quarter-over-quarter through the end of the year. The production ramp is specifically gated to confirmed customer demand and a pipeline of 25 active programs. Several customer announcements are described as being on the "one-yard line" and are expected within the next few months. Development revenue is viewed as a lead indicator of future volume, as customers are "putting skin in the game" by funding engineering. This revenue stems from sophisticated needs in aerospace and defense where customers require specific hardware configurations or software optimizations. Management expects this to become a more meaningful percentage of the P&L over the next few years. Automotive evaluations are steady but take significantly longer than other sectors due to the substantial financial commitments required for mass volume. A new evaluation and an RFQ (Request for Quote) were initiated during the quarter, showing continued interest in Level 3 and Level 4 autonomy. Management characterizes the automotive segment as "steady as she goes" rather than a rapid inflection point. Defense is currently the largest source of income and the fastest-growing segment for the company. The software-defined architecture allows the sensor to solve specific military problems, such as detecting chain-link fences or tracking drones (counter-UAS). High-performance requirements in defense make it a natural fit for AEye's long-range sensing capabilities.

Interested in AEye, Inc.? Here are five stocks we like better. Revenue and customer activity accelerated: AEye’s second-quarter revenue reached $202,000, roughly double the prior quarter and nine times the year-earlier period. Revenue-generating proof-of-concept programs rose to 25, while overall engagements increased 25% sequentially. Defense is driving the pipeline: Defense engagements doubled quarter over quarter, supported by a third consecutive paid order from AEye’s lead defense customer and applications spanning unmanned vehicles and counter-drone systems. AEye also secured a sports-analytics customer, Alive3D, and shipped Apollo sensors during the quarter. Growth investments are increasing cash needs: AEye ended June with about $71.5 million in cash and marketable securities and reaffirmed its 2026 cash-use outlook of $30 million to $35 million. The company expects higher second-half spending as it expands manufacturing, commercial execution and deployment infrastructure, despite continued anticipated revenue growth. Top 5 AI & Autonomy Stocks Trading Under $15 With Big Potential AEye (NASDAQ:LIDR) reported second-quarter revenue of $202,000, approximately double its first-quarter revenue and about nine times the $22,000 reported in the prior-year period, as the lidar company continued to expand its customer pipeline and add commercial programs across defense, automotive, intelligent transportation systems and sports analytics. Chief Executive Officer Matt Fisch said the company has recorded four consecutive quarters of revenue growth and reached its highest level of customer engagement to date. Proof-of-concept programs from revenue-generating customers increased to 25 from 21 since the prior earnings call, while overall engagements rose about 25% quarter over quarter and quote activity increased roughly 40%. → Meta’s Earnings Drop Shows Wall Street Wants More Than Ad Growth These 5 Penny Stocks Just Surged Double Digits “Commercial momentum is accelerating across the board,” Fisch said, citing new accounts entering the sales funnel and existing customers expanding the scope of their engagements. AEye announced that Alive3D selected its Apollo lidar sensor for next-generation sports analytics. Fisch said the software-defined sensor will support Alive3D’s 3D sports visualization, measurement and data-analytics offerings. The selection extends AEye into a new market category, according to the company. → Visa’s BioCatch Deal Could Make Fraud Prevention a Bigger Business The company emphasized that Apollo’s behavior can be configured through software rather than requiring a redesign of the underlying hardware. Fisch said this flexibility allowed AEye to tailor sensor performance for Alive3D’s requirements in elite sports and can enable the company to pursue additional applications without making physical changes to its hardware. Chief Financial Officer Conor Tierney said AEye began shipping units to Alive3D during the quarter. He described the program as commercial evidence that customers with demanding physical-AI applications are selecting sensors based on capabilities rather than price. → Ulta's Growth Is Real, But So Are the Risks AEye also said Apollo was validated on NVIDIA DRIVE AGX Thor, NVIDIA’s next-generation automotive and physical-AI compute platform. The validation follows AEye’s participation in NVIDIA’s Halos AI Systems Inspection Lab and its existing validation on NVIDIA DRIVE AGX Orin. Fisch said the interoperability validation with NVIDIA DriveOS places AEye as a sensor partner in the NVIDIA DRIVE Hyperion ecosystem, potentially reducing integration risk for original equipment manufacturers and Tier 1 suppliers using the platform. Defense remained AEye’s most active vertical, with engagements doubling quarter over quarter, Fisch said. The company’s lead defense customer placed its third consecutive paid order during the second quarter, and AEye is evaluating Apollo across unmanned aerial vehicle, unmanned ground vehicle and counter-unmanned aircraft system applications. During the question-and-answer session, Fisch said defense represented a majority of AEye’s pipeline and accounted for most of its quarter-over-quarter growth. He pointed to collision avoidance for aircraft, navigation for unmanned ground vehicles and counter-drone detection as areas of interest. Tierney said customer-funded engineering work may also become a more meaningful source of revenue over time. The company recorded $30,000 of contract development revenue in the second quarter from an aerospace and defense customer. He said such work can involve software optimization, sensor configuration or hardware changes, and indicates that a customer is investing in incorporating AEye’s technology into its own system. AEye’s partnership with SynTech, an international defense systems company, continued to promote and ship Apollo sensors to customers, expanding the company’s addressable pipeline in global defense markets, Fisch said. For the first six months of 2026, AEye generated revenue of $303,000, exceeding its full-year 2025 revenue of $233,000. Tierney said second-quarter product revenue increasingly came from repeat orders rather than initial customer evaluations, including larger orders from the company’s lead defense customer. GAAP operating expenses were $10.6 million, compared with $8.9 million in the first quarter. Non-GAAP operating expenses were $8.2 million, compared with $7.4 million in the preceding quarter. GAAP net loss was $10 million, or $0.22 per share, versus a $8.3 million loss, or $0.18 per share, in the first quarter. Non-GAAP net loss was $7.6 million, or $0.17 per share, compared with $6.7 million, or $0.15 per share, in the first quarter. Cash consumption was $7.5 million in the second quarter, down from $9.2 million in the first quarter. Cash equivalents and marketable securities totaled about $71.5 million at June 30, down from $77.2 million at the end of the first quarter. Tierney said more than half of the sequential increase in GAAP operating expenses stemmed from non-cash stock-based compensation, primarily tied to performance-based equity awards. The remaining increase reflected non-recurring engineering, tooling and testing expenses associated with preparations for higher production capacity. The company reaffirmed its full-year 2026 cash-use outlook of $30 million to $35 million, including about $5 million in working capital. AEye expects second-half cash consumption to exceed first-half levels as it ramps manufacturing builds and invests in commercial execution, partner support and deployment infrastructure. AEye said its manufacturing partner, LITEON, has a dedicated production line capable of producing up to 60,000 Apollo units annually. Fisch said the company has begun increasing output in anticipation of higher second-half demand, while Tierney said production expansion is being tied to customer demand and opportunities advancing through the sales funnel. Fisch said AEye expects continued quarter-over-quarter revenue growth in the second half, though the company did not provide specific revenue guidance. He said the company has one announced commercial win and believes several other opportunities are nearing potential customer announcements. In automotive and trucking, AEye remains involved in multiple Level 3 and Level 4 OEM evaluation programs. Fisch said a new automotive evaluation began during the quarter and an RFQ was received, though he noted that automotive programs typically have longer evaluation periods because of the scale of their potential production commitments. The company also signed a memorandum of understanding with MoveAWheeL to explore combining Apollo’s long-range 3D object detection with acoustic road-surface friction sensing for advanced driver-assistance and autonomous-driving applications. Separately, AEye said its OPTIS smart-intersection installations remain operational in the Bay Area and Detroit, while it has begun shipping units to an intelligent transportation systems customer it met during a first-quarter roadshow in Korea. AEye, Inc is a technology company specializing in adaptive LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) systems designed to support advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS), autonomous vehicles and other sensing applications. Through its intelligent detection and ranging (iDAR) platform, AEye integrates high-performance sensors with real-time data processing software to deliver customizable sensing ‘pipelines' that prioritize relevant objects and environmental features. This approach enables longer detection ranges, higher resolution imagery and dynamic field-of-view adjustment, making AEye's offerings well suited for complex driving environments and safety-critical scenarios. The company's core product suite centers on solid-state and hybrid LiDAR sensors that can be configured for a variety of end uses, including passenger vehicles, commercial trucks, robotics, mapping and defense. This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to [email protected]. The article "AEye Q2 Earnings Call Highlights" was originally published by MarketBeat. View MarketBeat's top stocks for August 2026.

Q2 Revenue Approximately Doubled Sequentially and Grew Approximately Nine-Fold Year-Over-Year; First-Half Revenue Exceeds Full-Year 2025 Expands Industry Verticals via Groundbreaking Sports Analytics Agreement with Alive3D Apollo™ Validated on NVIDIA DRIVE AGX Thor™, Placing AEye as a Sensor Partner in the NVIDIA DRIVE Hyperion Ecosystem Lead Defense Customer Places Third Consecutive Purchase Order as Defense Remains AEye’s Most Active Vertical PLEASANTON, Calif., August 06, 2026--(BUSINESS WIRE)--AEye, Inc. (Nasdaq: LIDR), a global leader in software-defined, high-performance lidar solutions, today announced financial results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2026. Business Highlights New Commercial Deal in New Vertical: Apollo’s™ software-defined architecture was critical to securing the win; it allows AEye to reconfigure scan patterns, range, and resolution to meet the distinct demands of sports analytics using the same underlying sensor platform. Record Commercial Engagement: Commercial activity again reached its highest level in the Company’s history, with AEye now having 25 customers that have taken revenue-generating shipments – a 19% increase since the Company reported Q1 results in May 2026. Quarter-over-quarter, engagements and quotes increased over 25% and approximately 40%, respectively. NVIDIA Ecosystem: Apollo™ was validated on NVIDIA DRIVE AGX Thor™, deepening sensor‑to‑compute interoperability for next‑generation physical AI and automotive platforms. Defense Vertical Expansion: Defense remains AEye’s most active vertical, with engagements doubling quarter-over-quarter. The Company’s lead defense customer placed its third consecutive paid order this quarter, and repeat business is emerging as Apollo™ is evaluated for UAV, UGV and counter-UAS applications, while the partnership with SynTech continues to expand Apollo’s™ international reach. Automotive, Trucking, & OEM Momentum: AEye is active in multiple OEM Level 3 and Level 4 evaluations. AEye signed an MOU with MoveAWheeL to combine Apollo’s™ long-range 3D object detection with acoustic road-surface friction sensing, aimed at improving ADAS and autonomous driving performance in adverse weather. Evaluations are underway across select geographies, with discussions already advancing with automotive OEMs. ITS Deployment: OPTIS™ continues to move into deployment, with the Company’s live smart intersection in the Bay Area remaining operational, as well as multiple OPTIS™ installations in and around Detroit. Management Commentary "We set a new high bar for commercial activity in Q2, securing two new commercial deals and gaining increased traction within existing accounts and verticals," said Matt Fisch, CEO of AEye. "As a company, we are hitting our stride. Revenue is up more than nine times year-over-year, and has increased for four consecutive quarters. New technical engagements, inbound RFIs, and POC activity across automotive, trucking, aerospace and defense, rail, infrastructure, ITS – and, new this quarter, sports analytics – are trending in the right direction. We believe every new vertical we enter validates the same underlying thesis: when performance and programmability matter most, Apollo™ wins." Fisch continued, "Our unique software-defined architecture allows our Apollo™ sensor to immediately meet demand for the continuous influx of new lidar applications we’re seeing as they appear in the market. Paired with the sensor’s long range, superior performance, and rugged design, our technological edge – maintained and expanded by our highly scalable partnership and production models – is such that we believe we are well equipped to compete for physical AI market share as the space rapidly develops into a trillion-dollar industry over the coming decade. For the remainder of 2026, our focus continues to be on leveraging our strengths to advance deployments and build a durable revenue ramp." Financial Highlights Q2 2026 revenue was $202 thousand, up approximately nine times the $22 thousand reported in Q2 2025, and approximately double compared to last quarter. GAAP net loss in Q2 2026 was $(10.0) million, or $(0.22) per share. Non-GAAP net loss in Q2 2026 was $(7.6) million, or $(0.17) per share. Cash consumption in Q2 2026 was $7.5 million. Cash, cash equivalents, and marketable securities were $71.5 million as of June 30, 2026. "Second quarter results mark a transition in how our revenue is generated: from paid evaluations toward commercial agreements," said Conor Tierney, CFO of AEye. "Revenue approximately doubled sequentially, first-half revenue already exceeds all of 2025, and repeat orders are now increasingly a feature of our business. Just as important, we generated revenue from our first contract development engagement in Q2, a second, distinct source of revenue that did not exist for us six months ago. With $71.5 million in cash and marketable securities and a virtually debt-free balance sheet, we believe we have the runway to execute multi-year commercial programs well into 2028." 