SUNation Energy Inc. ($SUNE)

My name is Joe, and I will be your conference operator today. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to the SUNation Energy Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2025 Financial Results Conference Call. [Operator Instructions] And as a reminder, this conference is being recorded. And now, I would like to turn the call over to Rich Murdocco, Vice President of Marketing and Communications at SUNation Energy. Please go ahead, sir.

Thank you, operator, and good morning, everyone. Good morning. Thank you for joining us today for SUNation Energy's Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2025 Financial Results Conference Call. My name is Rich Murdocco, Vice President of Marketing at SUNation Energy. Our speakers for today are Scott Maskin, Chief Executive Officer; and James Brennan, Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer. Mr. Maskin will open with prepared remarks, followed by Mr. Brennan, and then, we'll be opening the call for questions. Before we begin, I'd like to remind everyone that remarks made on today's call may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. These forward-looking statements are based largely on current expectations, forecasts and assumptions and are subject to risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond the company's control. Actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied by these statements. Participants should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, which speak only of today's date. The company undertakes no obligation to update them, except as required by law. Additional information regarding factors that could affect the company's results is included in the company's SEC filings, including its Form 10-K and subsequent filings. This call may also reference certain non-GAAP financial measures, including adjusted EBITDA, and reconciliations to the most comparable GAAP measures can be found in today's earnings release. With that now, I'd like to turn the call over to Scott Maskin, Chief Executive Officer of SUNation Energy. Scott, please go ahead.

Thank you, Rich, and good morning, everybody. Happy Thursday, this is actually the call that I've been waiting for, for quite a few quarters. And I appreciate everybody taking the time to join us today. If I had to sum up the fourth quarter and the full year of 2025 in a few words, it would be this. We did what we said we were going to do. And in today's environment, that's something we're pretty proud of. At the beginning of the year, we told shareholders that the work we were doing, stabilizing the business, cleaning up the balance sheet, reducing costs and tightening execution would translate into stronger operating performance. As we close the book on 2025, that's exactly what happened. I've been in the solar business for more than 2 decades. And if there's one thing I've learned, it's that the industry keeps you on your toes. Sometimes, I call it the solar coaster and 2025 brought twists and turns, highs and dips like I've never seen. But through all of that, SUNation made real progress. We strengthened the financial foundation of the company, materially reduced debt, improved liquidity, expanded margins and exited the year from a much -- in a much more stable position than where we started. Fortunately, we operate in 2 of the most expensive electricity markets in the country, New York and Hawaii, but they too face their own challenges. The fourth quarter was probably the clearest demonstration yet that our strategy is working. Our teams in both markets stayed focused, executed at the highest levels and responded to strong residential demand as customers move to complete projects ahead of the expiration of Section 25D residential tax credit at the end of the year. At the same time, we continue building a strong commercial and service pipeline, which remains a core part of our diversified operating model. Diversification has been one of the themes you've heard from us constantly, consistently, and it continues to be front and center. What I'm especially proud of is that this performance didn't come from pulling just one lever, it came from disciplined execution across the organization. Earlier in the year, we made some tough decisions that pushed us to become leaner and more efficient. Those decisions translated into improved profitability, lower interest expense, stronger cash generation and a much cleaner capital structure by the time we close the year. On the residential side, demand was strong through the finish of the year as customers moved quickly ahead of the federal credit sunset. Our teams worked extremely hard to manage that surge responsibly, keeping installations moving while maintaining the quality and customer experience we're known for. New York and Hawaii remain unique markets because of their high electricity costs. Because of that, we continue to believe the value proposition for solar and storage remains very compelling in both geographies. As financing structures evolve and power prices continue to rise, we believe the long-term demand story here is still very strong. At the same time, we're not managing the business only for the short-term pull forward created by the tax credit change. Much of that second half of 2025 was spent preparing for what comes next. That includes exploring alternative financing structures, expanding our service offerings, continuing to grow the commercial pipeline and evaluating disciplined acquisition opportunities that can strengthen the SUNation platform over time. And that leads into an important point as we look ahead to 2026. One of the major priorities for us moving forward is returning to the roll-up strategy that has always been part of our long-term vision, and the opportunities are out there. The work we did throughout 2025, cleaning up the balance sheet and simplifying our capital structure, wasn't just about stabilization. It was about positioning the company to grow again. With a much healthier capital structure today, we believe we are now able to begin executing on that strategy and bring strong regional operators under the SUNation platform as consolidation continues across the industry. At the same time, we're watching what may be one of the most important structural shifts in energy demand that we've seen in decades. That being the explosion of electricity consumption being driven by AI and data center infrastructure. Data centers are quickly becoming some of the largest energy consumers in the country. And in markets like New York, we're already seeing how that demand is beginning to stress existing power capacity. We believe distributed energy, storage and resilient energy systems will play an increasingly important role in supporting that growth. SUNation Energy is positioned to participate in that opportunity as the energy landscape evolves. On the commercial side, we continue to like our positioning. We've built strong relationships with developers, institutions, municipalities and school districts, particularly in New York, and our reputation for execution continues to open doors. Commercial projects naturally move on longer cycles than residential, but the opportunity set remains meaningful and provides an important counterbalance to residential cyclicity. Service is another area that continues to perform well for us. As shakeouts continue across the industry, we're seeing more orphan system opportunities come into the market. I'd add that because of our tenure, the opportunities to retrofit and upgrade existing customers is a unique opportunity we've earned. Customers want trusted operators with a long track record, and that plays directly into our strengths. Service remains a high-margin business for us and an increasingly important part of the overall model. Stepping back for a moment, 2025 was really about restoring credibility through execution. We entered the year saying we would improve our financial condition, reduce debt, grow revenue and return to positive adjusted EBITDA. By year-end, we had made meaningful progress on each of these goals. Along the way, we simplified the capital structure, reduced total debt by more than $11 million, lowered annual interest expense by roughly $2 million and expanded consolidated gross margins into the high 30% range. And just as importantly as our operating teams in New York and Hawaii proved that they can grow and execute even in a volatile environment. In the third quarter alone, total sales rose nearly 30% year-over-year. Residential sales increased 54%, and service revenue grew more than 70%, all while operating expenses declined as a percentage of revenue, and we delivered positive adjusted EBITDA. Before I turn the call over to Jim Brennan, I want to take a moment to thank our employees, our team across New York and Hawaii, along with our customers, vendors, Board members and shareholders. This company has been through a lot over the past few years, and the work done in 2025 has put SUNation on much firmer ground. We're proud of the progress we've made, but we're even more focused on what comes next. With that, I'll turn the call over to Jim Brennan, our CFO, who will walk you through the financial results in more detail. Thank you. This is Scott.

