Huddly AS (HDLY) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

Welcome, everybody, to Huddly's Q4 2023 results. My name is Graham Williams, and I am the CEO of Huddly. I'm joined by my CFO, Abhi Banik, and will be joined later on by Jostein Devold, our Chairman, in the Q&A section. So the key highlights of Q4, we had revenue of NOK 44 million and a gross margin of 38%. The gross margin was impacted by some other factors. So Abhi will talk about that later on in his section. Revenue, actual revenue for the year was NOK 211 million, which was in our guidance of NOK 200 million to NOK 250 million. And our gross margin was actually -- was 48%, which was in our guidance of approximately 50%. Market traction for Huddly's technology has been great. As some of you are probably aware, we've saw Huddly Crew was certified to Microsoft Teams. We've also deployed more than 300 Huddly Crew early adopter kits through the second half of 2023, and this will enable future scale and revenue. And Huddly was qualified as an approved direct vendor to Lenovo, and this was an incredibly thorough process, as you might imagine, throughout the second half of 2023 and speaks to our underlying manufacturing quality and processes. We significantly improved our cash position with a successful private placement and a subsequent offering and the cash balance at the end of December last year was NOK 164 million.

So I'd like to start off by telling you a bit more about Huddly as a company, our products and technology and how that translates into solving real customer pain points and problems. So really at the heart of Huddly is our core purpose, which is to empower human collaboration. That is what we are working on every day and what we are focusing on. And the way we do that is that we challenge status quo to make hybrid teamwork productive and inclusive. And there are 2 important notions into this. The first one is the challenge status quo. So we are an innovation company. We use innovation to create unique and differentiated products. And the second notion is hybrid teamwork, which is a quite important megatrend, and we are solving the hybrid teamwork pain points by providing productive and inclusive meetings. Result of the why and how that's our product. So those are our intelligent cameras that we have been crafted and development for the last 10 years, and it combines AI software and hardware into one [niche] product. Going on, I'd also like to talk a bit more about our technology and how it solves hybrid collaboration pain points. So in hybrid teamwork, there are several pain points. And research shows that approximately 2 to 3 times a week, people usually work at the office or from the home. So it creates a whole new set of challenges with regards to having collaborative meetings, and we need to have technology that actually solve those pain points and typical pain points that are typically not being productive and not included into those meetings. So our AI technology, such as our AI Director captures verbal communication and nonverbal cues and creates a lot more engaging and productive meeting. So in this example here, you can see some of the shots provided by Huddly Crew with the Huddly AI Director. It is a 3-camera system in this case. And here, you can see different shots and different angles, capturing verbal and nonverbal language. And most of the competitors, they are providing just speaker and verbal communication. But with Huddly Crew, it also captures nonverbal communication, which is about 60% to 70% of human communication. This is all powered by unique combination of technology capabilities, and this is where we create our competitive advantage and barriers to entry. Our technology platform is built by 4 pieces. And each of these are equally important, and we need to have all of this in order to enable our results and benefits that's described in the previous slide. So first element that is image quality and processing. That is the heart and the infrastructure of all of the image processing, and it captures every detail in the meeting. The second part is network devices. We are connecting several cameras and making them work together as a crew, almost like in a TV show. The third part is the layer on top, which is the AI and machine learning. So you have to have image quality and processing. You have to have network devices in order to do what we are doing. So the AI and machine learning on top, it understands human communication and context just like in a TV show. Wrapped around this, we have UX and design, and we are quite proud of our Nordic heritage and providing a human design, and we have received several awards for excellent design. So this is our technology stack and capabilities and the results and the benefit from this technology stack is that we are creating engaging video meetings in real time to seamlessly capture all participants, both verbal and nonverbal communication. We are at the cusp of defining new category of products within the video collaboration space. So we are shaping a new category with Huddly Crew. Historically, we have been in market for 10 years and been developing products that have channel status quo. So we started off with IQ and intelligent cameras. We have built in the AI from our first products. And now we are combining these products into a network system and Huddly Crew with the shipment in last year is defining this new category. So what we're basically doing is that we are leveraging Huddly's extensive experience in the field, and we have done that ever since 2013 when we were founded. And I'll leave the word back to you, Graham, to talk a bit more about our push and conversation efforts.