2026 Cash Consumption Outlook The Company reaffirms its expectation that cash consumption for the full year 2026 will be in the range of $30 million to $35 million, inclusive of approximately $5 million in working capital. The Company expects its cash balance provides operational runway well into 2028. Conference Call and Webcast Details AEye management will webcast its investor conference call today, August 6, 2026, at 2:00 p.m. Pacific Time (5:00 p.m. Eastern Time) to discuss these results. AEye CEO Matt Fisch and CFO Conor Tierney will host the call, followed by a question-and-answer session. The webcast and accompanying slides will be accessible via the company’s website at https://investors.aeye.ai/. Access is also available via: Webcast: https://edge.media-server.com/mmc/p/tmd5jc68/ About AEye AEye offers a suite of unique software-defined lidar solutions that address a wide range of real-world needs including advanced driver-assistance, vehicle autonomy, smart infrastructure, security, defense, and logistics applications. AEye’s flagship product, Apollo™, has been widely recognized for its small form factor and its ability to detect objects at up to one kilometer. In addition to Apollo™, AEye also offers STRATOS™ with the ability to detect objects at up to one-and-a-half kilometers as well as a full-stack solution through its OPTIS™ platform. OPTIS™ provides a complete system that captures a high-resolution 3D image of the world, interprets it, and provides direction to act upon what it sees in real-time. Non-GAAP Financial Measures The non-GAAP measures provided in this press release should not be considered a substitute for, or superior to, measures of financial performance prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) in the United States. A reconciliation between GAAP and non-GAAP financial data is included in the supplemental financial data attached to this press release. Non-GAAP financial measures do not have any standardized meaning and are therefore unlikely to be comparable to similarly titled measures presented by other companies. AEye considers these non-GAAP financial measures to be important because they provide additional insight into the Company’s on-going performance. The Company provides this information to help investors evaluate the results of the Company’s on-going operations and to enable more meaningful and consistent period-to-period comparisons. Non-GAAP financial measures are presented only as supplemental information to understand the Company’s operating results. The non-GAAP financial measures should not be considered a substitute for financial information presented in accordance with GAAP. This press release includes non-GAAP financial measures, including: Non-GAAP net loss which is defined as GAAP net loss plus stock-based compensation, plus stock issuance and debt issuance costs, less change in fair value of convertible note and warrant liabilities, plus expenses related to contested proxy, plus loss (gain) on termination of operating lease, net; and Adjusted EBITDA, defined as non-GAAP net loss plus depreciation and amortization expense, less interest income and other, less interest expense and other, plus provision for income tax. Forward-Looking Statements Certain statements included in this press release that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws, including the safe harbor provisions under the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements are sometimes accompanied by words such as "believe," "continue," "project," "expect," "anticipate," "estimate," "intend," "strategy," "future," "opportunity," "predict," "plan," "may," "should," "will," "would," "potential," "seem," "seek," "outlook," and similar expressions that predict or indicate future events or trends, or that are not statements of historical matters. Forward-looking statements are predictions, projections, and other statements about future events that are based on current expectations and assumptions and, as a result, are subject to risks and uncertainties. Forward-looking statements included in this press release include, without limitation, statements about AEye’s operational runway well into 2028, its expected cash consumption for the 2026 full year period, the conversion of its commercial engagements and pipeline into revenue, the anticipated performance and capabilities of its products, including STRATOS™, and the benefits and advantages of AEye’s products and technologies, among others. These statements are based on various assumptions, whether or not identified in this press release. These forward-looking statements are provided for illustrative purposes only and are not intended to serve as and must not be relied on by an investor as a guarantee, an assurance, a prediction, or a definitive statement of fact or probability. Actual events and circumstances are very difficult or impossible to predict and will differ from the assumptions. Many actual events and circumstances are beyond the control of AEye. Many factors could cause actual future events to differ from the forward-looking statements in this press release, including but not limited to: (i) the risks that AEye’s operational runway may not extend well into 2028 due to unforeseen expenses or otherwise; (ii) the risks that cash consumption for the full year of 2026 may exceed $35 million due to unanticipated expenses associated with the investments required to ramp AEye’s products, working capital requirements, or otherwise; (iii) the risks that AEye’s agreement with Alive3D may not result in commercial deployments or continued revenue to the extent or in the time frame anticipated, or at all; (iv) the risks that AEye’s record levels of commercial engagement, including growth in customers, engagements, and quotes, may not convert into revenue, and that existing customers may not continue to make repeat purchases, to the extent or in the time frame anticipated, or at all; (v) the risks that the validation of Apollo™ on the NVIDIA DRIVE AGX Thor™ platform and AEye’s participation in the NVIDIA DRIVE Hyperion ecosystem may not result in design wins or commercial opportunities to the extent or in the time frame anticipated, or at all; (vi) the risks that orders from AEye’s lead defense customer may not continue, that evaluations of Apollo™ for UAV, UGV, and counter-UAS applications may not result in orders, and that the partnership with SynTech may not continue to expand Apollo’s™ international reach, in each case to the extent or in the time frame anticipated, or at all; (vii) the risks that OEM Level 3 and Level 4 evaluations, the memorandum of understanding with MoveAWheeL, and related evaluations and discussions may not result in commercial agreements or design wins to the extent or in the time frame anticipated, or at all; (viii) the risks that OPTIS™ deployments, including the Company’s smart intersection and ITS installations, may not continue or expand to the extent or in the time frame anticipated, or at all; (ix) the risks that the transition in how AEye’s revenue is generated, from paid evaluations toward commercial agreements, may not continue, that repeat orders may not remain a feature of AEye’s business, and that contract development engagements may not remain a source of revenue, in each case to the extent or in the time frame anticipated, or at all; (x) the risks that AEye’s revenue growth may not continue nor translate into a durable revenue ramp to the extent or in the time frame anticipated, or at all; (xi) the risks that AEye’s software-defined architecture may not meet demand from new lidar applications, and that AEye’s technological edge and its partnership and production models may not be maintained or expanded, to the extent or in the time frame anticipated, or at all; (xii) the risks that STRATOS™ may not achieve its anticipated detection range or other performance specifications, or achieve commercialization or market acceptance, to the extent or in the time frame anticipated, or at all; (xiii) the risks that the physical AI market may not develop into a trillion-dollar industry over the coming decade, or at all, and that AEye may not be equipped to compete for market share in that market to the extent anticipated, or at all; (xiv) the risks that market conditions may create delays in the demand for commercial lidar products beyond AEye’s expectations, if at all; (xv) the risks that lidar adoption occurs slower than anticipated or fails to occur at all; (xvi) the risks that AEye’s products may not meet the diverse range of performance and functional requirements of target markets and customers; (xvii) the risks that AEye’s products may not function as anticipated by AEye, or by target markets and customers; (xviii) the risks that AEye may not be in a position to adequately or timely address either the near or long-term opportunities that may or may not exist in the evolving autonomous transportation industry; (xix) the risks that laws and regulations are adopted impacting the use of lidar that AEye is unable to comply with, in whole or in part; (xx) the risks associated with changes in competitive and regulated industries in which AEye operates, variations in operating performance across competitors, and changes in laws and regulations affecting AEye’s business; (xxi) the risks that AEye is unable to adequately implement its business plans, forecasts, and other expectations, and identify and realize additional opportunities; and (xxii) the risks of economic downturns and a changing regulatory landscape in the highly competitive and evolving industry in which AEye operates. These risks and uncertainties may be amplified by current or future global conflicts and current and potential trade restrictions, trade tensions, and tariffs, all of which continue to cause economic uncertainty. The foregoing list of factors is not exhaustive. You should carefully consider the foregoing factors and the other risks and uncertainties described in the "Risk Factors" section of the periodic report that AEye has most recently filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, or the SEC, and other documents filed by us or that will be filed by us from time to time with the SEC. These filings identify and address other important risks and uncertainties that could cause actual events and results to differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made. Investors are cautioned not to put undue reliance on forward-looking statements; AEye assumes no obligation and does not intend to update or revise these forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise. AEye gives no assurance that AEye will achieve any of its expectations. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260806308965/en/ Contacts Investor Relations AEye, Inc. Investor [email protected] 925-400-4366Keaton [email protected] Media Relations Alliance Advisors [email protected]

Image source: The Motley Fool. Monday, March 16, 2026 at 5 p.m. ET Chief Executive Officer — Matthew Fisch Chief Financial Officer — Conor Tierney Investor Relations Manager — Keaton Olson Keaton Olson: Good afternoon, and thank you for joining AEye's First Quarter 2026 Earnings Call. I'm Keaton Olson, Investor Relations Manager for AEye. And with me today are Matt Fisch, Chief Executive Officer; and Conor Tierney, Chief Financial Officer. Earlier today, AEye announced its financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2026. A copy of the press release is available in the Investor Relations section of the company's website. Before we begin, today's discussion may include forward-looking statements as defined in the securities laws and regulations of the United States with reference to future events, operating results or performance and are based on our current expectations and assumptions. Any forward-looking statements are subject to inherent risks, uncertainties and changes in circumstances. Our actual results may differ materially from those contemplated by these forward-looking statements. You can find more information about the risks, uncertainties and other factors in the reports AEye files from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including in our most recent periodic report. The statements to be made are as of today only, and AEye does not intend to update any forward-looking statements regardless of any new information, future developments or otherwise, except as may be required by law. In addition, we will be discussing non-GAAP financial measures on this call, which we believe are relevant in assessing the financial performance of the business. These measures are presented as supplemental information only and should not be considered a substitute for financial information presented in accordance with GAAP. You can find reconciliations of these metrics to the most directly comparable GAAP measures within the press release. Now let me pass the call over to Matt. Matthew Fisch: Thank you, Keaton, and thank you all for joining our first quarter 2026 earnings call. The quarter unfolded exactly as planned, steady execution, no surprises and a commercial pipeline that continued to grow. Our ecosystem partnerships and manufacturing capability remains strong, and we now have more commercial engagement than at any point in our history. Our funnel continues to be the best barometer to benchmark our progress as revenue tends to be a lagging indicator. As of today, our revenue-generating customer count has grown from 15 to 21 since our last earnings call. I'm also pleased to report that both our issued quotes and active engagements have increased by nearly 40% quarter-over-quarter. These leading indicators, new technical engagements, inbound RFIs and POC activity across automotive, trucking, defense, rail, infrastructure and ITS are all moving in the right direction. These indicators are the data that investors should focus on to understand where we are headed. Quarterly revenue is up almost 60% year-over-year. This meaningful growth is driven by our software-defined architecture and long-range sensing performance and reflects the strong pipeline activity building behind it. AI's technology gives machines vision, the foundation of physical AI and the prerequisite for every intelligent autonomous system being built today. The market is potentially very large and is accelerating. Barclays projects the physical AI market opportunity could reach as much as $1 trillion by 2035, and LiDAR is the enabling layer that makes it real. AI software-defined architecture positions us at the core of that ecosystem and the LiDAR sector's ongoing consolidation has only strengthened our relative position. AI is on stronger footing coming out of that consolidation than going in, better capitalized, leaner in structure and with a commercial pipeline that continues to expand. The automotive industry appears to be squarely shifting toward AI-driven safety and software-defined vehicle architectures. And we believe long-range LiDAR is becoming essential to that architecture, not optional. Apollo offers best-in-class detection range when operating behind the windshield and is the only sensor we know of to be customer proven to reliably detect objects at distances of up to 1 kilometer. Our OEM engagement has increased, driven by recent robotaxi investment announcements, growing trade policy implications and supply chain resilience concerns with OEMs in the passenger vehicle segment actively seeking domestically sourced alternatives. AI's manufacturing partnership directly addresses that demand. Multiple new RFIs arrived in Q1 across both passenger and commercial vehicle segments and OEMs have begun to reengage as L3 and L4 road maps are being reactivated and expanded. In ground mobility, evaluations by autonomous trucking companies are deepening. Multiple companies have programs underway, and we are now shipping sensors into those evaluations. Apollo should be well suited to serve this expanding addressable market. In transportation and infrastructure, Optus is now live at an active intersection in California in partnership with FlashEye and BlueBand. Additional U.S. smart intersection deployments are in progress. Our APAC expansion strategy is also progressing. An Australian ITS POC has advanced into a discussion of commercial terms. In Korea, we recently concluded a successful customer roadshow engaging with more than 10 OEMs across ITS, rail and mobility sectors. Our business partnership with ATI in China remains strong, and we have 4 additional customers now evaluating our Apollo LiDAR product. In defense, active shipments continue with an existing U.S. contractor for UAV wire detection. Repeat business is emerging within that account, and Apollo is being evaluated for additional applications, including UGV and counter UAV with an expectation of multiple new RFQs. A significant development this quarter is our new commercial relationship with Syntech, a global defense systems company with established ties to leading defense prime. Syntech is actively promoting Apollo to its customers and initial shipments are already underway. This partnership has the potential to unlock international defense and aviation market outside of the United States, meaningfully expanding our addressable pipeline while complementing the domestic engagements we have already built. What drives selection across all of these verticals is consistent. AI's proven and reliable 1-kilometer detection range with unlimited software-driven adjustability. That flexibility is paying dividend. For example, a defense customer that initially engaged us for a single UAV wire detection application is now evaluating Apollo across 3 separate use cases without any change to the hardware they have already deployed in the field. This is a key differentiation factor that drives customers to select AI. Stratos, the newest addition to our product lineup, extends our capability up to 1.5 kilometers of detection range with 500-meter performance behind the windshield at a disruptive price point. Through our manufacturing partnership with Lite-On, AEye's supply chain is globally diversified, providing the flexibility and resilience to navigate geopolitical risk and shifting trade policies that we believe our peers cannot match. Our tech stack is derived from off-the-shelf telecom components, which allows us to compete on cost while delivering the mass manufacturability and high performance our customers require. We continue to build on our partnership with NVIDIA as it is the cornerstone of our automotive and industrial market positioning. Apollo is validated on DRIVE AGX Orin and has been demonstrated on DRIVE AGX, NVIDIA's next-generation centralized automotive compute platform. In March, we joined the NVIDIA Halos AI Systems Inspection Lab, the world's first ANAB accredited AI systems inspection lab. ANAB accreditation is generally viewed by OEMs as a critical marker of confidence, reliability and quality assurance within their supply chain. Our Optus platform powered by NVIDIA Jetson Orin extend our reach into infrastructure and industrial markets via our diversified software ecosystem. We are giving infrastructure and industrial customers a ready-made path into physical AI without having to build perception capability from scratch. I will now turn the call over to Conor to review our first quarter results. Conor Tierney: Thank you, Matt. Our strong commercial momentum is broad-based, showing up across our full addressable market rather than any single vertical. Our access customer base now spans defense, intelligent transportation, rail and logistics and security, a level of diversification we did not have a year ago. And the quality of that growth matters as much as the breadth. We are also seeing a growing pattern of repeat business across the customer base, a meaningful signal of product market fit and a direct validation of the performance advantages of our architecture. Our commercial progress is beginning to attract broader institutional attention. We added new sell-side analyst coverage this quarter, and we are seeing a meaningful increase in both sell-side and buy-side interactions. -- an external signal that the commercial activity we have been describing is registering with the investment community. The revenue ramp is in its early stages, but