Nephros, Inc. (NEPH) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

Good day, and welcome to the Nephros, Inc. Fourth Quarter 2024 Financial Results Conference Call. [Operator Instructions] Please note this event is being recorded. I would now like to turn the conference over to Kirin Smith with PCG Advisory. Please go ahead.

Good afternoon, everyone. Thank you all for participating in Nephros' Fourth Quarter and Fiscal Year 2024 Conference Call. Before we begin, I would like to caution that comments made during this conference call by management will contain forward-looking statements regarding the operations and future results of Nephros. I encourage you to review Nephros' filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including, without limitation, the company's Forms 10-K and 10-Q, which identify specific factors that may cause actual results or events to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements. Factors that may affect the company's results include, but are not limited to, Nephros' ability to successfully, timely and cost effectively market and sell its products and service offerings; the rate of adoption of its products and services by hospitals and other health care providers; the success of its commercialization efforts and the effect of existing and new regulatory requirements on Nephros' business and other economic and competitive factors. The content of this conference call contains time-sensitive information that is accurate only as of the date of this call today, March 6, 2025. The company undertakes no obligation to revise or update any statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this conference call, except as required by law. I would now like to turn the call over to Nephros' President and Chief Executive Officer, Robert Banks. Robert, please go ahead.

Thank you, Kirin, and good afternoon, everyone. I am very pleased to welcome you to the call. Today, we reported the fourth quarter and full year results for 2024. Nephros finished Q4 '24 on a high note, demonstrating solid growth in our core business and achieving key strategic milestones. While our annual revenue results were approximately flat compared to 2023, we showed consistent growth throughout the year, especially as our core programmatic revenue steadily increased. Nephros demonstrated the ability to adapt, innovate and expand, putting it on a trajectory towards even greater success. One of the biggest challenges we faced in 2024 was a significant decline in our emergency response business in the first half of the year. Historically, emergency response sales have comprised a notable portion of our total revenue. In Q1 and Q2, those contributions dropped to single digits. However, we successfully navigated this headwind in the second half of 2024, culminating in a 19% year-over-year growth in total sales during the fourth quarter. Beyond stabilizing our revenue streams, Nephros has taken important steps in expanding our product lineup and diversifying our market reach. One of our most notable developments has been the launch of our 20-inch HydraGuard UltraFilter designed to support higher volume water applications. This product opens new opportunities for us in sterile processing, laboratories and manufacturing, areas where stringent water quality regulations demand the highest level of filtration. The release of ANSI/AAMI ST108 standard in late 2023 has further reinforced our competitive advantage. This standard outlines strict guidance for water quality in sterile processing, and we believe the HydraGuard UltraFilter is uniquely positioned to meet and exceed those requirements. Its industry-leading ability to remove bacteria and endotoxins makes it essential as a solution for hospitals and health care facilities that prioritize compliance and patient safety. Even with the revenue hurdles we faced early in the year, we achieved profitability for the first time in Q3, a major milestone that underscores our commitment to operational excellence and financial discipline. Additionally, we added nearly 600 new customer sites, which contributed almost $2 million in sales and accounted for more than 13% of our annual revenue. These accounts provide a solid foundation for growth in 2025 and beyond. Looking ahead, we remain committed to expanding into new markets, leveraging regulatory challenges and strengthening our financial performance. The foundation we built in 2024 has set us up for a transformational '25 and beyond. I'm incredibly proud of our team's dedication and resilience. I thank the entire Nephros team for their hard work and commitment. Now let me turn it over to our CFO, Judy Krandel, to go over the financials. Judy?

Thanks, Robert. I will now provide a closer look at Nephros' financial performance in the fourth quarter and full year of 2024. We reported fourth quarter net revenue of $3.9 million, a 19% increase over the corresponding period in 2023, reflecting strong growth in our programmatic business, offset by a decline in our emergency response business. For the full year 2024, net revenue remained steady at $14.2 million, reflecting 9% growth in our programmatic business, offset by a decline in our emergency response business. Active customer sites continue to grow and were just over 1,500 as of December 31, 2024, as compared to just under 1,300 as of December 31, 2023. Gross margins in the quarter also increased to 64% compared to 62% in the fourth quarter of 2023, an improvement of 2 percentage points. For the full year '24, gross margins increased to 62% versus 59% for 2023, a 3 percentage point improvement from the prior year. The improvement in gross margins in 2024 relates primarily to more favorable terms with our largest supplier. Research and development expenses in the quarter were $252,000 compared to $208,000 for the same quarter in 2023. For the full year 2024, research and development expenses were $906,000 versus $873,000 in the prior year. R&D expenses were higher in 2024 due to an increase in headcount. Sales, general and administrative expenses in the quarter were $1.9 million compared to $2.4 million for the corresponding period in 2023, a decrease of 22% due to a decline in bonuses, commissions and stock compensation expense. For the full year '24, SG&A expenses were $7.7 million versus $8.9 million in the prior year. The decrease was primarily due to a decrease in bonuses, commissions and professional fees. We are pleased to report positive net income for the quarter of $349,000 compared to a net loss of $654,000 in the same period last year. For the full year 2024, we had net income of $74,000 versus a net loss of $1.6 million for 2023. Adjusted EBITDA in the quarter was positive $466,000 compared to a loss of $51,000 during the same period in the prior year. For the full year 2024, adjusted EBITDA was positive $533,000 versus a loss of $76,000 in 2023. Net cash provided by operating activities was $1.3 million in the fourth quarter of '24 versus net cash used of $200,000 in the prior year period, an improvement of $1.5 million. Net cash provided in the fourth quarter of 2024 reflects primarily our positive net income, a decrease in inventory and increase in accounts payable and accrued expenses. Net cash used in the fourth quarter of 2023 reflects primarily an increase in inventory. Net cash used in operations for the full year 2024 was $492,000 versus net cash provided by operations of $827,000 for the full year 2023, a decrease of $1.3 million. Net cash used in 2024 reflects primarily an increase in inventory and accounts receivable and a decrease in accounts payable and accrued expenses. Net cash provided by operations in 2023 was primarily due to a decline in inventory and an increase in accrued expenses. Our cash balance on December 31, 2024, was $3.8 million compared to $2.5 million as of September 30, 2024, and $4.3 million as of December 31, 2023. Nephros continues to be debt-free. Please refer to today's press release for more details about the calculation of adjusted EBITDA and its reconciliation to GAAP net income or loss. Additional information about our results can be found in our filing on Form 10-K, which we will file soon. I will now turn the call back to Robert for some closing remarks. Robert, please go ahead.

