Microvast Holdings, Inc. (MVST) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

Thank you for standing by. This is the conference operator. Welcome to the Microvast Second Quarter 2026 Earnings Call. [Operator Instructions] This conference is being recorded. I would like to turn the conference over to the Microvast Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

Thank you, operator, and thank you, everyone, for joining our update today. This is Rodney Worthen, Chief Financial Officer of Microvast. And with me on today's call is Mr. Yang Wu, Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Microvast. I'll start off with a review of the second quarter results before handing it to Mr. Wu to provide some operational and business updates. Ahead of this call, Microvast issued its second quarter earnings press release, which can be found on the Investor Relations section of our website, ir.microvast.com. We have also posted a slide presentation to accompany management's prepared remarks for today's call. As a reminder, please note that this call may include forward-looking statements. These statements are based on current expectations and assumptions and should not be relied upon as representative of our views for subsequent dates. We undertake no obligation to revise or release the results of any revision to these forward-looking statements due to new information or future events. Actual results may differ materially from expectations due to a variety of risks and uncertainties. For more information on material risks and other important factors that affect our financial results, please refer to our filings with the SEC. We may also discuss non-GAAP financial measures during this call. These measures should be considered in addition to and not as a substitute for or in isolation from GAAP results. These non-GAAP measures have been reconciled to the most directly comparable GAAP metrics in the tables included at the end of our earnings press release and the slide presentation. After the conclusion of this call, a webcast replay will be available on the Investor Relations section of Microvast's website. Please join me on Slide 3, where you detail the results for the second quarter over the past several years. Our revenue for the quarter was $87.3 million, a decrease of $4.1 million or 4.5% compared to the same period in 2025. The decrease was primarily driven by a $2.7 million tariff refund issued to a customer, which was recorded as a reduction to our revenue in the current period. Gross profit for the second quarter was $25.8 million with a gross margin of 29.5%, compared to 34.7% in Q2 2025. The decrease in gross margin was primarily due to higher raw material prices and lower production utilization with reduced fixed cost absorption, slightly offset by recognition of the tariff refunds. Turn to Slide 4 to view our P&L for the quarter and year-to-date. Let's jump to the operating expenses, which increased to $27.5 million for the quarter compared to $23.7 million in 2025, a 16.1% increase year-over-year. General and administrative expenses for the 3 months increased by $2.7 million or 24.2% compared to the same period in 2025. This increase was primarily due to a $2.6 million increase in legal and other professional service fees. Research and development expenses for the second quarter increased by $1.1 million or 14.8% compared to the same period in 2025. The increase is primarily due to increase in labor costs as we expanded our investment in new product development. Selling and marketing expenses for the 3 months increased by $1.3 million or 38.5% compared to the same period in 2025, this increase was primarily due to a $1.5 million increase in service fees associated with customer retention initiatives, partially offset by a decrease in personnel costs. We reported a GAAP net loss of $12 million in the quarter, after adjusting for noncash expenses, such as stock-based compensation expense of $0.8 million and fair value changes of our warrant liability and convertible loan of $5.8 million we recorded an adjusted net loss of $5.3 million compared to an adjusted net profit of $16.3 million last year. Non-GAAP adjusted EBITDA was $3.6 million in Q2 2026 compared to non-GAAP adjusted EBITDA of $25.9 million Q2 2025. For the 6-month period, revenue decreased by $60 million or 28.8% compared to the same period in 2025, the decrease was primarily driven by a 24.3% reduction in sales volumes from approximately 947-megawatt hours in 2025 to approximately 717-megawatt hours for the same period in 2026 and a $2.7 million tariff refund issued to a customer, which is recorded as a reduction of our revenue in the current period. Gross profit margin was 30.4% for the 6 months compared to 36% in 2025. Decrease in gross margin was primarily due to higher raw material prices, lower production utilization, which reduced our fixed cost absorption, slightly offset by recognition of the tariff refunds. Operating expenses increased to $54.6 million for the year-to-date period compared to $52.9 million in 2025, a 3.3% increase year-over-year. General and administrative expenses for the 6 months increased by $1.5 million, or 6%, compared to the same period in 2025. This increase is primarily due to a $4 million increase in legal and other professional service fees, partially offset by a $3.1 million decrease in allowance for credit loss due to improved credit [indiscernible]. Research and development expenses for the 6 months increased by $1.7 million or 10.7% compared to the same period in 2025. The increase was primarily due to a $1.4 million increase in labor costs as we expand our investment in new product development. Selling and marketing expenses for the 6 months increased by $138,000, which was stable compared to the same period in 2025. We reported a GAAP net profit of $36.2 million for the 6-month period. For the 6 months, non-GAAP adjusted net loss was $19.9 million compared to non-GAAP adjusted net profit of $35.6 million in the prior year period. Non-GAAP adjusted EBITDA of negative $1.9 million in the 6-month period compared to non-GAAP adjusted EBITDA of $54.4 million in the prior year. Reconciliations to these non-GAAP metrics most comparable GAAP metrics are included in the table at the end of this presentation in our earnings press release. Please turn to Slide 5, where we'll review our revenue by region. U.S. sales decreased year-over-year, primarily driven by both a $2.7 million tariff refund issue to a U.S. customer recorded as a reduction to our revenue in the current period and by our largest customer, bringing product into 2025 due to uncertainty around the tariff outcomes. For the revenue reduction of the tariff refund, a total of $0.9 million and $1.2 million revenue was realized for the 3- and 6-month periods, respectively. European sales increased 35% in the quarter compared to prior year period. The region accounted for 61% of quarterly revenue, up from 43% last year. Year-to-date sales were down 3%, impacted by customer platform rollout delays in the previous quarter. APAC sales declined 23% in the quarter compared to the prior year period. With the year-to-date sales down 45%. The produced sales performance in APAC is primarily due to shifting regulatory and geopolitical dynamics and a demand shift towards lower cost products in India. Now turning to Slide 6. We'll walk through our cash flow performance for the year. Net cash used in our operating activities was $33.3 million for the 6 months ended June 30, 2026, a decrease of $77.6 million compared to $44.3 million generated by operating activities in the same period in 2025. This change is primarily due to $60.6 million reduction in net income after adjusting for noncash items and a $17 million net change in operating assets and liabilities. The changes in our operating assets and liabilities were primarily driven by decreases in [indiscernible] notes payable and an increase in inventory balances, partially offset by a decrease in accounts receivable due to improved credit management. Net cash used in investing activities was $3.3 million for the 6 months ended June 30, 2026, compared to $5.1 million in the same period of 2025. This cash outflow primarily consisted of the purchase of our office building in the U.S. and capital expenditures related to the expansion of our Huzhou Phase 3.2 manufacturing facility, partially offset by the proceeds from the sale of our held-for-sale assets. Net cash generated by financing activities was $8.2 million for the 6 months an increase of $15 million compared to $6.8 million used in the same period of 2025. The increase primarily due to a $9.8 million increase in proceeds from bank borrowings, $7.4 million decrease in deferred payment related to purchase of property, plant and equipment. The majority of them were settled during the first quarter of 2026. This was partially offset by a $4.6 million increase in repayments of bank borrowings. After accounting for foreign exchange adjustment of $2.3 million, our cash decreased by $26.2 million, and we ended the quarter with cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash of $143.1 million. Now I'll hand it over to Mr. Wu to go over some operational and business updates.