the underlying metrics building behind it give us confidence in the trajectory ahead. Before I move to the financials, I want to spend a minute on what we are increasingly hearing from customers. In my role bridging the financial and commercial sides of the business, this has become one of the most important strategic aspects investors are interested in right now. Customers today are not buying a sensor, they are buying a solution. The question they are asking is no longer whose LiDAR has the best specs sheet, it's who can help me deliver the end-to-end perception capability that my application needs faster and with less integration risk. That shift is showing up in nearly every RFI and RFQ we see. A customer in the security industry recently put it to us bluntly. They don't want to buy from a hardware company. They want to buy from the front-end solution provider that integrates everything. That dynamic applies across all of our target markets, and it is exactly the model AI has built. Financially, the implication is meaningful. We do not need to absorb the cost or balance sheet impact of acquiring or building those capabilities ourselves to deliver a complete perception solution, a real efficiency advantage as we scale. The proof is in the deal flow. We are seeing a healthy uptick in customer demand for a full end-to-end physical AI solution, not just a stand-alone sensor. We have been able to assemble those solutions through our partner ecosystem with a speed and breadth that we believe our peers constrained by what they own internally cannot match. And as our recent customer additions illustrate, this model is working. Meaningful new programs in defense, infrastructure and adjacent mobility have come to us through or alongside our partners. Moving on to financials. The first quarter 2026 revenue was $101,000, up almost 60% compared to $64,000 in Q1 2025 and up slightly versus Q4 2025. First quarter GAAP operating expenses were $8.9 million compared to $8.3 million in Q4 2025, reflecting higher stock-based compensation and professional fees, alongside continued investment in go-to-market and deployment execution. First quarter non-GAAP operating expenses were $7.4 million, slightly lower than $7.5 million in Q4 2025, primarily due to lower payroll costs, partially offset by increased professional fees. We reported a GAAP net loss of $8.3 million or $0.18 per share in the first quarter compared to a GAAP net loss of $7.3 million or $0.17 per share in Q4 2025. The increase was primarily driven by higher stock-based compensation and professional fees, partially offset by lower personnel costs. On a non-GAAP basis, our net loss was $6.7 million or $0.15 per share, essentially flat compared to a non-GAAP net loss of $6.8 million or $0.15 per share in Q4 2025. First quarter cash burn was $9.2 million, up from $7.5 million in Q4 2025, primarily reflecting Q1 seasonality. Our manufacturing model built on Tier 1 partnerships rather than owned infrastructure continues to keep our cash burn among the lowest in the sector. We ended the first quarter with cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities of approximately $77.2 million compared to $86.5 million at the end of Q4 2025. The sequential decrease reflects the deliberate deployment of resources into commercial operations, the go-to-market investment and operational execution required to convert the pipeline we are building. This is planned resource deployment, fully consistent with the guidance we set at the start of 2026, and we are tracking in line with that plan. We are reaffirming our 2026 full year cash burn target of $30 million to $35 reflecting planned investments in commercial execution, sales and marketing and the operational build required to support customers as they move from evaluation into deployment. On a brief housekeeping note, while we are discussing capital. In the days immediately following this call, AEye plans to file a new shelf registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Our existing shelf is expiring, and this filing is a routine replacement, standard course of business. Our strategy has not changed. Our capital framework has not changed, and the filing does not reflect any near-term financing intentions. The company remains well capitalized with runway well into 2028. Our capital structure also remains simplified and strong with AI virtually debt-free. That matters directly to the OEMs and industrial customers we are targeting, where multiyear program confidence is a prerequisite for selection. And the architectural point Matt made earlier compounds here. The same software-defined platform that lets us tune Apollo to a customer-specific frame rate, range and field of view is what lets us extend our accessible markets without rebuilding from the ground up each time. Stratos makes that compounding advantage concrete, a third-generation sensor that reaches new performance tiers without a proportional increase in investment and one that drops directly into the same partner-led solutions model. Our peers with fixed sensor capability and internally owned software stacks cannot replicate that flexibility without absorbing significant development and integration costs. For customers who need capability without compromise, that equation continues to resonate. Our expectation for 2026 is unchanged. As technical engagements convert into program commitments, we are building the foundation from which a meaningful revenue inflection can follow. Getting there doesn't require out spending the field. Apollo's performance lead, our software-defined architecture and a partner-led model, combined with a cost structure built for scale, not overhead, make ours a capital-efficient path to a meaningful revenue inflection. I will now hand it back to Matt for closing remarks. Matthew Fisch: Thank you, Conor. As we look ahead to the remainder of 2026, the focus is unchanged, convert engagements into deployment. The physical AI tailwinds driving this market are real and accelerating. Our technology continues to differentiate us. Our balance sheet provides the stability to execute and the partnerships we have built from NVIDIA to LiteON to Syntech and others lay the foundation for commercial scale. We are seeing the engagement activity and conversion momentum that give us confidence in our trajectory, and we look forward to demonstrating that progress in the quarters ahead. Operator, we are now ready to open the floor for questions. Operator: [Operator Instructions] Your first question comes from the line of Poe Fratt. Poe Fratt: Can you just update us on the collaboration and partnership with NVIDIA? And then maybe give us a couple of milestones that we should be looking for over the rest of the year on furthering that partnership? Matthew Fisch: Welcome back, Poe. Good to hear your voice. Look, I'd summarize the relationship at this point as strong and progressing. We talked about in Q1 that we had integrated with the latest platform, NVIDIA DRIVE AGX Thor as well as joining the NVIDIA Halos AI lab, which is -- demonstrates our commitment in NVIDIA's support to automotive-grade solution. Even today, we've got a team out at NVIDIA's headquarters down in Silicon Valley. They're testing -- they start at lunchtime. They're not even there until midnight. -- testing the latest Apollo software update. And really, it's just -- it's about validation, the horsepower and the technology that NVIDIA brings to the table. They're so prolific what they're app from the automotive industry. What this is about is validating our capabilities and performance to be ready for that OEM integration phase. And if you check the NVIDIA ecosystem website today, we're at the top of the list. Our performance is validated, and we're the top performer on that list today. So what we can think about, let's just say, between now and the end of the year, there's a validation process. that's the key task for us to be officially validated on NVIDIA AGX Drive Thor, and that's going to be our focus. And for example, it's one of the main reasons why we're out there spending 12 hours today, so we can continue that validation process, get the feedback from NVIDIA, make the product stronger tune and better and be ready for that OEM integration on their platform. Poe Fratt: Great. That's helpful. And then when you look at your customer engagement up to 21 revenue generating, I think, shipments. Can you just give us a little more color or detail on the commercial traction within certain key markets? And then maybe, Matt, if you could highlight which markets have the shortest selling time versus other markets? Matthew Fisch: Sure, absolutely. Thanks, Poe. Great question. Look, it's -- we're super excited. We're basically at the highest level of commercial engagement we've ever had in this company. And I will tell you, we've added in that 31% growth customers in every one of those 6 market segments that Conor talked about earlier. So let's just jump into it. I mean there's a lot of segments to cover, but let's focus on really a couple of key highlights first. One is defense. That's a real major standout. First of all, our detection range, we believe, is best in the industry. The defense guys and the aerospace guys and the ground vehicle part of that, they love that aspect of AI's Apollo solution. And the software-defined LiDAR piece allows us to be super flexible across different use cases, let's just say, in the defense market for today and really point out the evidence we talked about in the earnings call. And we're working with many major U.S. defense primes. There's one in particular that we called out, where not only we're getting repeat business, but they are scaling now Apollo across multiple of their business units, and we do that essentially with a new software configuration. There's no hardware change required. And by the way, that expands to the 6 market segments that we mentioned. We can work across each of those without requiring a new hardware build or major hardware changes. And so that's pretty big. I mean in terms of market velocity, we are pleasantly surprised by how fast defense is moving. There's a new grade of players in the market also that are moving things along very quickly. I would just highlight that as a high-velocity market versus what we might expect traditionally. But look, in other areas as well, we're now -- we have our Optus. This is our full perception solution. Conor talked about this earlier. It's not just about the sensor. It's about being able to collect data and then act. And we have our Optus solution up on a traffic intersection in the Bay Area today, demonstrating that end-to-end capability. There'll be more to come in that space for sure. And we also just completed in the intelligent traffic system space, a POC in Australia, where they were trying to count trucks and delays in trucking and parking lots and manage fleet capacity, and they try to do it with camera radar and then they couldn't make it work, and we've got them up and running now. The end customer has seen it, and they're very happy with it. So look, it's about, number one, customers are coming to us for that industry-leading detection range, 1 kilometer for Apollo and 1.5 kilometers for Stratso. And then secondly, that software-defined element of our product now only allows us to scale across market segments, but it also scaling within customers. And I think those 2 attraction and differentiation points are really propelling us forward here. Conor Tierney: Yes. I think probably you also brought up the question about lead times. And what we would see is there's probably 2 distinct patterns there. Certainly, on the automotive side, we're seeing longer lead times. It could take maybe 2 to 3 years to get to SOP. But on non-automotive, that time line has certainly accelerated. That said, we're still seeing at least 6 to 12 months. Now it can vary between customers, some customers, some sectors move quicker, other move slower. It's just -- it all depends on the end customer and what their goals and priorities are. Matthew Fisch: Yes. And just probably forgot to mention Syntech as well, another commercial partner we've added this quarter, just further highlighting the expansion across multiple players in the defense space. Poe Fratt: Great. Are you in discussions with any additional partners, Matt? Should we see an expansion like, say, the defense industry is huge. Are there others out there that you're looking at partnering with? Matthew Fisch: Yes, absolutely. I count that on 2 fronts. One is just the integrator or the end customer themselves. As we mentioned in the script, we've got like a 40% growth in our pipeline. So that's just a leading indicator to entering the POC phase, absolutely across all of those segments. And then the second piece is let's talk about Optus. This is where we have 4 partners today. And again, just if you take a step back above LiDAR into the overall perception and intelligence solution, that's where those 4 partners are coming in, and they're enabling us to drop into each of those segments very quickly. We have an open platform. It's based on the NVIDIA Jetson platform. It's very easy for developers to work with. And even more importantly, as Conor pointed out, in the finance section is we're not having to -- we're not constrained by what software we develop in-house. We've got these 4 guys that enable us to jump into these multiple market segments very quickly. And throughout the rest of the year, I think you can look forward to expansion of those number of software partnerships as well. Operator: Your next question comes from the line of Casey Ryan of AMRX. Casey Ryan: Thanks for the great update. There's a lot to chew on here. I actually just wanted to jump into the trucking opportunity. I think independently, we've actually been hearing some good things about your sensor performance in that space. So with those opportunities in trucking, are they -- would they ever be displacing internal LiDAR production? Or is all kind of greenfield new type of truck builds for various manufacturers? How would you describe kind of the nature of the opportunity with some of the truck possibilities? Matthew Fisch: Casey, thanks, and welcome aboard new assignment here. We appreciate the coverage. Thank you for that. Look, it is true. We talked in the script about Apollo sensors now in evaluation with multiple L4 trucking players. And I think this has been further catalyzed by some of the announcements out there about big investments and capital being injected into that market. I would say that it's a mix of both of those things. There are concerns out there in the market today about, we'll call it, supply chain resiliency, where the sensors are built and where the IP comes from. And this has opened up new doors for us. There are transitions happening away from supply chains that may be considered much higher risk. That's been one source. And the second piece is, I'll call it, more complementary where either one of those guys is sourcing -- not sourcing, but now evaluating Apollo because of the range, we do really well and seem far ahead. As you mentioned, you need to do that for heavy vehicles because they have a longer braking distance. And in some cases, it's complementing their existing LiDAR solution. Truck is a big object that has to worry about lots of different situations, not just driving down the highway, but maybe pulling off on the shoulder and then having to pull back on safely. And one of the learnings we see coming out of that space is they need more coverage from LiDAR, and that's been helping us as well. Conor Tierney: One thing to add... Casey Ryan: Please go ahead. Conor Tierney: I would just say, look, the natural conclusion is this is an L4 opportunity, but there has been some interest on the L2 side. Obviously, that's a more cost competitive market, but we've seen a certain amount of interest there as well. So it's -- you're talking about L4 and L2 potentially as well. Casey Ryan: Got it. And then not to beat a dead horse here, but in many truck deployments or sort of architectures, there's kind of a long-range sensor and a short-range sensor. It sounds like you guys might be able to fulfill both those needs with your product portfolio. Conor Tierney: Yes. I'd say one thing that we really have going for us is the tunability of the sensor itself, the fact that it's customizable. And what customers really like is the fact that we can do both long range and short range. Obviously, when you're on a highway, long range is paramount. It's critical, right, that you have the braking distance. But sometimes, right, in urban environments, you need a wider field of view, right? You're maybe looking 100 meters down the road. So the fact that we could have multi-scan patterns embedded on the device and you could toggle back between different modes is really a game changer. And I don't think there's anybody out in the market that can offer that level of customization. And so that's something that appeals a lot to the customers that we speak with. Casey Ryan: Yes. Okay. Terrific. Yes, that's a very exciting -- something that I think we all eye on... Conor Tierney: Get the point I'm trying to make here is we don't necessarily have to do a hardware change. That's certainly something we could do, but we can solve the problems we solve. Yes. Casey Ryan: Yes, which that's sort of the good answer is that basically you guys can sort of address sort of a one-stop shop essentially for a customer. Conor Tierney: Exactly. Casey Ryan: Okay. So jumping over to automotive. It's exciting to hear that people at least are thinking about L3 and L4 offerings at some point. Do you see LiDAR being consumed as part of sort of driver safety packages still? Or are you hearing and meeting customers who are talking about offering some sort of vehicle with L4 autonomy and sort of offering autonomy as a feature versus, say, just super good driver safety tools