Elliptic Laboratories ASA (ELABS) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

Good morning, and thank you for joining us today. I am Laila Danielsen, the CEO of Elliptic Labs. Joining me today is our CFO, Lars Holmoy. We're excited to share with you Elliptic Labs' results for the first quarter of 2025. Let's start off with the highlights for the quarter. Starting off with the key financials. Elliptic Labs delivered revenues from customers of NOK 26.6 million in Q1, up 20% compared to the first quarter of '24. As a side note, the first quarter has historically been weaker than remaining quarters due to market timing. EBITDA ended at minus NOK 1.6 million, an improvement from minus NOK 3.3 million in Q1 '24, a quarter where operating costs were offset by NOK 2 million in repayments. Adjusted for this, we maintained a flat operating cost structure year-over-year. Our operating cash flow were positive NOK 12.1 million in the quarter, and the resulting cash position was slightly up to around NOK 77 million at the end of Q1. Next, moving on to our commercial programs. We have demonstrated a rapid launch pace going into 2025 with 23 laptop models launched year-to-date, seven of which were dual sensor configuration, meaning two sensor per model. Note that we only had permission to officially announce two of these models in press releases. This means that by May this year, we have already almost doubled the number of AI Virtual Smart Sensors deployed in laptops for the full year in 2024, sorry. And we continue working hard to maintain our growth trajectory. We have also launched 23 smartphone models to date and have already secured firm commitments for at least an additional 45 models, that is expected to launch over the next 12 months, and we continue to expand in the smartphone market, of course. Okay. So our vision is to build and our vision has not changed, the leading AI software platform for all user experience, making every device smarter, interoperable, more human and environmentally friendly. We are building the future of AI sensing, making devices smarter, seamlessly connected and intuitive with advanced AI sensor fusion. And as we're moving up the software stack, we are not just improving technology, we are redefining how it interacts with the world. Today, over 0.5 billion devices are using our AI platform to make them greener, smarter and more user-friendly. Okay. Zooming into the smartphone vertical, we have seen significant progress so far this year. And as can be seen from the chart, our launch trajectory is steep. We have launched 185 smartphone models to date with 23 launches in 2025, 11 launches in the first quarter and another 12 so far in the second quarter. And as many of you know, our journey started by building a solid platform in the Smartphone segment, where we, since our inception in 2016, have built an impressive portfolio with some of the largest OEMs across the world based on our leading market and ecosystem position. And to the right of the screen, you can see some examples of the innovative launches made in 2025. We continue to work with innovation, further cementing our position as the market leader in AI Virtual Smart Sensors. Our technology and platform has become a pillar within device interoperability. And at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona this year, we launched yet another innovation, the AI Virtual Tap to Share sensor. With Tap to Share, you can easily share photos, contact information and much more between different operating systems, both iOS or Apple iOS and Android through a simple tap. Importantly, this works without preexisting connection between devices and is fully automated, providing a smooth and intuitive user experience. Let's take a look at how this works. So here, you can see that easily tap and the information is being shared between those two devices. As noted in the introduction, we are maintaining a rapid launch phase, the foundation for revenues going forward. So far, in 2025, we have launched on 23 laptop models and 23 smartphone models. Of the 23 laptop models, seven of which have deployed dual-sensor configuration, meaning both the AI Virtual Human Presence Sensor and the AI Virtual Seamless Sensor. We were unfortunately only allowed to announce two of all of these launch models. As such, we have launched 30 virtual sensors year-to-date across 23 laptop models, which compares to 16 virtual sensor for the full year 2024, and we are still not even halfway through the year. This demonstrates the increasing demand for our cutting-edge AI-driven solution out in the market. The initial milestone revenue from the laptops launched in Q1 '25, meaning revenue for the minimum commitment volumes were recognized at contract signing in '24, and we expect more revenue from these laptops as they scale in the market. Our model is highly scalable. We charge a license fee per device we ship to the end customer, and this is also charged per product, so per Virtual Smart Sensor. That means that we -- if we have two products on one device, we charge one fee per product on that device. As we deliver more products to a wider range of devices and onboard new OEMs, we are strongly positioned to deliver significant growth in time to come. We also maintain a very strong launch pace for smartphones and have already secured additional -- or actually a minimum of additional 45 smartphone models so far this year. With 23 launches and 45 commitments, we've already secured more models than were launched in 2024, and we see a big upside for the remainder of the year. Elliptic Labs has also streamlined the purchasing process for smartphones, where we now only need a simple written notice to expand contracts, removing the need for repeated purchasing improvements and reducing the threshold for expansion. We are excited about our commercial progress and we -- and the position we have built for growth going forward. For those who have been following us for a while, you know that our collaboration with Intel began with architect validation a few years ago, ensuring our technology work on the chipset driven by OEM customer demand. Over time, we have been aligning our road maps and working closely together with Intel to successfully deliver our products. Today, that collaboration has significantly deepened. We are now co-engineering innovation with Intel and leading OEMs, embedding contextual intelligence in real-world use cases directly into Intel's AI PC roadmap. Smartshare is an example that we jointly delivered with Intel for Lenovo last year. We are now expanding this co-engineering partnership to be launched on more future projects. In practice, this makes it easier for our OEMs to implement our technology on the laptops. Further, it marks a meaningful evolution where we are now collaborating more closely than ever with key ecosystem players to jointly develop future-ready innovation. And next, our CFO will present our financial. Thank you.