Thank you, Judy. I'm going to close by reiterating my confidence in Nephros' growth strategy. Our team's resilience and adaptability has helped us navigate challenging market conditions, and we are well positioned for sustained growth in 2025 and beyond. As we look ahead, we will focus on expanding our presence in new markets, leveraging regulatory challenges to drive demand and enhancing operational efficiencies to sustain profitability. I want to personally thank our employees, customers and investors for their continued support. We are excited about the future, and we appreciate your trust in Nephros. This concludes our formal presentation remarks. I'll take questions from the audience. Operator, can you please open the call for questions?

[Operator Instructions] And the first question will come from Jeremy Pearlman with Maxim Group.

Congrats on a great quarter and a strong finish to 2024. So just the first question, the new 20-inch UltraFilter, what do you estimate that opportunity is for the company, just I guess, in terms of revenue and the top line? And how are you positioning yourself in those [indiscernible] market?

Yes, it's a good question. The 20-inch HydraGuard opens up a new market for us. So we are first attempting to figure out what that market opportunity is. But based on the new requirements for regulations in the sterile processing space, and that allows us to address those higher flow rates. Exactly what that means from a dollar conversion perspective, we have a very healthy pipeline of opportunities. And once they get realized and we have some greater clarity on our closure rates, we'll share that in the upcoming quarters. But I do expect it to be a pretty good part of our programmatic growth business going forward as we work towards patient safety.

Okay. Understood. And then you mentioned on the last call, you had that beta launch of the digital tracking tool. I think -- and we had expected that to launch fully in the first quarter of this year. So maybe you could just give us if you have any update on that? How is that helping the reorders? And has it launched into full launch? Or is it still -- you're still working out the [ case ] in the data?

Sure. No, good question. That application has really been a good way for us to have visibility to the same-site sales. That programmatic loss of business I was referring to way back in Q1, Q2 last year was largely due to customers that were with us but not reordering at the rate that they should be ordering. By applying this tracking app, we're able to now have a digital representation of the life of that filter when it was actually installed, and we've actually added some more components to it, including pictures of the install, the conditions with which are installed and all that's being tracked digitally. The anticipated launch date was Q1. We actually launched that earlier than anticipated. So we implemented it about midway through last quarter. We have about 300-plus sites on locations where that's being tracked currently and services performed, we add those to the site as well. It's largely an internal tool. We're getting the most benefit from it, but with the help of our distribution partners and end users we're getting that continuously launched. So very pleased with the progress, and it's doing what we expected it to do as we have greater line of sight to those same site sales, and that's probably one of the big contributors for our programmatic business being growing as fast as it has been on a steady basis.

Great. And then just a final question. You mentioned operationally, you still have -- I mean, you still have room to make some cuts or some streamlined processes. Is that correct? I mean what else do you see that could be done from an operational perspective to help keep costs low and keep profits up?

Well, we have done most of 2024. That's what it was about. Judy and team has really spent a lot of time on that. I've got some pieces to add. But Judy, I'll let you since you guys have done most of the work there, talk about that and turn it back over to you for hypothesis.

Sure. Thank you. Thank you for the question. So we have really tried to manage costs relative to revenue. There are certainly investments that we'd like to make in the business as opposed to looking for ways to streamline costs, which we've done. We are about as lean, frankly, as we possibly could go. We are looking to make select investments in the business in areas of R&D, a little bit more financial support in marketing, but we're going to have to do that carefully along with revenue growth. We want to maintain cash positive as much as we can. So I think we have streamlined what we could. And at this point, it's more incremental investments that will be covered by incremental sales. And we have a select hire focused for this year, a little bit more marketing money, and then we'll see as the year progresses, what it allows us to do.