and safety packages? Matthew Fisch: It's a mix of both. And I think you'll see that, again, I had mentioned earlier about the L4 trucking space that there's been a lot of capital going in. Now you're seeing these partnerships with Uber, for example, leverage some of those technology providers to bring capability outside of trucking into, say, robotaxis or other markets. We're definitely seeing a catalyst there. And then I think there have been a number of OEMs out there that talked about what they call hands-off eyes-off driving. Maybe we consider that more in the L3 range. And again, I have to really call out that the concern about supply chain resiliency has really brought a number of customers to our front door because of concerns and risk in that area, certainly in the Level 3 space and also a little bit of L2 and ADAS, as Conor mentioned, to solve some corner conditions that currently aren't efficiently covered by like ultrasonics and panoramic cameras. So it's a mix of all 3. The sweet spot is definitely on the L3 side, eyes off, hands off, but you've got all 3 in the mix. Casey Ryan: Yes. Okay. That's very exciting. I'm happy to hear about that. And yes, I mean, certainly, you're right, kind of the news flow around robotaxi and L4 from a whole bunch of providers has certainly ramped up quite a bit. In defense and specifically in drones, I think there's an issue around -- it's not an issue, a topic around the weight of a LiDAR sensor. And I wonder if you could just talk about the weight of your solutions and if there's like a road map to make a certain model lighter or sort of where you guys sit on that weight front in terms of consideration for essentially all defense applications, but primarily drones, obviously. Matthew Fisch: Yes. We're really light and we fit into that envelope quite well. I'm not sure if we published the specs on that. but we're definitely at the low end of the spectrum on weight. Also keep in mind that the kind of drones that you and I may sort of be directly exposed to may not be the kind of drones necessarily where you need long-range LiDAR. For example, drones that travel at very high speed, I'm talking about over 200 miles per hour. Because they're at that kind of speed, they need to see a kilometer out or out, not the drones that Amazon uses to drop off packages. They're much more sophisticated surveillance and other type of drones. So it's -- we're absolutely fine in those, and we're light enough to be considered for stronger drones as well. The other hot topic that's cropping up is drone detection. -- and be able to assist intervention system to track when you have an inbound drone, which are pretty small. Those kind of drones tend to be very small coming in and you want to get them while they're very far out. And that's again where the defense primes are coming to us because of the long range that we have. Casey Ryan: Okay. Good. Well, that's very exciting, actually. And then just one last little smaller sort of, I guess, it's not technical question, but you guys have talked about a $30 million contract opportunity over some longer period of time. I just wonder if that customer pulled some units or was part of the commercial count in 1Q and/or if you expect them to be part of Q2. Conor Tierney: Yes, they're certainly in that count number. So the 2 customers -- what I would say is that customer itself is probably not going to be a meaningful contributor to revenue this year. I think the revenue is probably a little bit further out in time. And that said, what I would say is since we made that announcement, it was almost over a year ago now, there's been more customers that have come into the mix and more customers that have moved pretty quickly through that POC phase. So what we're seeing now is probably more near-term opportunities with other customers. And that's probably what's going to really drive revenue potential for this year. Operator: Your next question comes from Richard Shannon of Craig-Hallum. Richard Shannon: Jumped on a little late, so I may have missed some of the prepared remarks here. So I hope I don't repeat some past questions here, but I did want to touch on one of the key themes here in the press release here today about engagement on the automotive side here, particularly with OEMs that are reengaging on L4 and L3 road maps here. Would love to get some dynamics and understanding of those dynamics going on here. And maybe you can elaborate on how many RFIs and how fast do you think they'll move to RFQ in later stages. Matthew Fisch: Yes. Let me start with this, and I think Conor probably pile on here. What I mentioned earlier, Richard, this did come up in the Q&A, which is what is driving some of this increase in attention I think it's 2 pieces. Mainly one is that you see a lot of funding coming into tech providers that they have to deal with Uber, for example. There's quite a few of them that are driving increased interest and velocity in Level 4 robotaxis. So that's one part of it. The other is we see definitely a growing concern over supply chain resilience and taking risks in those areas, and that's shifted business, shall we say, as those passenger vehicle OEMs start waking up and their L3 programs are coming online. Those are the key drivers. I think we said earlier in the script, the number of RFIs coming in has definitely increased. And we've got out of the business of predicting OEM schedules because there -- some of these have come and gone. And we're just going to keep an eye on it quite honestly. We're not -- we've got enough in our manufacturing pipeline and readiness to hit the switch and get going with the device production when that time comes. We'll expect a little bit of heads up on this, but our lead times and our risk guides are lined up with any earliest possible time line that we can imagine. But we just -- we don't know. It's been very unpredictable, quite honestly. Conor Tierney: Yes. The only thing I'd add to Matt is just the fact that we can go in cabin behind the glass, right? That seems to be a big value prop for the OEMs, obviously, the aesthetics of being able to do that have the windshield basically as a way to protect the sensor itself and obviously clean it. So those are -- that's a really interesting value prop for the OEMs and something that certainly differentiates us. Matthew Fisch: Yes. Two other things, Richard. One is what the activity is happening today is data collection. A big part of integration of LiDAR is training the AI and integrating to the software. And that's what's been unpredictable in terms of conclusion of those activities. And then secondly, we just came through a major supply chain audit in the last 6 months and really digging in, in some cases, down to glass and sand where raw materials and intermediate components are coming from just to make sure that they have options on the supply chain side. We've been very busy with those 2 activities of late. Richard Shannon: Okay. Great detail there, guys. Second one is just on the general customer engagement here. Glad to see the customer count moving up nicely here from, I think, 16 to 21 here. I ask roughly the same question in a couple of different ways here, one of which is specifically on the customer count, if you can elaborate and describe which end markets, the incremental 5 have come from here? And then where would you describe where the biggest dynamics around engagement have been going that are filling the early part of the pipeline here as well. Matthew Fisch: Yes. I mean I think if I would -- you could probably do the math, but the -- if you take those new 5, they're pretty much spread evenly across all the market segments we mentioned during the prepared remarks. I'm going to take a look at Conor here for the second part of the question. Conor Tierney: Yes. I mean, look, I think defense, obviously, as Matt mentioned, is a big driver, and we're seeing a lot of interest. And it's not just in the defense sector. I would say it's also in the commercial aviation space as well. So we have some customers in that particular vertical as well. And I think the unifying factor is high performance, range, resolution and then obviously, the ability to tune the scan pattern. And I think what's interesting is even in the defense sector, customers have different needs, different use cases. And so this is really where the tunability of the sensor, the ability to customize the scan pattern becomes really important. And even in some cases, for even just one use case, there might be different variants or different kind of performance factors that the customer is trying to solve for. It could be long range, even shorter range, increasing the frame rate. So the ability to just dial up, dial down the sensor is really important. And I think that when we're chatting with customers and we're chatting with investors, one thing that we really try and guide people on is when you look at our sensor, think about it as a performance bucket, and you can kind of basically adapt that performance bucket to what you want to achieve, right? So if that means going longer range, you can put the performance there. If it means higher frame rate, you can do that. And so we're giving that level of customization that you otherwise can't get in the marketplace. Richard Shannon: Okay. Probably my last question here is on Optus. So your press release mentioned that's live in an active California intersection. I think I saw something on maybe your LinkedIn page not too long ago, which is great to see, which is a good excuse for me to ask about general maturity and kind of breadth of engagement pipeline with Optus here, where you're seeing this in terms of application set and geographies would be a great update. Matthew Fisch: Yes. Again, I think it covers a fair part of our market segments and in the remarks, we talked about we're seeing a growing number of customers. The trend is definitely, we're looking for partnering perception and sensing and data analytics that's becoming a bigger part of our pipeline. The examples that we pointed out, for example, the traffic intersection -- we also mentioned the completion of a POC within -- out in Australia with kind of -- we call it smart intelligent traffic systems where we were tracking for a fleet management company trucks going in and out of weigh stations and payloads and things like this. And again, we're seeing as we're talking with those customers, they don't know a lot about LiDAR. They just came to us and said, well, we tried working with an integrator that does cameras and radar and it doesn't work. Can you help us make it work? And we're seeing more and more of those type of customers where their level of sophistication and knowledge of the underlying sensor piece isn't quite there. They just want help to get an end-to-end solution. It's a growing part of that number that's increasing. maturity, we're -- we've been out in the wild for almost a year now on that second example and a few months on the first one. We're going to see more intersections going online this year. So I think things are maturing nicely, and you can definitely expect to see a higher percentage of those end-to-end solutions coming in the back half of the year here. Conor Tierney: And just one thing to add. I think there's really what makes us unique in the ITS space, especially when it comes to intersections, one thing we're learning is there's a dilemma zone, and that's maybe looking back 100 meters from the stop bar. And the fact that we have the range and capabilities to do that is a differentiating feature in the solution that we're offering. And that's something that definitely getting positive feedback from the DOTs. It's something that nobody else can do right now. So that's a classic case where we've built a solution, and we're leaning into our capabilities and performance factors. Matthew Fisch: And hearing increasingly the narrative is the other sensors just couldn't see far enough. Conor Tierney: Really that simple. So I think customers are going beyond -- they're looking more towards next-gen LiDAR solutions, high-performance solutions that can give them that level of range and customization that they need. Richard Shannon: Makes a lot of sense. Last quick question, Conor, since I didn't hear your prepared remarks, I just wanted to make sure that or ask whether you're still using the same language used on the last earnings call about seeing an acceleration in the second half of the year. Is that still your thought process there? Conor Tierney: Yes, for sure. Look, I think we're definitely going to see an inflection in the revenue. I think we're already seeing more units in the pipeline here for Q2, and we think that trend is going to continue on into Q3 and Q4. So I think all in all, yes, we're still guiding to that narrative. Operator: [Operator Instructions] Matthew Fisch: I think it's okay. We can wrap it up if there's nothing else. Operator: That will conclude our question-and-answer session. I will now turn the call back over to Matt Fisch for closing remarks. Matthew Fisch: Thank you all for your time today and for your continued interest in AI. We remain focused on executing against our commercial pipeline and converting this momentum into a durable revenue ramp, and we look forward to updating you on our progress next quarter. Thank you. Operator: Ladies and gentlemen, that concludes today's call. Thank you all for joining. You may now disconnect. Before you buy stock in AEye, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and AEye wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut are built for long-term growth and could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $462,983!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $1,375,447!* That performance is why people listen. 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AEye (LIDR) Q1 2026 Earnings Transcript was originally published by The Motley Fool

This article first appeared on GuruFocus. Release Date: May 13, 2026 For the complete transcript of the earnings call, please refer to the full earnings call transcript. AEye Inc (NASDAQ:LIDR) reported a 60% year-over-year increase in quarterly revenue, driven by their software-defined architecture and long-range sensing performance. The company has expanded its revenue-generating customer base from 16 to 21, indicating growing commercial engagement. AEye Inc (NASDAQ:LIDR) has seen a 40% increase in issued quotes and active engagements quarter-over-quarter, reflecting strong pipeline activity. The company has established a new commercial relationship with Syntech, potentially unlocking international defense and aviation markets. AEye Inc (NASDAQ:LIDR) continues to build on its partnership with NVIDIA, enhancing its position in the automotive and industrial markets. Despite revenue growth, AEye Inc (NASDAQ:LIDR) reported a GAAP net loss of $8.3 million for the first quarter, an increase from the previous quarter. The company's cash burn increased to $9.2 million in Q1 2026, up from $7.5 million in Q4 2025, reflecting higher operational costs. AEye Inc (NASDAQ:LIDR) faces long lead times in the automotive sector, with some projects taking two to three years to reach standard operating procedure. The company is still in the early stages of its revenue ramp, with significant reliance on future program commitments to drive meaningful revenue inflection. There is uncertainty in the timing of revenue contributions from certain large contracts, which may not materialize in the near term. Warning! GuruFocus has detected 6 Warning Signs with LIDR. Is LIDR fairly valued? Test your thesis with our free DCF calculator. Q: Can you update us on the collaboration and partnership with NVIDIA and provide milestones for the rest of the year? A: The relationship with NVIDIA is strong and progressing. We have integrated with their latest platform, NVIDIA Drive AGX Thor, and joined the NVIDIA Halos AI Lab. Our focus is on the validation process to be officially validated on NVIDIA AGX Drive 4, which is crucial for OEM integration. Our performance is validated, and we are the top performer on NVIDIA's ecosystem website. Q: Can you provide more detail on the commercial traction within key markets and highlight which markets have the shortest selling time? A: We have the highest level of commercial engagement in our history, with growth in all six market segments. Defense is a standout market due to our best-in-industry detection range and software-defined LiDAR flexibility. Defense is moving quickly, while automotive has longer lead times of two to three years. Non-automotive timelines are shorter, around six to 12 months. Q: Are you in discussions with additional partners, especially in the defense industry? A: Yes, we are expanding partnerships across multiple segments. We have four partners in optics, enabling quick entry into various market segments. Our open platform based on NVIDIA Jetson makes it easy for developers, and we expect to expand our software partnerships throughout the year. Q: Regarding the trucking opportunity, are you displacing internal LIDAR production or focusing on new truck builds? A: It's a mix of both. Concerns about supply chain resiliency have opened new doors for us. Our Apollo Sensors are in evaluation with multiple L4 trucking players, complementing existing LIDAR solutions. Our tunable sensors can fulfill both long-range and short-range needs, appealing to customers. Q: How is the engagement on the automotive side, particularly with OEMs re-engaging on L4 and L3 roadmaps? A: Increased attention is driven by funding in tech providers and concerns over supply chain resilience. The number of RFIs has increased, and while OEM schedules are unpredictable, we are prepared for production when needed. Our ability to integrate sensors behind the windshield is a key differentiator for OEMs. For the complete transcript of the earnings call, please refer to the full earnings call transcript.