Thank you, Lara. Now let's move into the financial review for Q1 '25. We are focused on building a solid foundation for durable, profitable growth. Our goal is to ensure sustainable profitability by combining growth in top line revenue with disciplined cost control. I will walk you through the numbers and trends shaping our financial performance this quarter and the broader trajectory for Elliptic Labs. In Q1 '25, revenue from customer was NOK 26.6 million, representing a 20% increase compared to NOK 22.2 million in Q1 '24. It is important to note that our revenue may fluctuate from quarter-to-quarter, largely due to the timing of milestone revenues, new product launches and shipment schedules in the market. However, the underlying trend is clear. We continue to deliver solid growth as our customer contracts and deployments scale up. A key pillar of our financial strategy is to grow revenues while maintaining a stable cost base. On a running 12-month basis, total revenues have increased by 56.2% year-on-year. Operating expenses rose only 6.1% in the same period, highlighting strong cost discipline. This dynamic has enabled us to achieve a positive EBITDA on the last 12-month basis, reflecting the scalability on our business model. We are set to continue this trajectory, driving revenue growth with minimal incremental cost, thereby enhancing profitability as we scale. Diving deeper into the P&L for Q1. Revenue from contract with customers, as I said, came in at NOK 26.6 million, up 20% from last year. Operating costs totaled NOK 28.6 million with employee benefit expenses at NOK 22 million, reflecting additional FTEs, is 2 additional FTEs, salary adjustments and the full year effect of hires made in '24. Other operating expenses were NOK 6.7 million, up from NOK 4.3 million last year. If we adjust repayment recorded -- adjust for repayment recorded in Q1 '24, expenses remained quite stable year-over-year. Importantly, EBITDA improved to minus NOK 1.6 million versus negative NOK 3.3 million last year, a strong signal of progress. We remain focused on balancing investment in growth with cost management. Turning into cash flow. We delivered a positive operating cash flow of NOK 12.1 million compared to NOK 13.6 million last quarter, meaning Q4 '24. Key contributors included a NOK 14.4 million loss before tax, but NOK 18.5 million net decrease in accounts receivables. Investments are primarily in R&D, supporting our AI Virtual Smart Sensor platform. On the financing side, repayments included NOK 1.9 million for lease liabilities, NOK 1 million for short-term debt and NOK 0.5 million in interest payments. It's also important to note that our revenue is invoiced in USD. So exchange rate fluctuation can affect cash flow. Overall, our cash position is stable, allowing us to continue executing our growth strategy. Our balance sheet remains robust with cash and cash equivalents at NOK 76.8 million, up from NOK 76.4 million at the end of Q4 '24. Current assets benefited from a NOK 18.5 million decrease in trade receivables and a NOK 1.9 million increase in other receivables. We continue to work with our customers to better our payment cycles related to milestone revenues. Liabilities have stayed flat, and our equity ratio is stable at 90%. We are well funded to execute on our growth plans with the financial flexibility required to invest in innovation and new customer deployments. This strong financial position underpins our confidence in continuing to scale and innovate the quarters ahead. And next, I will hand it back to our CEO, Laila, to finish up the presentation. Thank you.