Thank you, Scott, and good morning, everyone. I appreciate you joining us today. Besides Rich and Scott, we are also joined today by Kristin Hlavka, our Chief Accounting Officer and Corporate Treasurer. As Scott said, 2025 was a year of substantial progress for SUNation. The actions we took beginning in 2024 and continuing throughout 2025 meaningfully improved our operating model and financial position. Over the course of the year, we expanded margins, reduced our debt burden, lowered interest expense, strengthened liquidity and improved profitability. We issued our earnings release yesterday and expect to file the 10-K over the next few days. I encourage everyone to review those materials for full detail. But for now, I'll touch on several highlights from both the fourth quarter and the full year. For the fourth quarter of 2025, total sales were $27.2 million compared to $15.4 million in the prior year period, an increase of 77%. For the full year 2025, total sales were $71.9 million compared to $56.9 million in full year 2024, an increase of 26%. This full year result -- sales result came in roughly $2 million above the top end of the previously stated guidance, which called for 2025 total sales for $65 million to $70 million. Results in the fourth quarter were supposed -- were supported by continued strength in residential demand in both New York and Hawaii as customers accelerated ahead of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act Section 25D sunset. As we think about the start of 2026, we believe some of that fourth quarter strength reflected pull-forward activity ahead of the tax credit sunset, which means first quarter revenue is likely to decline relative to our normal seasonal pattern, which will also be compounded by the unusually harsh winter we endured in the Northeast this year. We also benefited from ongoing contributions from our service business and continued execution in commercial, although as we have consistently noted, commercial timing can vary from quarter-to-quarter based on project complexity, utility coordination and installation schedules. Gross profit for the fourth quarter was $11.1 million or 40.7% of sales compared to $5.6 million or 36.4% in the prior year quarter. For the full year 2025, gross margin was 38.3%. Through 2025, margin improved was driven by stronger residential mix, operating discipline and better execution in both New York and Hawaii, which continues to trend as we discussed on prior calls. In 2025, we continued to manage our costs with a disciplined approach. Selling, general and administrative expense was 37.5% relative to sales revenue in 2025, down from 47.5% of sales total in the prior year, reflecting improved operating leverage on higher revenue. For full year 2025, SG&A was $27.0 million, the same as the prior year full 2024. As we've noted earlier in the year, we expect the cost optimization and efficiency actions implemented in 2024 and 2025 to yield meaningful savings, and those efforts contributed to improving operating leverage as revenue ramped in the second half. Interest expense also continued to improve meaningfully. Fourth quarter interest expense was $165,000 compared to $775,000 in the prior year fourth quarter, reflecting the substantial debt reduction achieved earlier in the year. As we indicated earlier in the year, we expected annual interest expense for 2025 to decline by roughly $2 million versus 2024 as expensive debt was paid off or restructured. That expectation proved accurate with actual interest down by over $2 million or 66%. Net income for the fourth quarter of 2025 was $2.6 million compared to a net loss of $6.8 million in the prior year period. For full year 2025, we reported a net loss of $10.9 million compared to a net loss of $15.9 million for the prior year. As always, we remind listeners to consider any noncash items, including fair market, fair value adjustments and financing-related charges when comparing bottom line results across periods as prior quarters have included such items. Accordingly, we emphasize adjusted EBITDA as a clear operating measure. That said, adjusted EBITDA for fourth quarter was $14. -- sorry, $4.1 million compared to an adjusted EBITDA loss of $1.1 million in the prior year quarter. For the full year 2025, adjusted EBITDA was $2.5 million compared to an adjusted EBITDA loss of $4.9 million in 2024. We had previously provided guidance in 2025 full year adjusted EBITDA of $0.5 million to $0.7 million, so we are pleased to have significantly exceeded that range. Turning to the balance sheet. Cash and cash equivalents at year-end were $7.2 million compared to $0.8 million on December 31, 2024 and $5.4 million on September 30, 2025. That year-end balance exceeds the prior high watermark, as we reported at the end of Q3. Total debt at year-end 2025 was $8.1 million compared to $19.1 million on December 31, 2024, a decrease of 58% and reflective of the significant deleveraging accomplished during the year. We also continued to improve other parts of the balance sheet over the course of 2025, including current liabilities, accounts payable and shareholders' equity. The net effect of the SUNation ends 2025 in a much stronger financial position than where it began the year, which has been one of the central objectives of the current management since assuming leadership in May of 2024. On last quarter's earnings call, I described SUNation as being in the strongest financial position in recent history. I can safely say that Q4 of 2025 has continued that trend. Before turning back to Scott, I want to thank you again to the entire team in SUNation, New York and Hawaii, for their hard work and commitment that got us here. It truly was a team effort. The financial progress we made in 2025 reflects a tremendous company-wide effort. And importantly, we believe that progress has translated into real visible momentum across the business. We have strengthened the balance sheet, improved operational discipline and positioned SUNation to move forward with a far stronger foundation than we began the year. With that, I'll turn it back to Scott.

