Creative Realities, Inc. ($CREX)

Good morning, at this time, I would like to welcome everyone to Creative Reality's 2026 First Quarter Earnings Conference Call. This call will be recorded and a copy will be available on the company's website at cri.com following its completion. Creative Realities has prepared remarks summarizing the interim results for the quarter along with additional industry and company updates. Joining the call today is Rick Mills, Chief Executive Officer; Tamra Koshewa, Chief Financial Officer; and George Sautter, Chief Strategy Officer and Head of Corporate Development. Ms. Koshewa , you may proceed.

Thank you, and good morning, everyone. Welcome to our earnings call for the first quarter ended March 31, 2026. I would like to take this opportunity to remind you that remarks today will include forward-looking statements. The words anticipated, will, believes, expects, intends, plans, estimates, projects, should, may, propose and similar expressions or the negative versions of such words or expressions as they relate to us, our management or operations are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Actual results may differ materially from those contemplated by such statements. Factors that could cause these results to differ materially are set forth in our Form 10-K and other filings with the SEC. Any forward-looking statements that we make on this call are based on assumptions as of today, and we undertake no obligation to update these statements as a result of new information or future events. During this call, we will present both GAAP and non-GAAP financial measures. We believe the use of certain non-GAAP measures such as adjusted EBITDA and several other important key performance indicators represent meaningful ways to track our performance. A reconciliation of GAAP to non-GAAP measures is included in our public filings and in our earnings release that was issued this morning. It is now my pleasure to introduce Rick Mills, CEO of Creative Realities.

Thanks, Tamra. Good morning, everybody. We appreciate you joining today's call. I'll start by giving some highlights of our quarterly financials and some other recent developments. Tamra will go over the results in greater detail, but we posted revenue of $16.3 million in Q1 versus $9.7 million in the prior year period, including $7.9 million from our CDM acquisition. Our revenue in Q1 was negatively affected by approximately $4 million in revenue. This was due to the extreme cold weather across the Southeast U.S. which -- well typically, it slows down all new construction and more specifically in North Carolina in February due to a major snowstorm that paralyzed most of the state. Our first quarter gross profit was $5.6 million as compared to $4.5 million in fiscal 2025. And our consolidated gross margin was 34.2% versus 45.7% in the prior year period. The gross profit and gross margin were affected by a onetime event as we terminated a CDM legacy subcontractor, which reduced gross margin by approximately $0.5 million. The approximate $4 million of revenue, if not lost, it's just delayed. February and March, new location openings were pushed out until April and May plus we had 500 locations we were installing for a lottery customer that were going to be installed in Q1 and this revenue shifted from Q1 into Q2 and then some of the locations will shift from Q2 to Q3. As a result, we expect our second quarter results to improve compared to the first quarter with the remainder of 2026 showing growth acceleration and margin expansion. As of March 31, we had an annual recurring revenue run rate or ARR, as we call it, of $20.1 million with an additional $4 million of ARR contracted and in place already that ARR will start at year-end. Net loss attributed to common shareholders was $7.9 million for the 3 months ended March 31 compared to net income of $3.4 million for the 3 months ended March 31, 2026. Adjusted EBITDA was negative $0.5 million for the first quarter of 2026 versus a positive $0.5 million last year. While the first quarter had some weather challenges as we discussed, we also completed the consolidation and reorganization of the entire CRI and CDM combined workforce, including all sales, operational and support functions. To all the folks at newly combined CRI, I just want to say job well done. Wow, it was a lot of tough work. The final integration challenge in the migration of the legacy is the migration of the legacy CDM financial accounting systems onto our NetSuite ERP platform. That will be completed at the end of Q2. We I suspect my CFO, Tamra is losing a little bit of sleep and there will be some late nights ahead. However, I've seen her in action. I've seen the plan. We have done this multiple times before and I have absolute confidence this will happen on time, and the results will be first rate. Let me again state with a very bullish attitude. We remain on track for our best year ever with company revenue exceeding $100 million and adjusted EBITDA margins reaching the high teens in the coming quarters. We remain on track to realize the premerger combination cost savings of at least $10 million on an annualized basis by the end of 2026. Now not all of that will show up this year as we are still in process of executing on those cost synergies. In March, we had achieved over 60% of the goal and each month, we achieve one more step in that journey. As a reminder, once all synergies are realized, adjusted EBITDA margins are expected to be above 20% and free cash flow generation will allow us to pay down debt and delever the balance sheet as we have done every time we completed an acquisition. I'll come back in a minute or so when Tamra is done to talk about some customer updates and a significant new retail media network. But I'll turn it over to Tamra to share some additional comments on our financials.