And the other part of your question referring to the sustained growth, there's been a lot of analysis done in '24 on which products are generating the most product revenue. And no surprise, they're also the products that have the greatest differentiation. So by focusing more efforts on growing those infection control products, which are also well in line with some of the regulations that are coming and been launched, we've been able to continue to sustain that growth and get market share in that patient infection control space. So that's been a growth driver, and I expect that to continue going forward.

[Operator Instructions] It looks like our next question will come from Nick Farwell with Barbour Group.

I'm very curious whether the 20-inch HydraGuard is focused initially and entirely on health care? Or is it broaden your customer verticals over time or starting at this particular point in time?

20-inch HydraGuard was developed for a specific targeted market and the sterile processing. This is the instrument rinsing and after you do have cons and pros that need to be cleaned. You need a higher fluid of water. And specifically, the regulations talk about endotoxins in that space. That's not a microbiological filter. So the HydraGuard does satisfy that need to meet those requirements, which positions us pretty uniquely on satisfying that. This was not a focus before for hospitals, not really anything on the radar. So it's -- generally, it's a new market that by getting this product developed and meeting those fill rates, we've been able to satisfy that need. So I'm pretty excited about what it's going to do for us. And we -- yes, I don't think that there's a lot of competition that can meet the needs there. So it's a great question, Nick, and I don't want to put too much emphasis on the 20-inch HydraGuard. But it's something that Nephros has done over the years and continues to do. When we see a need and there's a gap based on products not out there currently that can fit it, we fit it pretty quickly and can provide a solution. So that's what we've been doing and we look to do more of that in the future.

Yes. To what degree have you broadened your customer verticals this last year or so, Robert? Or are you still primarily health care?

We are primarily health care, and that's mainly because the regulation has driven and asked different facilities to create water management teams to have a water management plan to test. And that regulation does drive them towards coming up with some solution for what happens when those tests don't turn out so good. But that being said, we're not stopping there. We're looking at other verticals where people are interested in not having bacteria and endotoxins in those waters. So think about places like airports, correctional facilities, schools, large office buildings, outside of the patient care space. And that really was evident in '24 in the back half as we looked at some of those new customer sites started to create that market for having safe water. Everyone talks about water quality, making sure it smells good, it's clear, the quality of the water. And all we know is the conversation pivoting more towards the safety of the water. So it's not just good looking, but also safe to drink. And that's really where [ we shine ], you can come in and take care of problems that they didn't know there are solutions out there for. So I'm really excited about going into other verticals and looking at other spaces to go beyond patient care.

Okay. On a financial question, Judy, to what degree were fourth quarter gross margins influenced by the stronger -- helped by the stronger dollar mix or other factors. Year-end adjustments turned positive for the -- perhaps your [ several year ] reserve accruals. And is it sustained -- do you feel something in that 63% or 64% range is sustainable for the current year?

So the improvement in gross margin really reflects a continued strong product margin and very reasonable shipping expenses. Sometimes we have more shipments in one quarter than another. Sometimes we need to do more air versus sea. Our shipping expenses are reasonable. But year-over-year, the entire year in 2024, we benefited from our new agreement with our largest supplier, and we had improved terms. So we won't see that year-over-year improvement automatically because we had that this entire year. But we do feel good about our product. And yes, mix affects it. Certain customers are based on their volumes at certain discounts, some direct versus indirect. But we don't have a reason to believe that there's a big hit coming to margins. And so within that kind of low 60s, we're hoping that it's very sustainable.

Were there any factors that influenced the fourth quarter like the spike in the dollar? Or is that so lagged that you captured in the usage -- in the burn of inventory?

Yes. It really isn't a dramatic effect on the results.

Okay. And then the last question, and I'll let someone else ask some questions is given all the uncertainty that the U.S. economy and the world's economy is facing right now, especially with the new administration, have you seen that yet or either heard about it manifesting itself in your bookings or your business or your expectations of the business? Or is it too early to make any comments in that regard?

When I look at the macro environment in the market and the patient care space, it isn't necessarily driven by how much money is in one's pocket or entity. It's usually driven by having an issue with people getting sick or avoiding a lawsuit where they need some solution. And that has less of an impact based on the stock market prices in general. And even when it comes to tariffs, most of our components coming from Europe, that's not in the crosshairs right now. Not to say that it won't be in the future as I know that there was legislation proposed in February regarding medical devices -- I'm sorry, regarding tariffs from Europe, but medical devices weren't specifically called out as far as I could see anywhere. But we've got to get ready for that as well. So worst case, myself and competitors are impacted by some of those influence -- those situations. But I think that we are much better positioned with our long-term agreements and location of our suppliers that not shield us but make the impact more variable. But it's a great question, and we look at that very often trying to see what is coming and how we might mitigate against any of those impacts. But as you know, the world is extremely volatile today. And so far, we've been doing a decent job and continue to keep an eye on that.

With no further questions, this will conclude our question-and-answer session and thus concludes today's conference call. Thank you for attending today's presentation. You may now disconnect.