Hello, everyone. Thank you for joining us today. Please join me on Slide 8 for a quick operational update on our Huzhou Phase 3.2 expansion. Installation and commissioning of the production equipment is completed with production capacity ramping up we expect the SOP in 2026 and Phase 3.2 is expected to add up to 2 gigawatt-hour of annual production capacity and anticipated to be modular across our large battery sale platform. Next, I'd like to go over some of our latest updates in research and development. Please join me on Slide 9. We have reached the next milestone with our development stage series-connected bipolar cell architecture. Under laboratory test condition, we have successfully scaled it to a 17-layer monolithic stack that delivers approximately 72 volts with 0 liquid electrolyte. In extended testing this prototype demonstrated durability retaining approximately 88.5% of its capacity after 200 cycles at 0.33C. Cross-sectional SEM imaging confirms a uniform multilayer construction, validating the stability of our high-voltage solid state platform. By delivering 72 volts, this architecture is primarily focused on robotics. Our design has the potential to elaborate the heavy interconnects and electronics typically required to drive high torque robotic motors, eliminating liquid electrolyte has the potential to provide a better sample safety for human robot environments. While the compact monolithic design is intended to allow seamless integration into space-constrained robotic frame limbs and autonomous mobile platforms. Slide 10 displays the safety is a core differentiator of our solid-state program. In controlled hotbox testing up to 200-degree Celsius, our prototype cell exhibited exceptional same stability with no ignition or smoke observed throughout the test. Even following the high temperature internal short event, post-test disassembly showed the internal electoral structure remain largely intact, demonstrating the significant safety potential of eliminating liquid electrolyte. And then finally, on Slide 11, we are seeking to expand our long-term technology platform by exploring ultra-high-capacity chemistries, including an all-solid-state silicon-sulfur cell parent sulfur capsule with a silicon anode. Early laboratory prototype achieved initial specific capacity of over 1,000 milliampere-hours per gram retaining over 90% capacity after 15 cycles. Crucially, our 5-layer bipolar design utilizes simultaneous cathode extension and anode contraction to self-compensate for volume change during cycling, mitigating contract loss and opening new paths for high energy density storage. As illustrated in the SGM, call sections, during cycling, the 48-micron expansion of the cathode is closely offset by a 52-micron contraction of the and. This internal strength mutualization maintains continuous physical contact across solid interfaces without requiring heavy external compression hardware, for targeted application like commercial and defense drones, [ elimulating ] external pressure fixtures, while maximizing gravimetric energy density can potentially translate directly into tended flight endurance, higher payroll capacity and a seamless integration into lightweight airframes, stay turned for additional developments. Please turn to Slide 12 as we transition into second half of 2026. Our strategic priorities remain clear accelerating our path to profitability, scaling with margin discipline and expanding in high barrier heavy industry and transit markets. We are tightening operational execution to streamline the transition from R&D to production, protecting our gross margins and seeking to deploy targeted innovations like our KAF electric powertrain to ensure high-margin customer commitments. Operationally, Huzhou Phase 3.2 remains our central catalyst of 2026, with equipment commissioning progressing toward a series production later this year to support next-generation cell demand domestically pack line assembly in Clarksville, Tennessee remains on schedule for initial output by year-end. While [indiscernible] store battery plant construction at the site remains contingent on securing additional financing or strategic partnerships. Overall, our team continues to navigate the global macro environment and we remain focused on executing our milestones to drive long-term shareholder value. Thank you for your continued support. We look forward to sharing further updates in the months ahead.

This is the conference operator. This concludes the webcast. Thank you for joining Microvast Second Quarter 2026 Earnings Call. You may now disconnect.