Thanks, Rick. An overview of our financial results for the first quarter of 2026 was provided in our earnings release and our Form 10-Q which included the condensed consolidated balance sheet as of March 31, 2026, the statement of operations and cash flows for the 3 months ended March 31 and a detailed reconciliation of net income to EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA for the quarter ended March 31 as well as the preceding 4 quarters. While Rick reviewed our operating results briefly, let me provide more context related to our performance and our outlook. In terms of the income statement, first quarter revenue rose to $16.3 million versus $9.7 million in the same period in 2025, with approximately $7.9 million or 48% coming from CDM. Revenue from our legacy CRI business decreased approximately 15% year-over-year. While there were new installs in the quarter, there was a decrease in our SaaS from expiration of certain customer contracts in 2025. As Rick mentioned, several large planned installations were delayed in the quarter due to snowstorms and other poor weather conditions across much of North America. We expect to catch up on these installs in the second and third quarters, driving a healthy uptick in business, both sequentially and year-over-year. Hardware revenue in the first quarter rose to $4.6 million versus $3.4 million in the prior year period, reflecting both new deployments and the inclusion of CDM. Service revenues increased 86% to $11.8 million from $6.3 million in fiscal 2025, reflecting the CDM acquisition, offset partially by expired customer contracts. Consolidated gross profit was $5.6 million for the fiscal 2026 first quarter versus $4.5 million in the prior year period. Consolidated gross margin was 34.2% versus 45.7% in the fiscal '25 first quarter. Gross margin on hardware revenue was 14% in Q1 of fiscal 2026 as compared to 32.1% in the prior year period due to an unusually higher mix of QSR deployments, and certain onetime costs of approximately $0.5 million associated with transitioning away from an outsourced CDM installer. Gross margin on service amounted to 42% versus 53% in the fiscal '25 first quarter, driven by the expiration of certain customer contracts in 2025. We anticipate an increase in margins going forward due to revenue growth, synergy realization and improved operating cost leverage across the company. Sales and marketing expenses in the first quarter rose to $2.9 million versus $1.2 million in the prior year period, while general and administrative expenses increased to $8.9 million versus $3.9 million in fiscal 2025, primarily reflecting the acquisition of CDM, which contributed approximately $3.8 million of G&A expense. However, as Rick indicated, we remain on track to achieving the $10 million of synergies previously announced for fiscal 2026. We also continue to invest in our media business and other technology initiatives meant to drive increased growth across the company. We posted an operating loss of approximately $6.2 million in the first quarter of 2026 compared to an operating loss of $700,000 in fiscal 2025, reflecting the items I just discussed. CRI reported a net loss of $7.5 million and a net loss attributable to common shareholders of $7.9 million or $0.74 per diluted common share in the quarter ended March 31 versus net income of $3.4 million or $0.32 per diluted common share in the prior year period. As a reminder, the fiscal 2025 first quarter included a $4.8 million gain on the settlement of our prior contingent liability with the former stockholders of Reflect Systems. Adjusted EBITDA was negative $500,000 in the first quarter of 2026 as compared to $500,000 income in the prior year period. We anticipate EBITDA and cash flow to improve for the remainder of fiscal 2026 given the forecasted business growth and cost initiatives previously discussed. When appropriate, we intend to use the cash generation to delever our balance sheet and strengthen our financial flexibility as we've done in the past. This remains a key long-term priority for the company. In terms of the balance sheet, as of March 31, 2026, the company had cash on hand of approximately $2.3 million versus $1.6 million at the start of 2026. Our debt stood at $47.5 million at the end of the first quarter as compared to $44 million at the beginning of the fiscal year. we had approximately $13 million remaining in available liquidity under our revolving credit facility as of March 31, 2026. Going forward, as I just mentioned, we remain dedicated to using cash generation, when possible, to lower our debt and migrate to an optimized capital structure in support of financial flexibility. However, we will also continue to invest in the business to drive growth and improve technology applications across the organization. I will turn it back to Rick for additional comments around customer-specific activities.