Revenue Up ~60% Year-Over-Year; Active Customer Count Grows to 21; Active Quotes and Engagements Both Up Nearly 40%; 2026 Cash Burn Guidance Reaffirmed PLEASANTON, Calif., May 13, 2026--(BUSINESS WIRE)--AEye, Inc. (Nasdaq: LIDR), a global leader in software-defined, high-performance lidar solutions, today announced financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2026. Business Highlights Record Commercial Engagement: Commercial activity has reached its highest level in the Company’s history, with AEye now having 21 customers that have taken revenue-generating shipments – a 31% increase since the Company reported Q4 results in March 2026. Quarter over quarter, quotes and engagements both increased by nearly 40%. Defense Vertical Expansion: SynTech, a global defense systems company with ties to leading defense primes, is actively promoting Apollo™ to its customers, with initial shipments already underway. This partnership may unlock opportunities in international defense and aviation, potentially expanding AEye’s addressable market. Automotive & OEM Momentum: Multiple new RFIs were received in Q1 across both the passenger and commercial vehicle segments, and OEMs have begun to reengage as L3 and L4 roadmaps are being reactivated. Trucking Evaluations: Multiple autonomous trucking company programs are underway and Apollo™ sensors are actively being shipped for evaluation, deepening the Company’s position in commercial vehicle autonomy. ITS: OPTIS™ is live at an active California intersection, in partnership with Flasheye and Blue-Band. APAC Progress: Commercial discussions with customers in Australia, Korea, and China are advancing. NVIDIA Ecosystem: In March 2026, AEye joined the NVIDIA Halos AI Systems Inspection Lab, the world’s first ANAB-accredited AI systems inspection lab. Apollo™ is validated on NVIDIA DRIVE AGX Orin™ and has been demonstrated on NVIDIA DRIVE AGX Thor™. Tier 1 Manufacturing Partnership: AEye’s manufacturing partnership with LITEON creates an industry-leading, globally diversified supply chain derived from off-the-shelf components, positioned to navigate geopolitical risk and shifting trade policies. Management Commentary "Q1 execution was steady and on plan -- the commercial pipeline continued to build, our partnerships advanced, and we now have more active proofs of concept ("POC") and commercial engagements than at any point in our history," said Matt Fisch, CEO of AEye. "New technical engagements, inbound RFIs, and POC activity across automotive, trucking, defense, rail, and ITS are all moving in the right direction. Revenue is up nearly 60% year-over-year, a reflection of the strong pipeline we are building. Physical AI appears to be a large and accelerating market -- Barclays projects that the market opportunity could reach one trillion dollars by 2035 -- and AEye’s software-defined architecture positions us as a core enabling layer of that ecosystem. The lidar sector’s consolidation has only strengthened our relative position: we are now better capitalized, leaner in structure, and creating a more diversified pipeline." Fisch continued, "Apollo™ offers best-in-class detection range when operating behind a windshield, which is a decisive differentiator as OEMs reengage and L3 and L4 programs begin to expand. The partnerships we have built -- from NVIDIA to LITEON to SynTech -- are converting engagements into deployments, and the focus for the remainder of 2026 is unchanged: advance those deployments and build a durable revenue ramp." Financial Highlights Q1 2026 revenue was approximately $101,000, up approximately 60% compared to $64,000 in Q1 2025, and roughly flat sequentially. GAAP net loss in Q1 2026 was $(8.3) million, or $(0.18) per share. Non-GAAP net loss in Q1 2026 was $(6.7) million, or $(0.15) per share. Cash burn in Q1 2026 was $9.2 million. Cash, cash equivalents, and marketable securities were $77.2 million as of March 31, 2026. "Our commercial momentum continued to build throughout the quarter," said Conor Tierney, CFO of AEye. "Our pipeline metrics strengthened across the board, customer additions spanned every major vertical, and we are seeing a growing pattern of repeat business -- a direct signal of product-market fit. Our virtually debt-free capital structure and capital-light model keep our cash burn among the lowest in the sector, while our balance sheet provides the runway to execute multi-year commercial programs." 2026 Cash Burn Outlook The Company reaffirms its expectation that cash burn for the full year 2026 will be in the range of $30 million to $35 million, inclusive of approximately $5 million in working capital. The Company's cash balance provides operational runway well into 2028. Conference Call and Webcast Details AEye management will webcast its investor conference call today, May 13, 2026, at 2:00 p.m. Pacific Time (5:00 p.m. Eastern Time) to discuss these results. AEye CEO Matt Fisch and CFO Conor Tierney will host the call, followed by a question-and-answer session. The webcast and accompanying slides will be accessible via the company’s website at https://investors.aeye.ai/. Access is also available via: Webcast: https://edge.media-server.com/mmc/p/799vhiag/ About AEye AEye offers a suite of unique software-defined lidar solutions that address a wide range of real-world needs including advanced driver-assistance, vehicle autonomy, smart infrastructure, security, defense, and logistics applications. AEye’s flagship product, Apollo™, has been widely recognized for its small form factor and its ability to detect objects at up to one kilometer. In addition to Apollo™, AEye also offers STRATOS™ with the ability to detect objects at up to one-and-a-half kilometers as well as a full-stack solution through its OPTIS™ platform. OPTIS™ provides a complete system that captures a high-resolution 3D image of the world, interprets it, and provides direction to act upon what it sees in real-time. Non-GAAP Financial Measures The non-GAAP measures provided in this press release should not be considered a substitute for, or superior to, measures of financial performance prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) in the United States. A reconciliation between GAAP and non-GAAP financial data is included in the supplemental financial data attached to this press release. Non-GAAP financial measures do not have any standardized meaning and are therefore unlikely to be comparable to similarly titled measures presented by other companies. AEye considers these non-GAAP financial measures to be important because they provide additional insight into the Company’s on-going performance. The Company provides this information to help investors evaluate the results of the Company’s on-going operations and to enable more meaningful and consistent period-to-period comparisons. Non-GAAP financial measures are presented only as supplemental information to understand the Company’s operating results. The non-GAAP financial measures should not be considered a substitute for financial information presented in accordance with GAAP. This press release includes non-GAAP financial measures, including: Non-GAAP net loss which is defined as GAAP net loss plus stock-based compensation, plus stock issuance and debt issuance costs, less change in fair value of convertible note and warrant liabilities, plus expenses related to contested proxy, less gain on termination of operating lease, net; and Adjusted EBITDA, defined as non-GAAP net loss plus depreciation and amortization expense, less interest income and other, less interest expense and other, plus provision for income tax. Forward-Looking Statements Certain statements included in this press release that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws, including the safe harbor provisions under the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements are sometimes accompanied by words such as "believe," "continue," "project," "expect," "anticipate," "estimate," "intend," "strategy," "future," "opportunity," "predict," "plan," "may," "should," "will," "would," "potential," "seem," "seek," "outlook," and similar expressions that predict or indicate future events or trends, or that are not statements of historical matters. Forward-looking statements are predictions, projections, and other statements about future events that are based on current expectations and assumptions and, as a result, are subject to risks and uncertainties. Forward looking statements in this press release include, without limitation, statements about AEye’s cash burn for 2026, the operational runway well into 2028, the benefits expected from new commercial relationships, the benefits to be derived from the reactivation of L3 and L4 roadmaps, and the benefits of AEye’s manufacturing partnership with LITEON, among others. These statements are based on various assumptions, whether or not identified in this press release. These forward-looking statements are provided for illustrative purposes only and are not intended to serve as and must not be relied on by an investor as a guarantee, an assurance, a prediction, or a definitive statement of fact or probability. Actual events and circumstances are very difficult or impossible to predict and will differ from the assumptions. Many actual events and circumstances are beyond the control of AEye. Many factors could cause actual future events to differ from the forward-looking statements in this press release, including but not limited to: (i) the risks that the cash burn for the full year 2026 may exceed $35 million due to unanticipated expenses associated with the investments required to ramp AEye’s products, or otherwise; (ii) the risks that AEye may not realize the benefits anticipated from the partnership with SynTech, including the expansion of AEye’s addressable market to include international defense and aviation markets, to the extent or in the time frame anticipated, or at all; (iii) the risks that the L3 and L4 roadmaps being reactivated by various OEMs may not result in the issuance of RFIs or RFQs in the time frame anticipated, or at all; (iv) the risks that the multiple autonomous trucking company programs underway may not result in successful evaluations nor commercial sales to the extent or in the time frame anticipated, or at all; (v) the risks that the OPTIS deployment at an active California intersection, in partnership with Flasheye and Blue-Band may not be successful and may not result in additional commercial deployments to the extent or in the time frame anticipated, or at all; (vi) the risks that the commercial discussions with customers in Australia, Korea, and China may not advance to the extent or in the time frame anticipated, or at all; (vii) the risks that AEye’s tenure in the NVIDIA Halos AI Systems Inspection Lab may be shorter than anticipated and not bolster automotive product readiness to the extent or in the time frame anticipated, or at all; (viii) the risks that AEye’s manufacturing partnership with LITEON may not create an industry-leading, globally diversified supply chain that is able to navigate geopolitical risk and shifting trade policies to the extent or in the time frame anticipated, or at all; (ix) the risks that new technical engagements, inbound RFIs, and POC activity may not continue to move in the right direction to the extent or in the time frame anticipated, or at all; (x) the risks that the strong pipeline AEye is building may not result in commercial sales to the extent or in the time frame anticipated, or at all; (xi) the risks that the projection by Barclays that the market opportunity for physical AI may reach one trillion dollars by 2035 may not occur to the extent or in the time frame anticipated, or at all; (xii) the risk that AEye’s software-defined architecture may not position AEye as core enabling layer of the physical AI ecosystem to the extent or in the time frame anticipated, or at all; (xiii) the risks that Apollo’s™ best-in-class detection range when operating behind a windshield may not be a decisive differentiator for AEye, even as OEMs reengage and L3 and L4 programs are beginning to expand, to the extent or in the time frame anticipated, or at all; (xiv) the risks that engagements may not result in deployments to the extent or in the time frame anticipated, or at all; (xv) the risks that AEye may be unable to advance deployments to commercial sales or build a durable revenue ramp to the extent or in the time frame anticipated, or at all; (xvi) the risks that the product-market fit may not materialize to the extent or in the time frame anticipated, or at all; (xvii) the risks that AEye’s cash burn may increase due to unforeseen circumstances and therefore AEye’s balance sheet may not be able to provide the runway to execute multi-year commercial programs to the extent anticipated, or at all; (xviii) the risks that market conditions may create delays in the demand for commercial lidar products beyond AEye’s expectations, if at all; (xix) the risks that lidar adoption occurs slower than anticipated or fails to occur at all; (xx) the risks that AEye’s products may not meet the diverse range of performance and functional requirements of target markets and customers; (xxi) the risks that AEye’s products may not function as anticipated by AEye, or by target markets and customers; (xxii) the risks that AEye may not be in a position to adequately or timely address either the near or long-term opportunities that may or may not exist in the evolving autonomous transportation industry; (xxiii) the risks that laws and regulations are adopted impacting the use of lidar that AEye is unable to comply with, in whole or in part; (xxiv) the risks associated with changes in competitive and regulated industries in which AEye operates, variations in operating performance across competitors, and changes in laws and regulations affecting AEye’s business; (xxv) the risks that AEye is unable to adequately implement its business plans, forecasts, and other expectations, and identify and realize additional opportunities; and (xxvi) the risks of economic downturns and a changing regulatory landscape in the highly competitive and evolving industry in which AEye operates. These risks and uncertainties may be amplified by current or future global conflicts and current and potential trade restrictions, trade tensions, and tariffs, all of which continue to cause economic uncertainty. The foregoing list of factors is not exhaustive. You should carefully consider the foregoing factors and the other risks and uncertainties described in the "Risk Factors" section of the periodic report that AEye has most recently filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, or the SEC, and other documents filed by us or that will be filed by us from time to time with the SEC. These filings identify and address other important risks and uncertainties that could cause actual events and results to differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made. Investors are cautioned not to put undue reliance on forward-looking statements; AEye assumes no obligation and does not intend to update or revise these forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise. AEye gives no assurance that AEye will achieve any of its expectations. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260513412374/en/ Contacts Investor Relations AEye, Inc. Investor Relations [email protected] 925-400-4366 Keaton Olsen [email protected] Media Relations Alliance Advisors IR Fatema Bhabrawala [email protected] 647-620-5002