Thank you, Jim. Nice job. That was fun. As we look ahead, we're encouraged by the business we have built through 2025, but we're also staying realistic about the market conditions we may face in 2026. This industry will continue to evolve. And as we have said many times before, the solar coaster is not slowing down. We are not assuming a smooth road ahead, but we are entering the year from a position of greater strength than we were just a year ago. From an operating standpoint, our cadence remains important to understand. It's unfortunate, but for decades, Q1 in both New York and Hawaii is a challenging time to manage, usually because of end of the year tax credits, weather and regulatory changes, but we always model to account for this seasonality. It's a marathon, not a race. What gives us confidence is not any single quarter or one market dynamic. It's the combination of a stronger balance sheet, lower debt, improved margins, better operating discipline and a more diversified revenue model. We believe those attributes position SUNation to become navigating an evolving solar and broader energy landscape with more resilience and more flexibility than in the past. And that flexibility matters. Our strategy is clear and deliberate, but it's not wired to a single fixed outcome. It is direction led by design. We can adapt as the market evolves without losing sight of where we're headed. We know where we're going, but we won't be rigid about the route we take to get there. It's a better path -- if a better path presents itself for SUNation, we have the discipline to course correct. In this kind of environment, the companies that succeed are the ones that can pivot, the ones that can stay disciplined, remain close to their customers and adjust quickly as market conditions change. We believe SUNation is built for exactly that kind of setting. We also continue to believe that diversification is one of our greatest strengths. Residential will continue to evolve. Commercial remains important and important opportunity. Service is growing in importance, and additional adjacencies can create new paths for value creation over time. That mix gives us the ability to lean into parts of the business, where demand and economics are strongest as conditions shift. So while we are not here today to give formal 2026 guidance, we are here to say that we like the position we are in. We have stronger teams, a cleaner capital structure, a more sustainable financing footing and a business model that we believe is better equipped to adapt to what comes next. I thank you for your time. And on that note, I will shift back to the operator and get to my favorite time of the earnings call, and that will be answering questions. So I believe, operator, we're ready for the line for questions.