Thanks, Tamra. Let's talk about some customer updates. First, I'd like to announce that we are the official digital signage provider for the Tennessee Titans and the new Nissan Stadium, which is under construction in Nashville, Tennessee. We talked about this previously, but this is an $8.5 million deal. It includes thousands of displays and a full IPTV solution throughout the entire venue. Most of this revenue will be recognized in 2026 I think the official stadium opening is in February. So we expect a little bit to trail into January, February punch list as the stadium gets open. Second, we'd like to announce Dairy Queen in North America, not only the U.S. but also Canada. This is the QSR that we did not have the contract signed when we reported our Q4 results. We acquired this business as a result of a very exhausting tough RFP process, which ultimately accumulated in us being awarded the business. We were actually awarded and given the verbal award the same month as our closing of the CDM acquisition. Here is what makes this unique. The prior provider of Dairy Queen was Cineplex Digital Media or CDM. So we expect to expand the annual revenue probably going to grow between $1 million and $2 million a year on an annual basis, mostly primarily driven by our Drive-Thru product. As of today, there's 4,700, approximately, locations across the U.S. and Canada. And as we've evaluated only 2 have digital drive-throughs, so the demand for that product is pretty significant inside this account. Another customer, I guess, third, if you will, April 13, we announced a project to expand and modernize the AMC theaters in lobby media footprint across 285 locations nationwide. Well, I want to give a little additional color on that event or that announcement. This is a partnership between CRI and National CineMedia. National CineMedia is the leading cinema advertising platform in the U.S. This new initiative will turn the lobby at the participating theaters into a network of digital displays that will deliver the high-impact video brand storytelling and interactive experiences. These upgrades create a premium video platform that expands opportunities for advertisers to reach audiences both in auditorium and throughout the entire theater location. We will install this network. It's approximately 1,200 screens and large-format LEDs throughout the rest of 2026. This media network utilizes our CMS platform, including our Reflect CMS and our AdLogic AdTech solution. Expected revenue of this is $6 million to $7 million, and we expect to realize most, if not all, this year. However, think of the growth of this network to other cinema theater chains or locations such as Cinemark and some of the other competitors and is what we expect will ultimately happen. Okay. Next customer, I want to talk about 7 Brew. This account continues to grow. My last conversation with our account team indicated that in discussion with the customer, 7 Brew, they are on track to open 750 new locations this year. Well, each location is about $8,000 to us when it gets first opened. However, it is the ongoing SaaS that keeps growing with each new location. And then finally, I want to talk about our retail media network. We are in the final contracting stages of a significant retail media network deployment. I can't yet discuss specifics. What I can tell you is this would result in a substantial sales of additional hardware SaaS and AdTech revenue. As we understand it today, this would be the largest retail media networks deployed in 2026 and measured by the number of screens across the U.S. Think of it in this year alone, it would be about 10,000 screens plus an additional 20,000 data gathering devices. So by year-end, we would be monitoring about 30,000 devices. By mid-2027, it would be in excess or approximately 60,000 devices. This solidifies CRI as the leading retail media network provider in North America and there's certainly more to come about this announcement as we finalize the contracts over the next 3, 4 weeks. I hope everyone can grasp the significant change in CRI as an operating entity. So let's review them. Number one, our position in the marketplace. I think it's very clear we are now clearly one of the leaders, if not the leader in the U.S. Number two, the revenue growth. Rapid expansion of revenue, we expect it to rapidly expand throughout the balance of this year. Number three, the management team. And I want to repeat that, the management team. I talked a lot about it on our last call, but this is a first-class management team in place running the business. Number four, operational excellence. We continue to excel in deployment. Wet weather doesn't get in our way. So -- and then last but not least, the financial discipline and commitment to delever the balance sheet. We are very focused on that. Our pipeline remains robust, and we expect to continue to land many new opportunities. We're in excellent position to post higher growth and improved operating results going forward. And again, we remain on track for our best year ever. With that, we'll now move to the Q&A portion of the call. Operator, I'll turn it back to you.

[Operator Instructions] Our first question comes from Jason Kreyer with Craig-Hallum.

Lots of good content in there. Rick, maybe we'll start on stadiums. You talked about the win with the Tennessee Titans, so congratulations on that. We've seen you have success in multiple needs, right? You've already had success in basketball and hockey and others. And it seems like when you've landed one, you do a really good job of finding 2 or 3 or 5 other teams in that league that need help, need a refresh. So maybe talk about the opportunity in football and your ability to expand beyond now kind of landing a deal with the Titans.

Sure. Thanks, Jason. We were really pleased to land this stadium. It's the second stadium where our software solutions that we deploy are controlling all of the screens. Of course, our first one in the NFL was Dallas Capital, where we continue to manage 3,300 screens throughout the building. So we're excited to have the Titans. Cracking the NFL is a big deal. And we do expect -- we are in pursuit of multiple other NFL teams for either a upgrades of the entire stadium refresh or where we're seeing quicker penetration is taking over the menu board operations within those stadiums. So it continues to grow. I think we talked on the last conference call that, that business unit, our IPTV group, would probably double this year, and that currently appears to be on track.

Great. all shift to the RMN opportunity that you highlighted at the end there. So maybe just a couple of a couple of quick questions, and if you can expand on that. Is this a customer that you're already familiar with, that you've worked with in the past? Is the process still competitive at this point? And then if you get that win, when would you expect that to start to kick off?

Okay. Number one, the process is no longer competitive. We have received a verbal award. We are committed. We probably have certainly north of 10 people almost full time working on preparing for this project. We anticipate deploying in June or potentially shipping product in June and deploying in July. So this is coming fast and furious. They -- we actually did a total store takeover because this project started with somebody else in the industry as a competitor who fell down, they came to us and so we actually did a complete total store takeover. I believe it was Wednesday of this week, and that was a success, and we expect to take over the remaining test stores in the month of June and begin to full rollout in July.

