Telos Corporation ($TLS)

Good day, and thank you for standing by. Welcome to the Telos Corporation First Quarter 2026 Earnings Conference Call. [Operator Instructions] Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded. I would now like to turn the conference over to your speaker for today, Allison Philipp, please go ahead.

Good morning. Thank you for joining us to discuss Telos Corporation's First Quarter 2026 Financial Results. With me today is Mark Bendza, Executive Vice President and CFO of Telos, and Mark Griffin, Executive Vice President of Security Solutions. Let me quickly review the format of today's presentation. Mark Bendza will begin with remarks on our first quarter results and full year outlook. We will then open the line for Q&A, where Mark Griffin, Executive Vice President of Security Solutions will also join us. The first quarter financial results were issued earlier today and are posted on the Telos Investor Relations website. for this call is being simultaneously webcast. Additionally, we have provided presentation slides on our Investor Relations website. Before we begin, we want to emphasize that some of our statements on this call including all of those relating to 2026 company performance, plans and operations are forward-looking statements and are made under the safe harbor provisions of the federal securities laws. These statements are based on current expectations and assumptions that are subject to risks and uncertainties. Actual results could materially differ for various reasons, including the factors described in today's financial results summary, and the comments made during this conference call and in our SEC filings. We do not undertake any duty to update any forward-looking statements. In addition, during today's call, we will discuss non-GAAP financial measures which we believe are useful as supplemental and clarifying measures to help investors understand Telos' financial performance. These non-GAAP financial measures should be considered in addition to and not as a substitute for or in isolation from GAAP results. You can find additional disclosures regarding these non-GAAP measures, including reconciliations with comparable GAAP results in our first quarter results summary, and on the Investor Relations portion of our website. Please also note that financial comparisons are year-over-year unless otherwise specified. The webcast replay of this call will be available on our company website under the Investor Relations link. With that, I'll turn the call over to Mark Bendza..