Thank you, Lars. We have spent the past decade building a solid platform based on our new own neural networks. We have developed a deep expertise in AI, software, operating system, sensor processing platform, applications, large language models, small sensing models, they have the full stack. Our experience ranges from the operating system to application and embedded software integrated into complex environments. As we said earlier, we have separated our journey into three key phases, each building on the top of the previous phase. We started out our journey in Phase 1, replacing hardware sensor with AI virtual smart sensors and building a foundation with our customers. We continue to do so and expand our position with our customers. We are currently in the second phase, focusing on device interoperability where we're moving further up in the software stack and deliver through device-device interoperability. This is unprecedented in the market. Going forward, we are working our way into the third phase together with partners and customers to deliver contextual intelligence. We've been collaborating closely with the biggest players in the device ecosystem such as Intel and Qualcomm. And as I told you earlier today, we are now strengthening our partnership, particularly with Intel to bring new AI features to Intel's next-generation AI chips and laptops. By deliver contextual aware AI agents, we will unlock actionable insights and generate groundbreaking AI-driven use cases in the time to come. And finally, let's revisit our assumption to drive future success. We are focused on maximizing our contract base, strengthening customer relationship, expanding partnerships and increasing AI Virtual Smart Sensor adoption. Our AI Virtual Smart Sensor technology is rapidly expanding across industry, improving device intelligence and user experience. We are working closely with OEMs to integrate AI Virtual Smart Sensor into more devices, including laptops and smartphones. Our focus is clear: optimize contracts, increase adoption and scale product deployments per device. By driving continuous innovation, we enhance device capabilities and create more value for our customers. With strong momentum and growing market presence, we are well positioned to drive future growth in AI-powered capability. And thank you. And now we will take a quick break to review questions.

Welcome back. And also thank you to the investor that so nicely gathered many questions beforehand and submitted them. So let's just jump into the questions, shall we? Okay.

Okay. Can the new seamless sensor product for smartphone also be used with a laptop, which is not born with the seamless sensors as long as the smartphone has the seamless sensor function?

Yes. The seamless sensor is designed to be highly flexible. It does need to be -- it does not need to be born or meaning basically factory installed by the OEM to function. We can deliver experience via software, whether through an app, web application or even the Windows update. So clearly, this flexibility enables us to support a broader range of devices and partners while accelerated deployment and adoption without relying on being born or relying on hardware integration cycles.

Yes. We continue on the seamless sensor. Is the new seamless sensor for smartphone product made on request from a specific smartphone customer/OEM?

No, it's more driven by the broader market demand.

And then, we continue. Have you experienced interest to sign new contracts from smartphone OEMs for the new seamless sensor product?

So normally, we don't comment specifically where we are in the sales process. But of course, we will announce when contracts are signed.

Sure. Okay.

So then, we have another question here. Okay. So this is a question for you. You are already achieving an impressive model and product launch. Thank you for that. Now at 241 models accumulated. However, run rate revenues are still a bit behind the NOK 500 million revenue target. Can you maybe help us understand a bit better whether the ramp to NOK 500 million is mostly related to volume ramp on existing models? Or do we also need further model wins?

Yes. Thank you. Thank you, Christopher, for the question. Sure. So what we usually answer to that question that we will need more models in the market, which we are already doing. We have surpassed last year's models if you're looking at the whole year for the PC, we're now at 23, last year it was 15. So it's coming quite fast and there's also dual-sensor products in there as well. And that also improves our price, painting in the market. So it's -- but we need more products in the market. It's not on existing launch models.

Yes. So absolutely. And obviously, we are scaling. We see things are -- we see particularly in the laptop market, it's waterfalling out. And as you alluded to, over exceeding the full year of 2024 in regards to launches.

And I'm just going to keep you on that note, for it's a follow-up question here. So if you just go back then, which is a good question as well because we showcased the three pillars of our journey where we're like replacing hardware sensors and then, of course, iterating on that. So how should we think about that and the contributions into that?