Our analysts just identified a stock with the potential to be the next Nvidia. Tell us how you invest and we'll show you why it's our #1 pick. Tap here. Commercial engagement reached record levels, with revenue-generating customers increasing from 15 to 21 and active engagements growing nearly 40% quarter-over-quarter. Management attributes growth to a software-defined architecture that allows for multi-use case deployment across six market segments without requiring hardware changes. The company is benefiting from a 'flight to quality' following sector consolidation, positioning itself as a better-capitalized and leaner alternative for OEMs. Strategic focus has shifted from selling standalone sensors to providing end-to-end perception solutions, reducing integration risk for customers in security and infrastructure. Supply chain resilience and domestic sourcing have become primary drivers for OEM re-engagement, particularly as trade policies and geopolitical risks impact competitors. The Apollo and Stratos products differentiate through industry-leading detection ranges of 1 kilometer and 1.5 kilometers, respectively, which are critical for high-speed autonomous applications. Management expects a meaningful revenue inflection in the second half of 2026 as technical engagements convert into formal program commitments. Full-year 2026 cash burn is targeted at $30 million to $35 million, supported by a capital-efficient manufacturing model that utilizes Tier 1 partnerships. The company anticipates official validation on the NVIDIA DRIVE AGX Thor platform by year-end, which is viewed as a prerequisite for mass-market OEM integration. Expansion into the APAC region is progressing, with an Australian ITS pilot advancing toward commercial terms and a successful 10-OEM roadshow in Korea. Guidance assumes that while automotive lead times remain long (2-3 years), non-automotive sectors like defense and infrastructure will follow accelerated 6-to-12-month timelines. A new commercial relationship with Syntech was established to unlock international defense and aviation markets outside the United States. The company plans to file a routine shelf registration statement to replace an expiring one, though management stated this does not reflect near-term financing intentions. Cash reserves of $77.2 million provide an operational runway into 2028, which management cites as a key factor in gaining long-term OEM confidence. Recent supply chain audits have focused on raw material sourcing down to the level of glass and sand to ensure resilience against geopolitical disruptions. One stock. Nvidia-level potential. 30M+ investors trust Moby to find it first. Get the pick. Tap here. The current focus is on achieving official validation for the Apollo software on the NVIDIA DRIVE AGX Thor platform. Management noted that AEye is currently the top-performing LiDAR on the NVIDIA ecosystem website based on validated performance metrics. Defense is emerging as a high-velocity market due to the immediate need for long-range detection in UAV and counter-UAV applications. Automotive SOP (Start of Production) remains a 2-to-3-year horizon, while industrial and infrastructure segments are moving significantly faster. AEye is seeing interest in both L4 autonomous trucking and L2 safety packages, driven by the need for long-range sensing to accommodate heavy vehicle braking distances. The software-defined nature of the sensor allows it to toggle between long-range highway modes and wide-field-of-view urban modes without hardware modifications. The Optus solution is being deployed in 'dilemma zones' at traffic intersections where traditional camera and radar systems fail to see far enough. Management expects a higher percentage of revenue to come from these end-to-end software-integrated solutions in the back half of the year.

AEye (NASDAQ:LIDR) released first-quarter financial results and hosted an earnings call on Wednesday. Read the complete transcript below. Benzinga APIs provide real-time access to earnings call transcripts and financial data. Visit https://www.benzinga.com/apis/ to learn more. Access the full call at https://edge.media-server.com/mmc/p/799vhiag AEye reported a 60% increase in quarterly revenue year-over-year, driven by its software-defined architecture and long-range sensing capabilities. The company's revenue-generating customer count increased from 16 to 21, with significant growth in issued quotes and active engagements, particularly in automotive, trucking, defense, and infrastructure sectors. AEye's first-quarter GAAP net loss was $8.3 million, primarily due to higher stock-based compensation and professional fees, with a cash burn of $9.2 million. The company reaffirmed its 2026 full-year cash burn target of $30 to $35 million, emphasizing its capital-efficient model supported by partnerships rather than owned infrastructure. AEye's strategic partnerships with Nvidia, Syntec, and others are strengthening its market position, particularly in defense, automotive, and infrastructure markets. Management highlighted the importance of providing end-to-end perception solutions rather than just sensors, which aligns with customer demand for integrated capabilities. The company is optimistic about future growth, with expectations of a revenue inflection in the second half of 2026 as customer engagements convert into program commitments. OPERATOR Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for standing by. My name is Joyce and I will be your conference operator today. At this time I would like to welcome you to AEye's first quarter 2026 earnings call. All lines have been placed on mute to prevent any background noise. After the speaker's remarks, there will be a question and answer session. If you would like to ask a question at that time, please press star key, then the number one on your telephone keypad. If you would like to withdraw your question, press star key, the number one again. Thank you. I would like to turn the conference over. Keen Olson (Investor Relations Manager) Good afternoon and thank you for joining AEye's first quarter 2026 earnings call. I'm Keen Olson, investor relations manager for AEye, and with me today are Matt Fish, Chief Executive Officer and Connor Tierney, Chief Financial Officer. Earlier today, AEye announced its financial Results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2026. A copy of the press release is available in the Investor Relations section of the company's website. Before we begin, today's discussion may include forward looking statements as defined in the securities laws and regulations of the United States with reference to future events, operating results or performance and are based on our current expectations and assumptions. Any forward looking statements are subject to inherent risks, uncertainties and changes in circumstances. Our actual results may differ materially from those contemplated by these forward looking statements. You can find more information about the risks, uncertainties and other factors in the reports. AEye files from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including in a most recent periodic report. The statements to be made are as of today only and AEye does not intend to update any forward looking statements regardless of any new information, future developments or otherwise, except as may be required by law. In addition, we will be discussing non-GAAP financial measures on this call which we believe are relevant in assessing the financial performance of the business. These measures are presented as supplemental information only and should not be considered a substitute for financial information presented in accordance with GAAP. You can find reconciliations of these metrics to the most directly comparable GAAP measures within the press release. Now let me pass the call over to Matt. Matt Fish (Chief Executive Officer) Thank you Keen and thank you all for joining our first quarter 2026 earnings call. The quarter unfolded exactly as planned. Steady execution, no surprises, and a commercial pipeline that continued to grow. Our ecosystem partnerships and manufacturing capability remain strong and we now have more commercial engagement than at any point in our history. Our funnel continues to be the best barometer to benchmark our progress as revenue tends to be a lagging indicator. As of today, our revenue generating customer count has grown from 16 to 21 since our last earnings call. I'm also pleased to report that both our issued quotes and active engagements have increased by nearly 40% quarter over quarter. These leading indicators New technical engagements, inbound RFIs and PoC activity across automotive, trucking, defense, rail infrastructure and Intelligent Transportation Systems are all moving in the right direction. These indicators are the data that investors should focus on to understand where we are headed. Quarterly revenue is up almost 60% year over year. This meaningful growth is driven by our software defined architecture and long range sensing performance and reflects the strong pipeline activity building behind it. AEye's technology gives machines vision, the foundation of physical AEye and the prerequisite for every intelligent autonomous system being built. Today the market is potentially very large and is accelerating. Barclays projects the physical AEye market opportunity should reach as much as $1 trillion by 2035 and LiDAR is the enabling layer that makes it real. AEye software defined architecture positions us at the core of that ecosystem and the LiDAR sector's ongoing consolidation has only strengthened our relative position. AEye is on stronger footing coming out of that consolidation than going in Better capitalized, leaner in structure and with a commercial pipeline that continues to expand, automotive industry appears to be squarely shifting toward AI driven safety and software defined vehicle architectures and we believe long range LIDAR is becoming essential to that architecture. Not optional. Apollo offers best in class detection range when operating behind a windshield and is the only sensor we know of to be customer proven to reliably detect objects at distances of up to 1km. Our OEM engagement has increased driven by recent robotaxi investment announcements, growing trade policy implications and supply chain resilience concerns. With OEMs in the passenger vehicle segment actively seeking domestically sourced alternatives. AI's manufacturing partnership directly addresses that demand. Multiple new RFIs horizons you won across both passenger and commercial vehicle segments and OEMs have begun to reengage as L3 and L4 roadmaps are being reactivated and expanded in ground mobility. Evaluations by autonomous trucking companies are deepening. Multiple companies have programs underway and we are now shipping sensors into those evaluations. Apollo should be well suited to serve this expanding addressable market in transportation and infrastructure. Optus is now live at an active intersection in California in partnership with FlashEye and BlueBand. Additional US Smart intersection deployments are in progress. Our APAC expansion strategy is also progressing. An Australian S POC has advanced into a discussion of commercial terms. In Korea, we recently concluded a successful customer roadshow engaging with more than 10 OEMs across its rail and mobility sectors. Our business partnership with AEye Technology, Inc. in China remains strong and we have four additional customers now evaluating our Apollo LIDAR product in Defense, active shipments continue with an existing US Contractor for UAV wire detection. Repeat business is emerging within that account and Apollo is being evaluated for additional applications including UGV and Counter UAV with an expectation of multiple new RFQs. A significant development this quarter is our new commercial relationship with Syntech, a global defense systems company with established ties to meeting defense Primes. Syntechh is actively promoting Apollo to its customers and initial shipments are already underway. This partnership has the potential to unlock international defense and aviation markets outside of the United States, meaningfully expanding our addressable pipeline while complementing the domestic engagements we have already built. What drives Selection across all of these verticals is consistent AI's proven and reliable 1km detection range with unlimited software driven adjustability. That flexibility is paying dividends. For example, a Defense customer that initially engaged us for a single UAV wire detection application is now evaluating Apollo across three separate use cases without any change to the hardware they have already deployed in the field. This is a key differentiation factor that drives customers to select AI Stratos, the newest addition to our product lineup extends our capability up to 1.5 km of detection range with 500 meter performance behind a windshield at a disruptive price point through our manufacturing partnership with light on AI supply chain is globally diversified providing the flexibility and resilience to navigate geopolitical risk and shifting trade policies that we believe our peers cannot match. Our tech stack is derived from off the shelf telecom components which allows us to compete on cost while delivering the mass manufacturability and high performance our customers require. We continue to build on our partnership with Nvidia as it is the cornerstone of our automotive and industrial market positioning. Apollo is validated on Drive AGX Orin and has been demonstrated on Drive AGX4, Nvidia's next generation centralized Automotive compute platform In March we joined the Nvidia Halos AI Systems Inspection Lab, the world's first ANAB accredited AI systems inspection lab. ANAB accreditation is generally viewed by OEMs as a critical marker of confidence, reliability and quality assurance within their supply chain. Our Optus platform, powered by Nvidia Jetson Orin, extends our reach into infrastructure and industrial markets via our diversified software ecosystem. We are giving infrastructure and industrial customers a ready made path into physical AI without having to build perception capability from scratch. I will now turn the call over to Connor to review our first quarter result. Connor Tierney (Chief Financial Officer) Thank you Matt. Our strong commercial momentum is broad based showing up across or full addressable market rather than any single vertical. Our active customer base now spans defence, intelligent transportation, rail and logistics and security. A level of diversification we did not have a year ago. And the quality of that growth matters as much as the breadth. We are also seeing a growing pattern of repeat business across the customer base, a meaningful signal of product market fit and a direct validation of the performance advantages of or architecture. Our commercial progress is beginning to attract broader institutional attention. We added new sell-side analyst coverage this quarter and we are seeing a meaningful increase in both sell side and buy side interactions. An external signal that the commercial activity we have been describing is registering with the investment community. The revenue ramp is in its early stages, but the underlying metrics building behind it give us confidence in the trajectory ahead. Before I move to the financials, I want to spend a minute on what we are increasingly hearing from customers in my role bridging the financial and commercial sides of the business. This has become one of the most important strategic aspects investors are interested in right now. Customers today are not buying a sensor, they are buying a solution. The question they are asking is no longer whose lidar has the best spec sheet, it's who can help me deliver the end to end perception capability that my application needs faster and with less integration risk. That shift is showing up in nearly every RFI and RFQ we see. A customer in the security industry recently put it to us bluntly, they don't want to buy from a hardware company, they want to buy from the front end solution provider that integrates everything. That dynamic applies across all of or target markets and it is exactly the model AI has built. Financially the implication is meaningful. We do not need to absorb the cost or balance sheet impact of acquiring or building those capabilities orselves to deliver a complete perception solution, a real efficiency advantage as we scale. The proof is in the deal flow. We are seeing a healthy uptick in customer demand for a full end to end physical AI solution, not just a standalone sensor. We have been able to assemble those solutions through or partner ecosystem with a speed and breadth that we believe or