[Operator Instructions] And our first question comes from the line of Julien Dumoulin-Smith with Jefferies.

This is Hannah Velasquez on for Julien Dumoulin-Smith. Scott and Jim, my first question is around '26 guidance. I know you're not releasing the outlook this early this 4Q. But is that something you could revisit later in the year as you gain more visibility and parse through some of the regulatory noise? And then, could you also point to specifically what you view as the largest headwinds impacting the space this year, perhaps across FEOC, maybe 25D expiration, tariffs, et cetera?

Sure. I'll let Jim do the first part of the question on the guidance. Jim?

So regarding -- by the way, Hannah, thank you for joining. So I'm not comfortable giving guidance at this point in the year given the turmoil that the solar industry is in. I would say by the end of Q2, we'll have clarity on all the financing options available and so on and the FEOC layer and everything else that's impacting 2026. The reality is this cliff has hit the industry hard and the entire industry, not just SUNation. It really has nothing to do with SUNation, but the entire industry is pivoting over to this TPO, third-party ownership, way of selling, which is transitioning as we speak during Q1. Scott?

Yes. Thanks, Hannah. I would say that like the next few weeks are going to be really, really important. I think that what's happening now in Q1, based on the tax credit situation in both residential and even the commercial cliff that's hanging in July, I'm going to say that the financing companies, the people still -- they're getting up to speed. Most of the companies onboarded a lot of people at a lot -- very quickly. It's still an unsettled on the financing side of the business. And I think that's working itself out on a daily basis utility and state by state. Fortunately, as I keep saying, New York and Hawaii, the trump card here -- not Trump the President, the trump card here, if you're drawing out of the deck, is the fact that it just cost me $70 to fill up my Bronco. Energy rates in New York on the residential side are set to go probably 5% to 7% higher. Hawaii is getting blasted with a $0.46 type of rate. So in the markets that we operate in, utility rates are going to dictate. We're still -- I'm proud to say that even in New York and Hawaii, we're far over the 50% mark of sold residential projects that are still purchased product, okay, and not just third-party ownership. So I don't see -- I think the finance companies are getting sorted out with list of products that meet FEOC and things like that and getting supply. Again, the political environment is working favorably with the increased energy prices. And that's without taking like all this summer. Again, we're in cyclical, I said, seasonality, but we work cyclically also. And the -- we're heading into the highest energy consumption rates of the summertime in both New York and Hawaii, which is -- that's a great time to be in, and we're on the heels of the highest cost of natural gas in both -- in New York. So people are really getting battered right now. So solar is -- it's just like a tap on the brakes. I don't see massive headwinds. I see a lot of small taps on the brakes.

Yes, super helpful. And I think that brings me to my next question, just in terms of how you're thinking about the long-term outlook for residential solar, how exactly do we get to a full recovery, perhaps back to pre-NEM 3.0 installation levels, if that's even feasible? Is it the financing options that's going to take us there in terms of the creativity? I know there's a lot of excitement and interest around this prepaid lease plus loan offering. Or is it really just coming down to affordability and the ever-rising utility rates?