Sure. So thank you for that, Abhi. So as some of you may be aware, ISE is held in Barcelona in January with the world's largest business-to-business event for AV and system integration industry. It was a huge event. Huddly, we did some co-marketing there with the demonstration, as you can see in the picture there, that was the room we set up to demonstrate the Huddly Crew live. And we did that with a go-to-market push with Crestron and Shure. So we had over 800 attendees, individual attendees participate in 45-minute demonstrations through the course of the event, showcasing Huddly Crew and our different camera modes. So we've now got 2 different AI modes, conversation mode and speaker mode, which the AI Director then accesses for the different experiences. So this was just an outstanding event and beyond what we were expecting. So the team did a fantastic job, and we were very happy with it. So the other highlight for us in the quarter was getting the Microsoft certification for Huddly Crew, which was a significant achievement. So basically, what that means now is Huddly Crew is certified from Microsoft Teams as a multi-camera system for the medium and large meeting room spaces. As many of you are aware, Microsoft Teams is the leading collaboration platform. And this certification is a purchasing criteria for corporate buyers, which gives them confidence that technology is going to work well with the Teams platform. And this really strengthens our continued rollout of the Huddly Crew products we push forward. This is a great achievement and a great job by everybody at Huddly involved in this. So as you're also aware, we announced a strategic review back in Q3 '23 after receiving interest from a global industrial player. Subsequent to this, we received another more interest. And this process is ongoing and then an update will be provided at an appropriate time. The Board of Directors is being assisted on this process by the Sansa Advisors. Let's just talk about our 4 key focuses at Huddly, what we've been very focused on doing. So number one is around technology, and this is something you'll consistently hear us talk about. We continue to invest in technology. We've done a lot of good work last year with our team. They're executing extremely well. They're very focused. We've got a very good product road map. So this is something which is going very well at Huddly. Our second priority is around revenue, so increasing our revenue through our channel sales and our strategic partners. We did achieve in 2023, the mix of these 2 that we were looking for. But clearly, we need to increase our revenue base. And this is the CEO with my core focus through 2024. Gross margin, we hit the 50% roughly we're looking for. So we'll work hard throughout this year to maintain that. And we'll also maintain our cost base, which is -- which we have brought down as where we need it to be. So we will maintain that cost base, and we'll be very focused on not jeopardizing long-term growth opportunities.

So trying to summarize a bit what we've been talking about. So what is really the investment thesis into Huddly. So the key idea is that we are combining humans at work with AI at work. So we are in the intersection between humans and AI. So with regards to humans at work, there are real customer pain points that are worth solving. Hybrid teamwork poses several challenges with regards to not feeling productive and included in hybrid team meetings, and we have the technology in order to address that. It is an attractive and growing market. The underlying trends are definitely in the market. And although there has been challenges in the market in 2023, the underlying trend is still strong, and we believe that this market is still set to grow. With regards to AI at work, we have an innovative portfolio of products, and we have developed that portfolio ever since our inception in 2013. So we built up the barriers to entry since then. And AI is hard and AI on images and video is even harder. And we have built a competitive edge based on that experience and expertise. Now we're going to turn into the financial part of this presentation, and Graham will first take the revenue part, and then I will take the rest of the P&L.

Thank you, Abhi. That's right. So Revenue for the quarter was NOK 44 million, resulting in a 24% decline compared to 2023 -- Q3 2023. We appointed a new Chief Commercial Officer. Sales channel decreased by 17% compared to Q3 '23, and we have made adjustments to our partner program subsequent to that. Strategic partner sales decreased by 33% compared to Q3 '23. We had a continued headwind due to inventory buildup. We are working proactively with existing strategic partners, and we are, of course, in dialogue with potential additional strategic partners.

Looking into the gross margin development, we see the development on the graph on the left-hand side. So it was an improvement in margins in 2023. Margins ended up at 48%, which is an increase from 37% in 2022. Looking at Q4 '23 versus Q4 the year before, it was approximately stable at around 38% to 39%. Comparing against Q3 '23, there was a decline of approximately 10 percentage points. That decline is mainly explained by a change in product mix, some scrapping effects and negative currency effects. It should also be added in Q2, there was a one-off effect related to release of sales provisions. So the underlying gross margin, if you exclude that, was around 50% in that period. So overall, for the year, we came in within the guidance of approximately 50% gross margin for 2023. Summarized into profit and loss statement. Revenue for the full year was within guidance. So we ended up with NOK 211 million in revenue. That is an decline from the year before, and that is mainly explained by inventory buildup and supply chain challenges. Gross margin and -- I'm sorry, gross profit reduced as a consequence of a reduction in revenue. However, gross margin has increased due to change in customer mix. As already mentioned in this presentation, we are controlling and managing our cost base, and we see the effects in the P&L. So operating expenses declined both quarter-on-quarter and also '23 versus '22. So for example, the number of FTEs reduced from 135 start of the year compared to 114 end of the year. We have also commenced subleasing part of our Oslo HQ Office, which can be found as a revenue in the other revenue item line, and this is also going to create revenue in the next few years. One of our priorities is to still invest in our technology. So we have a great R&D team, and we are still investing in that. So as a result of that, capitalized R&D is approximately around at a stable level. So capitalized R&D costs end up at NOK 19 million, and there are some seasonal variations. But overall, it is -- has been stable for the past quarters. We are continuing to invest to defend Huddly's leading technology position in the market. We have an engineering organization of 61 people, all of them with deep and extensive experience in AI, machine learning, software development and hardware. This is really fundamental in order for us to succeed with monetizing of the innovative software solutions. And it's also crucial to build strategic value around the company and to establish a robust margin position. Looking at the balance sheet. Cash flow end of the year was NOK 164 million, which is a significant improvement from Q3 end. That is mainly explained by a capital raise, which was conducted in November and December last year. So cash flow from financing activities increased by [NOK 133 million], it is mainly reflected by the private placement and proceeds from loan facility. The operational cash flow was NOK 25 million down and cash flow from investments, as explained in the previous slide, was minus NOK 19 million. As mentioned, we had a successful private placement and subsequent repair offering. And in total, we raised NOK 160 million. So the previous slide that included only the private placement. So we also added another NOK 30 million in our balance sheet post Q4. In the private placement, we received strong support from existing shareholders, and it was oversubscribed and the net proceeds will be used for strengthening go-to-market partnerships, continued investment in R&D and for general corporate purposes and working capital requirements. So that concludes the financial part of the presentation, and I'll leave the word back to you, Graham.