peers, constrained by what they own internally cannot match. And as or recent customer additions illustrate, this model is working meaningful. New programs in defence infrastructure and adjacent mobility have come to us through or alongside or partners. Moving on to Financials. The first quarter 2026 revenue was $101,000 up almost 60% compared to $64,000 in Q1 2025 and up slightly versus Q4 2025 first quarter GAAP operating expenses were $8.9 million compared to $8.3 million in Q4 2025, reflecting higher stock based compensation and professional fees alongside continued investment in go-to-market and deployment execution. First quarter non GAAP operating expenses were $7.4 million, slightly lower than $7.5 million in Q4 2025, primarily due to lower payroll costs partially offset by increased professional fees. We reported a GAAP net loss of $8.3 million or $0.18 per share in the first quarter compared to a GAAP net loss of $7.3 million or $0.17 per share in Q4 2025. The increase was primarily driven by higher stock based compensation and professional fees, partially offset by lower personnel costs. On a non GAAP basis, or net loss was $6.7 million or $0.15 per share, essentially flat compared to a non GAAP net loss of $6.8 million or $0.15 per share in Q4 2025. First quarter cash burn was $9.2 million up from $7.5 million in Q4 2025, primarily reflecting Q1 seasonality. Our manufacturing model, built on Tier 1 partnerships rather than owned infrastructure, continues to keep or cash burn among the lowest in the sector. We ended the first quarter with cash cash equivalents and marketable securities of approximately $77.2 million compared to $86.5 million at the end of Q4 2025. The sequential decrease reflects the deliberate deployment of resorces into commercial operations, the go-to-market investment and operational execution required to convert the pipeline we or building. This is planned resorce deployment fully consistent with the guidance we set at the start of 2026 and we are tracking in line with that plan. We are reaffirming or 2026 full year cash burn target of 30 to 35 million dollars reflecting planned investment in commercial execution, sales and marketing and the operational build required to support customers as they move from evaluation into deployment. On a brief housekeeping note, while we are discussing capital in the days immediately following this call, AI plans to file a new shelf registration statement with the securities and Exchange Commission. Our existing shelf is expiring and this filing is a routine replacement standard corse of business. Our strategy has not changed, or capital framework has not changed and the filing does not reflect any near term financing intentions. The company remains well capitalized with Runway well into 2020. Our capital structure also remains simplified and strong with AI virtually debt free. That matters directly to the OEMs and industrial customers we are targeting for multi year program. Confidence is a prerequisite for selection and the architectural point Matt made Earlier compounds. Here, the same software defined platform that lets us tune Apollo to a customer specific frame rate, range and field of view is what lets us extend or accessible market without rebuilding from the ground up each time. Stratos makes that compounding advantage concrete. A third generation sensor that reaches new performance peers without a proportional increase in investment and one that drops directly into the same partner LED solutions model. Our peers with fixed sensor capability and internally owned software stacks cannot replicate that flexibility without absorbing significant development and integration costs. For customers who need capability without compromise, that equation continues to resonate. Our expectation for 2026 is unchanged. As technical engagements convert into program commitments, we or building the foundation from which a meaningful revenue inflection can follow. Getting there doesn't require outspending the field. Apollo's performance lead, or software defined architecture and a partner LED model combined with a cost structure built for scale not overhead make ors a capital efficient path to a meaningful revenue. Section I will now hand it back to Matt for closing remarks. Matt Fish (Chief Executive Officer) Thank you Connor. As we look ahead to the remainder of 2026, the focus is unchanged. Convert engagements into deployments the physical AI tailwinds driving this market are real and accelerating. Our technology continues to differentiate us. Our balance sheet provides the stability to execute and the partnerships we have built from Nvidia to Light on to Syntech and others lay the foundation for commercial scale. We are seeing the engagement activity and conversion momentum that give us confidence in our trajectory and we look forward to demonstrating that progress in the quarters ahead. Operator we are now ready to open the floor for questions. OPERATOR We will now begin the question and answer session. For this session we will allow up to three questions per person. If you would like to ask a question, please press Star key, the number one on your telephone keypad. To withdraw your question, press Star Key, the number one again. Your first question comes from the line of Paul Frat. Please go ahead. Paul Frat Hey, can you just update us on the collaboration and partnership with NVIDIA and then maybe give us a couple milestones that we should be looking for over the rest of the year on furthering that partnership? Matt Fish (Chief Executive Officer) Hey, welcome back Bo. Good to hear your voice. I'd summarize the relationship at this point as strong and progressing. We talked about in Q1 that we had integrated with their latest platform, NVIDIA Drive AGX Xavier, as well as joining the NVIDIA Holos AI Lab, which demonstrates our commitment and NVIDIA's support to automotive grade solution. Even today we've got a team out at NVIDIA's headquarters down in Silicon Valley they're testing, they start at lunchtime, they're not leaving there until midnight. Testing the latest Apollo software update. And really it's just, it's about validation. The horsepower and the technology that NVIDIA brings to the table. They're so prolific with their platform, the automotive industry. What this is about is validating our capabilities and performance to be ready for that OEM integration phase. And if you check the NVIDIA ecosystem website today, we're at the top of the list. Our performance is validated and we're the top performer on that list today. So look what we can think about. Let's just say between now and the end, end of the year there's a validation process that's the key task for us to be officially validated on NVIDIA AGX Xavier. And that's going to be our focus. And for example, it's one of the main reasons why we're out there spending 12 hours today so we can continue that validation process, get the feedback from NVIDIA, make the product stronger, tune it better and be ready for that OEM integration on their platform. Paul Frat Great, that's helpful. And then when you look at your customer engagements, up to 21 revenue generating, I think shipments. Can you just give us a little more color or detail on the commercial traction within certain key markets and then maybe Matt, if you could highlight which markets have the shortest selling time versus other markets. Matt Fish (Chief Executive Officer) Sure, absolutely. Thanks Bob. Great question. Look, we're super excited. We're basically at the highest level of commercial engagement we've ever had in this company. And I will tell you, we've added in that 31% growth customers in every one of those six market segments that Connor talked about earlier. So let's just jump into, I mean there's a lot of segments to cover, but let's focus on really a couple of key highlights. First one is defense. That's a real major standout. First of all, our detection range we believe is best in industry. The defense guys and the aerospace guys and the ground vehicle part of that, they love that aspect of AIs. Apollo solution and the software defined LIDAR piece allows us to be super flexible across different use cases, let's just say in the defense market for today and really point out the evidence we talked about in the earnings call. And we're working with many major US Defense primes. There's one in particular that we called out where not only we're getting repeat business, but they are scaling now Apollo across multiple of their business units. And we do that Essentially with a new software configuration there's no hardware change required. And by the way that expands to the six market segments that we mentioned. We can work across each of those without requiring a new hardware build or major hardware changes. And you know, so that's pretty big. I mean in terms of market velocity we are pleasantly surprised by how fast the fence is moving. There's a new breed of players in the market also that are moving things along very quickly. I would just highlight that as a high velocity market versus what we might expect traditionally. But look in other areas as well. We're now we have our Optus, this is our full perception solution. Connor talked about this earlier. It's not just about the sensor, it's about being able to collect data and then act. And we have our Optus solution up on a traffic intersection in the Bay Area today demonstrating that end to end capability. There'll be more to come in that space for sure. And we also just completed in the intelligent traffic system space a POC in Australia where they were trying to count trucks and delays in trucking and parking lots and manage feet from fleet capacity and they tried to do it with camera and radar and they couldn't make it work. And we've got them up and running now. The end customer has seen it and they're very happy with it. So look it's about number one customers are coming to us for that industry leading detection range, 1 km for Apollo and 1.5 km for Stratos. And then secondly that's software defined element of our product now only allows us to scale across market segments but it also scaling within customers. And I think those two attraction and differentiation points are really propelling us forward here. Connor Tierney (Chief Financial Officer) Yeah, I think Paul, you also brought up the question about lead times and what we would see is probably two distinct patterns there. Certainly on the automotive side we're seeing longer lead times. It could take maybe two to three years to get to sop. But on non automotive that timeline is certainly accelerated. That said we're still seeing at least six to 12 months now. It can vary between customers. Some customers, some sectors move quicker, other move slower. It's just it all depends on the end customer and what their goals and priorities are. Matt Fish (Chief Executive Officer) Yeah, just hey, probably forgot to mention Syntech as well, another commercial partner we've added this quarter just further highlighting the expansion across multiple players in the defense space. Paul Frat Great. Are you in discussions with any additional partners Matt? Should we see an expansion like say, you know, the defense industry, you know, is huge. Are there others out there that you're looking at partnering with. Matt Fish (Chief Executive Officer) Yeah, absolutely. I count that on two fronts, but one is just the integrator or the end customer themselves. As we mentioned in the script, we've got like a 40% growth in our pipeline. So that's just a leading indicator to entering the POC phase. Absolutely. Across all of those segments. And then the second piece is let's talk about Optus™. This is where we have four partners today. And again, just if you take a step back above lidar and into the overall perception and intelligence solution, that's where those four partners are coming in and they're enabling us to drop into each of those segments very quickly. We have an open platform. It's based on the Nvidia Jetson™ platform, makes it very easy for developers to work with it. And even more importantly, as Connor had pointed out in the finance section is we're not having to. We're not constrained, trained by what software we develop in house. We've got these four guys that enable us to jump into these multiple market segments very quickly and throughout the rest of the year. I think you can look forward to expansion of those number of software partnerships as well. Paul Frat Great. Very helpful. Thanks, Matt. Thanks, Connor. Matt Fish (Chief Executive Officer) Thanks, Paul. OPERATOR Your next question comes from the line of Casey Ryan of amrx. Please go ahead, Casey Ryan Matt. Connor, good afternoon. Thanks for the great update. There's a lot to chew on here. I actually just wanted to jump into the trucking opportunity. I think independently. We've actually been hearing some good things about your sensor performance in that space. So with those opportunities in trucking, are they. Would they ever be displacing internal LIDAR production or is it all kind of greenfield new type of truck builds for various manufacturers? How would you describe kind of the nature of the opportunity with some of the truck possibilities? Matt Fish (Chief Executive Officer) Hey, Casey, thanks and welcome aboard. Your new assignment here. We appreciate the coverage. Absolutely. Thank you for that. Look, it is true we talked in the script about Apollo sensors now in evaluation with multiple L4 trucking players. And I think this has been further catalyzed with some of the announcements out there about big investments and capital being injected into that market. I would say that it's a mix of both of those things. There are concerns out there in the market today about, we'll call it supply chain resiliency, where the sensors are built and where the IP comes from. And this has opened up new doors for us. There are transitions happening away from supply chains that may be considered much higher risk. That's been one source. And the second piece is, I'LL call it more complementary where either one of those guys is sourcing, but now evaluating Apollo because of the range. Not sourcing, but now evaluating Apollo because of the range, we do really well at seeing far ahead. As you mentioned, you need to do that for heavy vehicles because they have a longer braking distance and in some cases it's complementing their existing LiDAR solution. You know, truck's a big object that has to worry about lots of different situations. Not just driving down the highway, but maybe pulling off on the shoulder and then having to pull back on safely. And one of the learnings we see coming out of that space is they need more coverage from wider and that's been helping us as well. Connor Tierney (Chief Financial Officer) Just one thing to add. Oh, yeah, please go ahead. I would just say, look, the natural conclusion is this is an L4 opportunity, but there has been some interest on the L2 side. You know, obviously that's a more cost competitive market, but we've seen a certain amount of interest there as well. So it's. You're talking about L4 and L2 potentially as well. Casey Ryan Got it. And then, not to beat a dead horse here, but in many truck deployments or sort of architectures, there's kind of a long range sensor and a short range sensor. It sounds like you guys might be able to fill both of those needs with your product portfolio. Connor Tierney (Chief Financial Officer) Yeah, yeah. I'd say one thing that we really have going for us is the tunability of the sensor itself, the fact that it's customizable and what customers really like is the fact that we can do both long range and short range. Obviously, when you're on a highway, long range is paramount. It's critical. Right. That you have the braking distance. But sometimes. Right. In urban environments you need a wider field of view. Right. You're maybe looking 100 meters down the road. So the fact that we could have multi scan patterns embedded on the device and you could toggle back between different modes is really a game changer. And I don't think there's anybody out in the market that can offer that level of customization. So