Thank you, Allison, and good morning, everyone. Before we begin, I'd like to address our April 29 announcement regarding our Chairman and CEO, John Wood. John is currently on a medical leave of absence and we wish him a full and speedy recovery. In the interim, independent Director, Fred Shawfield, has assumed the role of Chairman of the Board. In addition, the company's 3 Executive Vice Presidents, General Counsel Hutch Robbins, EVP of Security Solutions, Mark Griffin and I have jointly assumed John's responsibilities to ensure seamless continuity of operations. This interim leadership structure is functioning as intended and our teams remain fully aligned and focused on execution. We continue to see strong engagement from our customers and partners and program execution across the business remains uninterrupted. Our priorities for 2026 remain unchanged, delivering strong revenue growth expanding adjusted EBITDA margins, generating robust cash flow and continuing meaningful share repurchases. Our first quarter results reflect the continued transformation of Telos into a more scalable, profitable and cash-generative business and we made strong progress against each of these priorities during the quarter. With that, let's turn to Slide 3. We're pleased to report another strong quarter with results exceeding the high end of our guidance range. Our outperformance was supported by strong TSA pre-check enrollment activity, continued execution across our core programs and the benefits of our ongoing efficiency initiatives. Total company revenue increased 56% year-over-year to $47.7 million, surpassing our guidance of $44 million to $45 million. GAAP gross margin was 36.4%, and cash gross margin was 42.3%, both exceeding our expectations due to a favorable mix of higher-margin revenue streams and continued operational discipline across the business. As a reminder, given the breadth of our revenue streams, gross margins will fluctuate quarter-to-quarter based on mix. On operating expenses, our continued focus on cost discipline, including the restructuring plan approved in Q4 drove strong profitability. Adjusted operating expenses came in approximately $400,000 better than guidance and were down $1.2 million year-over-year. As a result, adjusted EBITDA exceeded the high end of our range, reaching $7.9 million versus guidance of $4.5 million to $5 million. Adjusted EBITDA margin was 16.5%, a significant increase from 1.2% in the prior year period. Turning to cash flow. Strong cash generation and disciplined working capital management remain key priorities. Operating cash flow was $8.7 million. And free cash flow was $6.4 million, representing a 13.4% free cash flow margin. This was our fifth consecutive quarter with a free cash flow margin above 12%. This reflects the increasing efficiency and scalability of our operating model as well as disciplined company-wide working capital management. Our strong cash flow generation and liquid balance sheet provide us with flexibility to invest in growth initiatives while continuing to return capital to shareholders. During the quarter, we repurchased $2.2 million of stock or over 500,000 shares at an average price of $4.25 per share. Given the durability of our strong cash generation and our confidence in the long-term value of the business, we intend to accelerate repurchases in the second quarter. Our capital allocation priorities remain consistent: invest in organic growth, maintain a strong balance sheet and return capital to shareholders. With that, let's turn to Slide 4 to discuss our second quarter guidance and full year outlook. For the second quarter, we expect revenue growth of 22% to 28% year-over-year or $44 million to $46 million. We expect cash gross margin of approximately 39% and adjusted operating expenses to decline by roughly $1.3 million year-over-year. Adjusted EBITDA is expected to be between $5 million and $6 million, representing a margin of 11.4% to 13%. We also expect another quarter of strong cash flow, which we intend to deploy toward accelerated share repurchases. Turning to the full year. Our first quarter performance reinforces our confidence in the trajectory of the business and positions us well against our full year objectives. At the same time, in alignment with our usual measured approach to guidance, we are reaffirming our revenue and adjusted EBITDA outlook. We issued our full year outlook less than 2 months ago. And while we are encouraged by the momentum we're seeing, it remains early in the year, and we believe an additional quarter of performance will provide even greater visibility into full year trends. Based on first quarter performance, we have updated certain assumptions within our full year model, including raising the low end of our cash gross margin expectations to partially reflect the margin strength recognized during the first quarter. We will continue to evaluate our outlook as the year progresses and look forward to providing an update following second quarter results. Lastly, before I wrap up, I'd like to spend a few minutes on growth and new business opportunities. Since 2024, we have significantly grown our top line, largely through new business wins. We continue to see strong customer engagement across our addressable markets and maintain a multibillion-dollar pipeline of potential opportunities, where we believe our capabilities are well aligned with customer priorities. Currently, we have proposals outstanding, representing nearly $500 million in total contract value. Our government customers ultimately determine the final timing of awards and may modify award dates based on their own time lines and requirements. We currently expect the government to make award decisions on these opportunities during the second half of 2026. These submitted proposals span both our security solutions and secure networks segments, with a heavy concentration in security solutions. Beyond these submissions, we will continue to [indiscernible] develop and selectively advance additional opportunities from our pipeline. With that, let's wrap up on Slide 5. In summary, we delivered a strong start to the year, with 56% revenue growth, a 16.5% adjusted EBITDA margin and a 13.4% free cash flow margin. Our second quarter guidance reflects continued momentum, and we are focused on executing large programs while securing new business opportunities. In addition, disciplined cost management and working capital efficiency are translating growth into strong profitability and cash flow. We also plan to continue returning capital to shareholders while maintaining a strong and flexible balance sheet. With that, Mark Griffin and I are happy to take questions. Operator, please open the line for Q&A.

[Operator Instructions] And our first question today is coming from the line of Matthew Calitri of Needham.

And great to see the the strength in security this quarter and see the press release quote that primarily the expansion has been a large program in Telos ID. Is there any more color you can give there on where you saw strength and I guess, just general market sentiment.

It's Mark Bendza speaking. So listen, we had a great quarter, clearly straight out of the gate for the year across the company overall, both in terms of program execution as well as ongoing discipline around expense management. The larger programs that we were referring to primarily reside in our Telos ID business. And that cuts across a number of programs, including we had a good quarter in TSA pre-check our DMDC program, which we also refer to as IT GEMS performed very well. And the body of work that we referred to as confidential IT security work that we're performing for the federal government. That also had a good quarter. So really a broad-based strength both in terms of program management and expense management and also cash flow, great quarter for cash flow as well.