Yes. Again, I can speak for New York and Hawaii. Third-party ownership is not new. It's been 50% of the market across the country for a long time. It's just gaining share now because there's less -- it was this abrupt pull forward in ownership. There are people that own cars. There are people that lease cars. What we focus on most importantly, and what's driven our lead acquisition cost to be the lowest is that we focus on homeowner and referrals, high-quality installations, the service opportunities that come afterwards. So again, I think that what's going to happen, I think that the states and the utilities, if you look to Texas, you look to North Carolina, you look to places that are actually succeeding still with solar and storage, it's because the utilities have gotten behind this and said, "Hey, we really need that standby power. We need that redundancy". So the federal part was only one part of it. It's really at utility and state level that's most important. So when we talk about affordability, it has to start at state level. And I'm thinking that they're really starting to see it, right? Like that affordability word is going to be the central word across the country in the midterms and certainly the next presidential election. So it's a word. It reminds me like 20 years ago when green was a word, and every time, oh, we're going green. So that's kind of where I think this is happening. I see that residential ownership or adoption of residential solar is all going to circle around how much are the energy prices, how fast are they going up and that's why I think products are evolving. Installations are pretty simple as they can possibly be. There's going to be -- I also think there's going to be a lot of opportunity on the purchase side with non-FEOC product. There's going to be a boatload of stuff that's sitting on shelves across the country that is non-FEOC compliant that won't fit the -- fit into the TPO. And I'm fine with that. I hope that answered your question.

And I would add that if you look at the recent Wood Mackenzie report on the solar industry, both for residential and commercial, I happen to agree with the authors of that work product. 2026 is expected to be somewhere between 20% and 30%, depending on which data you look at, reduction. In 2027 and beyond, we're back in growth mode again. And I think that's a logical approach to how this market will respond. Solar is not going away. Residential and commercial solar, especially the service side of our business, will continue to grow with a short-term hiccup in 2026, as we -- everybody pivots to the new regulations. Great question.

Yes, that's perfect. And if I can squeeze in one more, can you just speak very briefly to the addition of Generac to your equipment suite? Is that primarily on the residential solar and storage side? Or are you perhaps looking at their home standby products? And then, as a follow-up to that, what led to this addition? Was it really a factor of customer demand or more so just expanding and diversifying further your options?

Yes. So, I really dig the Generac company. We've used them in Hawaii. They came into the marketplace, stumbled a little bit. But the beauty of that company is they did not abandon their mistake, and they continue to stand behind the product. They brought over some pretty amazing people on the -- in the renewable space that I worked with for many years that I trust. They're innovators. And they rebuilt an ecosystem that I think is very interesting as people want to -- I'm going to use the word microgrid or be energy-independent, so to speak. I think that battery storage is super cool, but it has its limitations, like in some of the markets that we serve. The idea that their ecosystem works with both generation, filling the battery space and generating from solar is kind of this like checks all the boxes with the brand that has -- I mean, there's 19,000 generator systems operating on Long Island in New York, 19,000 plus. Many of those will adopt solar. So I think that there's a great cross-branding side. I like the diversified revenue stream. As a generator owner myself, the local industry is screaming for somebody who provides service at a level like SUNation does to its customers, and KumuKit, Hawaii Energy Connection, does to its customers. So that's kind of what started the Generac thing. More to come, but I think that they have an interesting product. They have a tremendous balance sheet, a good team behind them. And I think they're a dark horse in the race.

Hannah, I would add that I am living in my personal home, I am living the Generac ecosystem experience. I have their solar equipment on the roof. I have their battery. I have their generator, gas -- natural gas generator. And I have their -- inside the house, we have their Ecobee thermostats, which controls everything. It is a spectacular product. And so I believe that others will follow as this industry looks for an integrated solution. And honestly, Generac is a pretty damn good brand. They really stand by their equipment. They're a high-quality manufacturer. They also -- we were out at the Generac conference recently, and they also have commercial options and other things we haven't really touched yet, but I can see a future where we're expanding into those options.