Yes. I mean, clearly, that is, it's, of course, strengthening our position in the market for sure. And we had a very specific strategy that we were focusing on replacing hardware sensor with software to sort of get into the market and scaling that.

Both the market strategy.

Yes, that was -- and then, of course, moving up in the software stack, delivering more visible product, which has been beautiful. And as I sort of presented also in the presentation, and I've been reiterating over time, we have been working with AI and machine learning for a very long time. And so leveraging that internal expertise, we see now with the explosion in AI that some of these new capability that is needed, we can deliver. So we -- it's hard to say like is that incremental to the NOK 500 million, but it's for sure, certainly would help to sort of fuel to get there. And then, of course, we have a life behind after the NOK 500 million, but let's not jump into that. And then, I have a bunch more questions here.

Yes. We are back to the seamless sensor again. So what do you expect the price level to be for this new seamless -- for smartphone, smartphone?

For smartphone, yes. And then, specifically compared to the proximity sensor. At this point, we don't want to talk specifically about pricing out in the market.

No, I think that's -- And then, do you plan to make an accessories product for the smartphone vertical like headphones, earplugs and so forth?

Yes. So as we have announced earlier, we have this already for the laptops, where we announced a POC for support of accessory for our seamless sensor. And the fact is that this underlying technology can be extended to the smartphone vertical.

Yes. And I think also just to reiterate, our software is of course platform neutral. So it's the same underlying platform that we are utilizing across all of these platforms.

This verticals.

Yes, verticals, sorry. Meaning also then, it's neutral depending on the processor from Intel, AMD, Qualcomm, MediaTek and so forth. So it's working very well.

Yes. We more about the -- we have more.

Yes, we do.

On the seamless.

Yes. If a smartphone OEM implement the new seamless sensor product, do you expect the rollout to be faster than the Lenovo's rollout?

So the rollout timeline depends on each OEM's integration plans and go-to-market strategy as we see here. So we prefer not to speculate until deployment begins. So there are more seamless questions.

Yes. Do the smartphone seamless sensor product compete with the laptop seamless sensor product?

From a sensor, so we see a different application, maybe slightly different way of doing it and so forth.

Yes. And a patent question. How strong do you consider Elliptic patents against the onslaught of AI operators looking to compete with exact same utility? And would you consider licensing patents?

Okay. Yes. So -- so obviously, on the patent strategy, we are taking a proactive approach to intellectual property. Obviously, we have a large patent portfolio already. And that's -- it's basically reflects the strategic value of our innovation. And we have been focusing our portfolio as is designed to support long-term differentiation and provide flexibility as the market evolves, okay? So as -- of course, as the competitive landscape shifts, we believe our IP will, of course, continue to be a valuable asset, both in protecting our position and enable future opportunities. So licensing IP, yes, of course, that is a potential also that we are evaluating. I'm just going to get some more on Tap.

Tap for Share, I mean it's a great product. When launching the laptop tap sensor, you were asked at the Q&A, if this could be a product for the smartphone vertical at the time. You saw the product as a laptop-specific product. What has changed since you launched on the mobile tap sensors?

Well, so initially, our decision to focus on the laptop market was a strategic one, okay? So the segment allowed us to command better pricing as we also see even from our HPD and so forth. And also this, we knew by working with Lenovo, this is going to provide a high external visibility through this leading OEM. And it also enables us a deeper collaboration with the key ecosystem. So this player, so with Intel. We work very closely with Intel on this project. So the success of this launch, obviously, it's been very visible for Lenovo. They have been promoting it a lot, got really good market feedback. So it's validated the market need and demonstrated the broader potential for seamless for Tap sensor. So now building on that momentum, we see a clear opportunity to extend the product into the next vertical, the smartphone space. And obviously, expanding our addressable market, while we are leveraging the same underlying technology.

Technology. That's very good.

Yes.

Are the laptop contracts other than Lenovo going completely called?

No, we are continuing working with our laptops OEMs.

Yes. And back to smartphones, how do you estimate the growth potential in mobile for the coming years, both adoption of more models and more products?

Yes. So we expect to even add more customers and we expect to roll out more models with more products per device. That's what we're seeing in our pipeline.

Excellent.

Are there more questions? Let me see. All right. Well, thank you very much. Appreciate it. Have a good day. Thank you.

Thank you.