I mean this seems like this could be a kind of a transformational deal for CRI. Could you talk about maybe first additional costs that you may have to take on to onboard a deal like that? And then with that, what does this mean in terms of onboarding or in terms of reference ability, putting CRI on the map and really scaling up your retail media business?

We think it's huge. I mean, the referenceability of this is second to none. It would be considered again, let's be clear, Jason. We got to go execute, right? I got to go get it done. But let's assume we're successful, and I think we will be. And we go get it done. This will be considered the top shelf first-class retail media network with full closed-loop attribution at the cash register for this retailer. And nobody else has done that in the U.S. And here we are at the forefront of getting that done.

Our next question comes from Brian Kinstlinger with Alliance Global Partners.

Congrats on all the great business development. In terms of the Retail Media Network follow-up, maybe you can size what a TCV looks like for 50,000 devices, of which it sounds like 10,000 are screens. And what maybe a ballpark what a recurring revenue opportunity looks like for something that large?

Yes. Great question. In terms of it, put it in size, this year, we think it's 10,000 screens and about 20,000 data gathering analytic devices will be deployed, right, to map out the shopper journey as they manage through a retail environment. All total by mid-2027, the customer expects it to be about 60,000 devices, which is roughly 25,000 screens and then 35,000 data gathering devices. In terms of range of magnitude of ongoing SaaS, we would expect that to be in the $6 million to $8 million range. still being a little bit adjusted and negotiated as we finalize the contract, but we expect that it will add $6 million to $8 million, we believe, when it is fully deployed.

It sounds great. Mean in terms of Gary Green, what was the current revenue contribution as it related to CDM? And maybe that will help us size the actual contract value on top of that.

So I'm converting from Canadian, Brian. So forgive me if I'm a little bit off. But before it was about $2 million to $2.5 million a year. That was a combination of SaaS and then indoor deployments because CDM was doing the indoor menu boards. As it now has expanded and includes the Drive-Thru we expect that CAD 2 million to CAD 2.5 million. Tamra, I believe that number was about right. Correct.

That's in U.S. though.

Yes, in the U.S., right. So. But it was historically $2 million to $2.5 million. We now expect it to be somewhere in the $4 to $5 million. And that growth rate, Brian, is driven predominantly -- well, some additional SaaS, but mostly just the actual pure hardware of Drive-Thru going in. And obviously, the benefit every time a Drive-Thru goes in, it's somewhere between 3 and 7 screens get added to the SaaS pool for every Drive-Thru. The difference of 3% to 7%, it just depends, is it a single Drive-Thru or a double.

Great. And then last question for me on the drive-through business. When you think about North America, what percentage of QSR has drive through digital now. Are we halfway through that?

That's a great question. Again, this is maybe a little bit dated material because I haven't looked at it in the last 6 months or so. But there's approximately 220,000, 210,000 QSRs that with drive through in the U.S., we believe the penetration today is less than 40%. And we believe they're 60% of the market. And when you look at it, the 2 people that are the most dominant is McDonald's and Taco Bell, who fully rolled out digital. So they actually make up the largest component of the installed base of the 40% that's out there installed.

I'm showing no further phone questions at this time. Do we have any questions over the web.

Yes. Thank you. Rick, we have a question from [ Kevin Sheldon ] via e-mail as to whether our customers with the franchisee system or a coalition approach to retail media networks Creative Realities or the customer continues to follow up with those franchisees or other prospects that did not opt in for a program when initially presented with an opportunity to do so.

Yes. Great question, George, and Kevin, so thank you for that. The answer is yes, we typically -- when we first engage with the customer -- of course, there's pent-up demand and there's a strong upfront rollout process as we fulfill the demand. Once that demand kind of calms down a little bit, yes, we meet with the franchisor. We go over the list of who are the franchisees that have multiple locations that did not opt in or has not installed digital. And then typically, it's joint work between us and the franchisor to have discussions, meet with that franchisee and ultimately get them to up into the program. Because installing digital in the drive through specifically or indoor -- it improves throughput, it improves profitability and improve profitability at the franchisee benefits not only the franchisee, but the franchisor. So it's really a joint effort. But yes, we do do that.

Great. Thanks, Rick. There are no other questions via e-mail.

Okay. Well, first, finally, I want to conclude the call. I want to thank all our shareholders, clients, partners and employees. And again, this was a real interesting quarter for our company as we combined 250 people into 1 organization and did the reorganization. And so again, I just want to say a shout out to all the CRI employees for all the hard work this has fundamentally changed our company, and we expect to do nothing but continue to grow from here forward. Thanks for joining the call. We look forward to speaking to you again next quarter.

This concludes today's conference call. Thank you for participating. You may now disconnect.