Okay. So it looks like we have some webcast questions. With the first one teed up is, what additional services are we -- is SUNation Energy also looking to offer to complement the Generac ecosystem?

Well, as we said -- thank you for that question. But as we said, the diversification is the strength, and really, monetizing our referral system, our raving fans and bringing them more products and more things. I've always liked the HVAC and the service market of HVAC. I love the generator market. I think there's a great cross-sell opportunity. There's -- in Hawaii, there's other things. The service side of Hawaii is growing. The commercial side in Hawaii is growing. So again, the answer is we own -- we have loyalty with customers, 22,000 customers, okay? They trust us, and it's our job to maximize the returns. And if adding other products and other services into that, I'm all game for that. So yes, we're not a one-dimensional company and never will be.

To follow up on that question, we currently have many revenue sources. By design, we like the diversified approach. We have residential, commercial, service, roofing. We do electrical work. We have community solar. We're now adding on generator work. We could see in the future of adding on some HVAC stuff, as we continue to mature in that side of the business. So by design, we don't want a single source of revenue. Great question, whoever asked that.

Thank you. So now, we have another one in the queue here. Where do AI and data centers fit into strategy?

Wow, thank you for that question. We've been talking about this now for probably 6 quarters since I took over. I think what everybody is sort of missing, they're seeing gas prices and energy prices rise. They're attributing to political unrest and that type of stuff. But the reality is that, as these AI, these massive consumers of energy come online, a group like the local utility on Long Island, PSEG LI, they're mandated to have, I don't know, 6 or 7 gigawatts of capacity in the market, right? Like in any -- on Thursday, when it's 110 degrees -- 102 degrees in July, they have to have available power, and they buy contracts from Niagara Mohawk and from wherever else, and yes, possibly wind farms when they come online. But ultimately, there's only so much power. And when the AI centers more and more come online, they're going to be outbidding, they're going to be taking more and more power away, which means it's going to be more expensive for the local business and homeowners. That's just the way supply and demand, the economies work. So on one hand, on the residential and the commercial side, where we see the opportunity that AI is going to -- that AI and data center consumption is going to produce is going to really drive solar and storage adoption, right? On the other side, I am giddy, and one of the reasons why we look at Generac, who is really becoming front and center on the redundancy of these data centers, okay, with these massive tractor-trailer standby generation, we see that like we want to be players in the energy supply side of deploying the solar that we can on these centers because it's smart and people are going to be -- they're going to do it. But we also want to be more potentially an international expert on how to integrate and maximize that power. We have the models worked out. We have the technology. We have the consultancy and the track record behind us to be a voice in that thing. So how we monetize that, not sure yet, but it's going to drive a lot of stuff and the alignment with some of these companies. The other side of the AI thing that we're leaning heavily into is every single piece of the ecosystem from a SUNation lead being generated to the service afterwards and the closeout, there are processes that we could do better with. And one-standing AI integration with that is going to really drop our OpEx considerably also, not just I write speeches with it, but it's going to drop our OpEx.

Yes. I would add that besides energy prices going up, if you look at the models that are out there in the industry reports, the demand for new data centers across the country, across the world for that matter, is outpacing the ability for the grid to support it. And so I just think that any and every source of energy, not just solar, but small nuclear reactors and wind and you name it, all of it is going to be needed to supply these data centers as AI and crypto and other things are creating demand on that energy.

I think that was everything in the queue. Thank you to everyone who submitted. I'll turn it back to the operator.

Thank you, everybody, for joining us today. Am I the operator?

I think you are.

I'm the operator. Thank you, everybody, for joining us today and for your continued confidence in SUNation. 2025 was an important year for this company. We focused on stabilizing the business, strengthening the balance sheet and turning difficult decisions into better operating and financial results. And we believe we made real progress on all 3 fronts in 2025. We know there's still work ahead. We know that the market will continue to evolve, but we are stronger, more disciplined, more diversified and better prepared for what comes next than we were a year ago. I want to thank our employees, our customers, our shareholders, our partners, our Board of Directors for their support throughout this process. And we appreciate your time today, and we look forward to updating you again next quarter. Operator, that concludes our call. Thank you very much for the time today.

Thank you. This concludes today's conference. You may all disconnect your lines at this time, and we thank you for your participation.