Thank you. All right. So let's just talk about and recap the outlook and key priorities. So as I said earlier, we just continue to execute on the strategy, continue to lead with technology innovation, as I said before. That's what we're doing this year, increase revenue through strengthening strategic partnerships and channel sales as CEO, that will be my key focus, maintain gross margin and maintain costs. So really, we'll be repeating what we did last year. Three of these are roughly where we need them to be and revenue is something that we're very focused on improving. So with the financial outlook, over the years, Huddly has had a proven ability to generate cash, and we expect to return to that. And we expect our cost base to remain stable to meet future demand and continued product development. We're not looking to increase that as we move forward. Financial guiding, we do expect revenue growth in 2024 versus 2023. We do expect gross margin to be around 50%, and we do expect to reach positive cash flow within 2025, but we do maintain the ambition of achieving that in Q4 2024. So that's part of the presentation. So now we'll open up to questions if there are any.

So we've got the first question here, which is around, have you said anything on how long the strategic review process will take? That's a great question. And Jostein, I'll refer that to you.

Thank you, Graham. Such strategic review processes, it's quite hard to estimate how long it will take. It's, of course, still ongoing. And our sort of guiding at this time is that it will hopefully be concluded by the end of the first half year of 2024.

Thank you, Jostein. Okay. So is there any other questions at all? Nothing else has come in. There's a whole bunch of questions now. Okay. All right. Let's have a look at these. So we'll just take them in order. Q4 is usually your strongest quarter in terms of revenues. For 2023, Q4 was weakened. Do you expect increased revenues for 2024, please elaborate. So we expect for the full year 2024 revenue to exceed the revenue in 2023. That's what we expect. And that's what we're working towards. So Q4 2023 was the weakest, and that was primarily caused by 2 factors. The first factor was inventory buildup in key strategic partner, which we've spoken about, which we're working through. And the second thing was the partner program that was introduced in -- at the end of Q2, which we've then adjusted. So they're the 2 things that happened in Q4, which we're working to improve. What is the probability of landing 2 strategic partnerships -- probability? That's a good question. It's something we work on all the time, and we are in active dialogue. I would say there is a reasonable likelihood we would achieve at least one this year. That's my expectation as I sit here today, but that's a dynamic process and it's ongoing. With increasing -- there's another question here, with increasing competition and demand for affordable Huddly room solution, how is Huddly planning to compete in this space? So that's another great question. And it's quite a long answer. So Huddly, as you can see, we invest in our technology a lot. And our technology is based on artificial intelligence and that solution is being led by the multi-camera solution. So we're in quite a different segment of the market, and we're seeing quite differently, even though you will see other people talking about multi-camera solutions, our solution is quite different. It's a fully network solution. So we're very differentiated, and that's where we've worked very hard over a number of years now to be. So we're not we're not going to chase down to the bottom, and you won't see Huddly bringing sub-$1,000 solutions, room solutions to market. So that's -- we are highly differentiated, and we're in a different space. And that's why we're getting the strategic interest, quite frankly. That's what we're doing. So I think that's the end of the questions. Are there any more...

There are a few other questions there as well.

All right. Okay. Do you want to read those out?

Yes. So there's a question here. When do you expect your partners' inventory is worked through?

So that's an ongoing process, and we honestly don't know how long that's going to take. So we do have some views. We are working with them to do that. But we just -- we can't give that answer at the moment. We don't basically don't know.

Yes. And there are other questions there as well. There is -- is it price or product that is the main challenge or something else? Please elaborate.

I think the main challenge to what, I guess, to revenue? So I think to revenue, I don't think it's price and I don't think it's product. It's basically it's the go-to-market process. The strategic partner is selling out our products, and that's ongoing. We are bringing new products to market. So I think it's mainly around the stocking, as we've said, in the strategic partner, and that's the main issue we're facing. And then another question here is regarding MS Teams certification. How is competition in this arena? Can you elaborate? How you scale sales in the channel? Yes. So basically, as you will see, there are other competitors coming to market with multi-camera solutions. Ours is certified. Ours is one of the first to be certified by Microsoft and getting a lot of attention. And we will scale sales in this channel through our channels team, and we are looking at working in this area with strategic partners. We do have incoming interest from strategic partners on the Crew product. So basically, we've got 300 -- over 300 early adopter kits deployed, and now we're looking at deploying those out to scale. So that's the answer to that question. That was all the questions we found, Abhi?

Yes.

All right. So let's wrap it up there.

Great. Thank you very much for attending, everybody.

Thanks, everybody.

Bye.

Bye.