Awesome. Yes. No, that's great to hear. And then I guess with the strength, like why not take up the guide here? And I know you mentioned like one extra quarter visibility still early in the year. Totally understand that. But like with the -- with John taking the medical leave of absence and is there any sort of like extra embedded conservatism in the guide or a change in guidance philosophy with you guys taking the helm there?

Yes. So let me unpack that a little bit. So first, with respect to John, first and foremost, our focus is on supporting him and wishing him a full recovery. Operationally, the transition has been very smooth. Hutch Griffin and I have worked together for several years now. We've been attached at the [indiscernible] for several years. And -- so for us, it's business as usual in terms of working very closely together. Customer engagement, execution, employee alignment all remain very strong. We're not seeing any disruption in the business and strategic priorities remain unchanged. We have our marching orders, and we're executing the plan. You're seeing that and the performance we're announcing today. Regarding guidance, listen, it's a fair question, and it's something we put a lot of thought into. We're very pleased with the first quarter performance across the entire portfolio, as I was describing earlier. The first quarter positions us really well against our full year outlook, that said, we also want to remain disciplined about how we manage that outlook. And we issued full year guidance on March 16, that's less than 2 months ago. It's kind of peculiar aspect of the calendar. Fourth quarter earnings are announced unusually late in the quarter. And then first quarter earnings are reported at the usual time. So there's very little time that passes between the fourth quarter announcement where we set our initial outlook and first quarter guidance. We feel it's only prudent to lock in an additional quarter of performance before we formally revise revenue and adjusted EBITDA estimates for the year. And if you look back to 2023 was the prior -- the previous year where we announced a full year outlook. And that year, we set guidance on the fourth quarter call. First quarter call, we had a big beat and we reaffirmed second quarter call, we beat and raise third quarter call, we beaten raise and then the final fourth quarter call would be begin. So it's an approach to a full year outlook that we think serves us well.

Awesome. And sorry, I should have led with this, but our thoughts are with John too, and wish him this per recovery.

Our next question is coming from the line of Erik Suppiger of B. Riely Securities.

Yes. Congrats on a good quarter, and please pass along our best wishes for John. Comment a little bit on the environment for the TSA pre-check, if you would. Have increases in fuel prices and travel costs made any difference in terms of demand for enrollment? Or do you think that's a risk? And then secondly, can you talk a little bit about what your expectations are for seasonality in that business? .

Yes. Erik, so on PreCheck, listen, your PreCheck is an important program for us. It's 1 of several large programs within the company. We expect it to be an important growth driver for us for the year as it was in the quarter. No, we haven't seen any impact from higher fuel prices. As a matter of fact, enrollments are performing very well year-over-year, both in the first quarter as well as so far here in the second quarter.

Can you comment about seasonality in that business?

Sure. Yes. So seasonality typically we see enrollment as being seasonally lower in the second half. That's kind of the trend we've seen for the last couple of years. And our base case is we would expect that again this year.

Okay. And then any comments about the software contribution from exec in the quarter?

Contribution was about flat year-over-year. I'll maybe turn to Mark, if you like to provide some comments on exact AI and how we're trending there.

Sure, Eric. Mark Griffin. So we have currently sold and installed over 400 licenses of Exact AI. We initiated interest and adoption within our existing installed base and expect additional sales within the intelligence community, the federal civilian government and department award. So to date, we have installed and operated live production pilots at multiple large intelligence community agencies, the Department of War elements and in the banking community. In addition, we have participated in numerous market surveys, demonstrations with both executives and cybersecurity matter experts within the stakeholder groups. In general, the response has been very strong, and we are anticipating numerous RFPs later in the year. So we're bullish on the progress to date. .

Our next question is coming from the line of Nehal Chokshi of Northland.

Yes. Thank you. Congratulations on the great quarter. Our thoughts are ready with John, hoping him speed recovery as well. Questions are on the pipeline. Given that you are signaling strong confidence in the business with accelerating share buybacks Sounds like that's twofold. One, the core businesses are performing well. But is it fair to say that the $500 million of pipeline of award decisions that you expect to be made in 2026, do you feel like it has a higher probability of win rates than what you would typically assume for awards that are at that stage. Is that correct?