that's something that appeals a lot to the customers that we speak with. Yeah, okay, terrific. Yeah, that's a very exciting, you know, something that I think we always. Yeah, sorry, Case, you get the point I'm trying to make here is we don't necessarily have to do a hardware change. That's certainly something we could do, but we can solve the problems we solve. Casey Ryan Yeah, that's sort of the good answer, is that basically you guys can sort of address sort of a One stop shop, essentially for a customer. Okay. So jumping over to automotive, it's exciting to hear that people at least are thinking about L3 and L4, you know, offerings at some point. Do you see LiDAR being consumed as part of sort of driver safety packages still, or are you hearing and meeting customers who are talking about offering some sort of vehicle with L4 autonomy and sort of offering autonomy as a feature versus, say, just, you know, super good driver safety tools and safety packages? Matt Fish (Chief Executive Officer) It's a mix of both and I think you'll see that again. I had mentioned earlier about the 04 trucking space that there's been a lot of capital going in. Now you're seeing these partnerships with Uber, for example, to leverage some of those technology providers to bring capability outside of trucking into, say, robo taxis or other markets. We're definitely seeing a catalyst there. And then I think there have been a number of OEMs out there that talked about what they call hands off ISOF driving. Maybe we consider that more into the L3 range. And again, I have to really call out that the concern about supply chain resiliency has really brought a number of customers to our front door because of concerns and risk in that area, certainly in the level 3 space. And also a little bit of L2 and 8s, as Connor had mentioned, to solve some corner conditions that currently aren't efficiently covered by, like, ultrasonics and panoramic cameras. So it's a mix of all three. The sweet spot's definitely in the L3 side. Eyes off, hands off, but, you know, you've got all three in the mix. Casey Ryan Yeah. Okay, that's very exciting. I'm happy to hear about that. And yeah, I mean, certainly you're right. Kind of the new flow around robotaxi and L4 from a whole bunch of providers is certainly ramped up quite a bit in defense and specifically in drones. I think there's an issue around. It's not an issue a topic around the weight of a lidar sensor. And I wonder if you could just talk about the weight of your solutions and if, you know, there's like a roadmap to make it, you know, a Matt Fish (Chief Executive Officer) certain model lighter or sort of where you guys sit on that weight front in terms of consideration for potentially all defense applications, but primarily drones, obviously. Yeah, we're really light and we fit into that envelope quite well. I'm not sure if we published the specs on that, but we're definitely at the low end of the spectrum on weight. Also, keep in mind that the Kind of drones that you and I may sort of be directly exposed to may not be the kind of drones necessarily where you need long range LiDAR. For example, drones that travel at very high speeds, I'm talking about over 200 miles per hour. And because they're at that kind of speed, they need to see a kilometer out or a kilometer and a half out. Not the drones that Amazon uses to drop off packages. They're much more sophisticated surveillance and other type of drones. So it's we're absolutely fine in those and we're light enough to be considered for stronger drones as well. The other hot topic that's cropping up is drone detection and being able to assist intervention system to track when you have an inbound drone which are pretty small. Those kind of drones tend to be very small coming in and you want to get them while they're very far out. And that's again where the defense primes are coming to us because of the long range that we have. Casey Ryan Okay, good. Well, that's very, very exciting actually. And then just one last little smaller sort of, I guess it's not technical question, but you guys have talked about a $30 million contract opportunity over some longer period of time. I just wonder if that customer pulled some units or was part of the commercial account in one Q&OR if you expect them to be part of Q2. Connor Tierney (Chief Financial Officer) Yeah, they're certainly in that count number. So the 12 customers, what I would say is that customer itself is probably not going to be a meaningful contributor to revenue this year. I think the revenue is probably a little bit further out in time. That said, what I would say is since we made that announcement, it was almost over a year ago now, there's been more customers that have come into the mix and more customers that have moved pretty quickly through that POC phase. So what we're seeing now is probably more nearer term opportunities with other customers and that's probably what's going to really drive revenue potential for this year. Matt Fish (Chief Executive Officer) Yeah. Okay, terrific. Well, this is really a super, very good, encouraging update and I appreciate the time and look forward to more as we go through the year. Thank you. Thanks, Casey. Take care, Casey. Thank you. OPERATOR Your next question comes from Richard Shannon of Craig Hallam. Please go ahead. Richard Shannon Well, great. Richard Shannon Thanks Matt and Connor for taking my questions. Jumped on a little late, so I may have missed some of the prepared remarks here. So I hope I don't repeat some past questions here. But I did want to touch on one of the key themes here of the press release here today about eng on the automotive side here, particularly with OEMs that are reengaging on L4 and L3 roadmaps here, would love to get some dynamics and understanding of those dynamics going on here and maybe you can elaborate on how many RFIs and how fast you think they'll move to RFQ in later stages. Matt Fish (Chief Executive Officer) Yeah, let me start with this and I think Connor probably follow on here. What Ed mentioned earlier, Richard, this did come up in the Q and A, which is what. What is driving some of this increase in attention? I think it's two pieces mainly. One is that you see a lot of funding coming into tech providers that have to deal with Uber, for example. There's quite a few of them that are driving increased interest and velocity in level four robo taxis. So that's one part of it. The other is we see definitely a growing concern over supply chain resilience and taking risks in those areas. And that's shifted business, shall we say, as Those passenger vehicle OEMs start waking up and their L3 programs are coming online. Those are the key drivers. I think we said earlier in the script the number of RFIs coming in has definitely increased. And you know, we've got out of the business of predicting OEM schedules because they're, you know, some of these have come and gone and, you know, we're just going to keep an eye on it. Quite honestly, we're not. You know, we've got enough in our manufacturing pipeline and readiness to hit the switch and get going with the device production when that time comes. We'll expect a little bit of heads up on this, but our lead times and our risk buys are lined up with any earliest possible timeline that we can imagine. But we just, we don't know. It's been very unpredictable, quite honestly. Connor Tierney (Chief Financial Officer) Yeah. The only thing I'd add to Matt is just the fact that we can go in cabin behind the glass. Right. That seems to be a big value prop for the OEMs. Obviously the aesthetics of being able to do that and then have the windshield basically as a way to protect the sensor itself and obviously clean it. So that's really interesting value prop for the OEMs and something that certainly differentiates us. Matt Fish (Chief Executive Officer) Yeah, two other things, Richard. One is what activity is happening today is data collection. A big part of integration of LIDAR is training the AI and integrating to the software. And that's what's been unpredictable in terms of conclusion of those activities. And then secondly, we just came through a major supply chain audit in the last six months and really Digging in, in some cases down to glass and sand, where raw materials and intermediate components are coming from just to make sure that they have options on the supply chain side. We've been very busy with those two activities of late. Richard Shannon Okay, great detail there, guys. Matt Fish (Chief Executive Officer) Thank you. Second one is just on the general customer engagement here. Glad to see the customer count moving up nicely here from 1621 here. I asked roughly the same question a couple different ways here, one of which is just on the customer count. If you can elaborate and describe which end markets the incremental 5 have come from here and then where would you describe where the biggest dynamics around engagement have been going that are filling the early part of the pipeline here as well? Yeah, I mean, I think if I would, you could probably do the math. But the, if you take those new five, they're pretty much spread evenly across all the market segments we mentioned during the prepared remarks. I'm going to take a look at Connor Tierney here for the second part of the question. Connor Tierney (Chief Financial Officer) Yeah, I mean, look, I think defence obviously, as Matt mentioned, is a big driver and we're seeing a lot of interest. And it's not just in the defense sector, I would say it's also in the commercial aviation space as well. So we have some customers in that particular vertical as well. And I think the unifying factor is high performance, range, resolution and then obviously the ability to tune the scan pattern. And I think what's interesting is even in the defense sector, customers have different needs, different use cases. And so this is really where the tunability of the sensor, the ability to customize the scan pattern becomes really important. And even in some cases, for even just one use case, there might be different variants or different kind of performance factors that the customer is trying to solve for. It could be long range, even shorter range, increasing the frame rate. So the ability to just, just dial up, dial down the sensor is really important. And I think that when we're chatting with customers and we're chatting with investors, one thing that we really try and guide people on is when you look at our sensor, think about it as a performance bucket and you can kind of basically adapt that performance bucket to what you want to achieve. Right. So if that means going longer range, you can put the performance there. If it means higher frame rate, you can do that. And so giving that level of customization that you otherwise can't get in the marketplace. Richard Shannon Okay, probably my last question here is on Optus. So your press release mentioned this live in an active California intersection. I think I saw something on maybe your LinkedIn page not too long ago, which is great to see. Which is a good excuse for me to ask about general maturity and kind of breadth of engagement pipeline with, with Optus here where you're seeing this in terms of applications set in geography, this Matt Fish (Chief Executive Officer) would be a great update. Thank you. Yeah, again I think it covers a fair part of our market segments and in the remarks we talked about we're seeing a growing number of customers. The trend is definitely a, we're looking for a partner in perception and sensing and data analytics that's becoming a bigger part of our pipeline. The examples that we pointed out, for example the traffic intersection, we also mentioned the completion of a BoC out in Australia with we call it Smart Intelligent Traffic Systems where we were tracking for fleet management, company trucks going in at way stations and payloads and things like this. And again we're seeing, as we're talking with those customers, they don't know a lot about LiDAR. They just came to us and said well we tried working with an integrator that does cameras and radar and it doesn't work. Can you help us make it work? And we're seeing more and more of those type of customers where their level of sophistication and knowledge of the underlying sensor piece isn't quite there and they just want help to get an end to end solution. It's a growing part of that number that's increasing maturity. We've been out in the wild for almost a year now on that second example and a few months on the first one. We're going to see more intersections going online this year. So I think things are maturing nicely and you can definitely expect to see a higher percentage of those end to end solutions coming in the back half of the year here. Connor Tierney (Chief Financial Officer) And just one thing to add, you know, I think there's really what makes us unique in the ITS space, especially when it comes to intersections. One thing we're learning is there's a dilemma zone and that's, you know, maybe looking back 100 meters from the stop bar and the fact that we have the range and capabilities to do that is a differentiating feature in the solution that we're offering and that's something that definitely getting positive feedback from the dots. It's something that nobody else can do right now. So that's a classic case where we built a solution and we're leaning into our capabilities and performance factors and fearing increasingly the narrative is why the other sensors just couldn't see far enough really that simple. So I think customers are going beyond, they're looking more towards next gen lidar solutions, high performance solutions that can give them that level of range and, and customization that they need. Richard Shannon Makes a lot of sense. Last quick question, Connor, since I didn't hear your prepared remarks, just wanted to make sure that or ask whether you're still using the same language used on the last earnings call about seeing an acceleration in the second half of the year. Is that still your thought process there? Thank you. Connor Tierney (Chief Financial Officer) Yeah, for sure. Look, I think we're definitely going to see an inflection in the revenue. I think we're already seeing more units in the pipeline here for Q2 and we think that trend is going to continue on into Q3 and Q4. So I think all in all, yeah, we're still guiding to that narrative. Richard Shannon Okay, perfect. That's all for me, guys. Thank you. Matt Fish (Chief Executive Officer) Thanks, Richard. OPERATOR If you would like to ask a question, please press star key, then number one on your telephone keypad. To withdraw your question, press star key, then number one again. We will pause for a minute for the questions to come in. Matt Fish (Chief Executive Officer) Hey, operator, I think it's okay. We can wrap it up if there's nothing else. OPERATOR That will conclude our question and answer session. I will now turn the call back over to Matt Fish for closing remarks. Matt Fish (Chief Executive Officer) Thank you all for your time today and for your continued interest in AI. We remain focused on executing against our commercial pipeline and converting this momentum into a durable revenue ramp. And we look forward to updating you on our progress next quarter. Thank you. Disclaimer: This transcript is provided for informational purposes only. While we strive for accuracy, there may be errors or omissions in this automated transcription. For official company statements and financial information, please refer to the company's SEC filings and official press releases. Corporate participants' and analysts' statements reflect their views as of the date of this call and are subject to change without notice. UNLOCKED: 5 NEW TRADES EVERY WEEK. Click now to get top trade ideas daily, plus unlimited access to cutting-edge tools and strategies to gain an edge in the markets. Get the latest stock analysis from Benzinga: AEYE (LIDR): Free Stock Analysis Report This article Full Transcript: AEye Q1 2026 Earnings Call originally appeared on Benzinga.com © 2026 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.