Yes. So Nehal, I think the way I would categorize it is a good chunk of submitted and pending proposals are aligned to a body of work that we think we're well positioned on. We have a good track record in well aligned to our capabilities. And it's -- it's kind of a mission set that I would say is maybe a newer mission set for the government and 1 that we've been involved in at a pretty early stage here with our prime partners and the government. So we feel good about it. Of course, ultimately, the government controls the timing of awards. And so -- our current estimate is that these are awards that we'll heat decisions on in the second half. But again, ultimately, the government, of course, controls the timing.

And when you refer to prime partners, this is inclusive of the DMDC prime partner?

No. These are -- this is a different set of proposals.

Got it. Okay. Is there any bid that represents more than 10% of that $500 million of outstanding proposals that you expect to be awarded in [indiscernible]

Two that are around $90 million, and then there are a couple that are small, maybe around $3 million. And then the rest are in similar size of a few tens of millions.

Got it. And these are typically 5-year contracts that you're bidding on, correct?

These are a little shorter, typically. It's a mix, but the lion's share of them, I'd say, are like 2 years.

Got it. Okay. Great. My last question is now that you guys are at 500 stores on TSA pre-check -- is market share now at your maximal levels that you would expect? Or is there a lot more to go? And if so, how will we get there?

Yes. So there is more growth to be had in that program, I think, really a couple of ways. First, continuing to optimize volume in the locations that we have opened today and then also continuing to explore partnerships in other parts of the country.

Okay. And you did announce a couple of new types of partnerships during the quarter, 1 through University, 1 directly in an airport. Is there additional partnerships beyond those that you're contemplating?

Yes. We are contemplating others. And there is another pilots that we have underway with a relatively modest number of locations that we're currently testing out another partner. .

Our next question is coming from the line of Rudy Kessinger of DA Davidson.

Great. Mark, well, firstly, certainly my thoughts for John as well and wishing him a speedy recovery. Mark, clearly, I understand your comments, it's been less than 2 months since you gave the initial full year guide. Putting aside the fact that you didn't tweak the full year guide at all expect to an upside. It's pretty much implied in the second half that Security Solutions growth dips into the high single-digit range. Total revenue growth dips into the low single-digit range. What is the likelihood that some of those new business awards in the second half would contribute meaningful revenue upside this year? Or would anything awarded in the second half likely contribute revenue mostly in 2027.

Yes. Listen, we have a pretty substantial portfolio proposals that are submitted and pending award. If 1 or 2 of those are awarded in the second half. And those programs start on time. There's a fair amount of revenue in a lot of those proposals that are pretty front-end loaded to the first couple of months. And so yes, we could get some meaningful contribution from those proposals if they're awarded in the second half.

Got it. Okay. And then -- on free cash flow, just any color on expectations for the remainder of the year? And then with the increased pace of buybacks, I guess any kind of further details you can provide on that, maybe just relative to the pace of buybacks in Q1 or the Q2 to Q4 last year. Should we maybe expect to bump back up to that kind of $4 million to $6 million range Q2 to Q4 last year or more or less? Just any further color would be appreciated.

Sure. Yes. So we did a free cash flow margin of 13.4% this quarter. We did actually coincidentally 13.4% in the fourth quarter of last year. It's our fifth consecutive quarter over 12%. And -- so I would expect free cash flow margin to continue in that kind of lower double-digit margin level. And then we're currently managing to a cash balance of approximately $50 million, and we'll continue to do that. So as we generate cash flow, -- our intention is to buy back stock with that free cash flow while managing to approximately a $50 million cash balance.

And there are no more questions in the queue. I would like to turn the call back over to Mark Bendza for closing remarks. Please go ahead.

Thank you, operator, and thanks to everyone for joining us today. We're pleased with our strong start to the year and believe our results reflect continued progress in building a more profitable, cash-generative and scalable business. We look forward to updating you next quarter. In the meantime, help us speak with many of you at the Needham Technology Conference on May 14 and the Northland Growth Conference on June 23. Thank you.

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