$94.5 million in
company revenue drove 37% gross profit margins and $12.9 million of Adjusted
EBITDA
Raising 2024 baseline Adjusted EBITDA outlook by
83%
Expecting positive net income for 2024
NORTHBOROUGH, Mass., May 1, 2024
/PRNewswire/ -- Aspen Aerogels, Inc. (NYSE: ASPN)
("Aspen" or the "Company"), a
technology leader in sustainability and electrification solutions,
today announced financial results for the first quarter of 2024,
and discussed recent business developments.
Total revenue for the first quarter of 2024 was $94.5 million, compared to $45.6 million in the first quarter of 2023. Net
loss was $1.8 million, compared to a
net loss of $16.8 million in the
first quarter of 2023. Net loss per share was $0.02, compared to a net loss per share of
$0.24 in the first quarter of
2023.
Adjusted EBITDA for the first quarter of 2024 was $12.9 million, compared to $(13.9) million in the first quarter of 2023. A
reconciliation of net loss to non-GAAP Adjusted EBITDA is provided
in the financial schedules that are part of this press release. An
explanation of this non-GAAP financial measure is also included
below under the heading "Non-GAAP Financial Measures."
Recent Business Highlights & Quarterly
Performance
- Company revenue of $94.5 million,
up 12% quarter-over-quarter (QoQ) and 107% year-over-year (YoY)
- Thermal Barriers: $65.4
million of revenue, up 23% QoQ and 459% YoY
- Energy Industrial: $29.1
million of supply constrained revenue, down 7% QoQ and down
14% YoY
- Energy Industrial segment on path to deliver over $150 million of revenue in 2024, shipped
$14.6 million of revenue from our
external manufacturing facility in Q1
- Delivered gross margins of 37%, a 2-percentage point
improvement QoQ and 26-percentage point improvement YoY
- Adjusted EBITDA of $12.9 million,
a $3.8 million improvement or 42% QoQ
and $26.9 million improvement
YoY
- Operating income of $2.4 million,
a $1.1 million improvement or 76% QoQ
and $21.3 million improvement
YoY
- Ended first quarter of 2024 with cash and equivalents of
$101.5 million
- Received coveted Automotive News PACE Award for
PyroThin® cell-to-cell (C2C) barrier platform;
Automotive News' PACE program is recognized globally as the most
prestigious innovation award for automotive suppliers
- Also presented with a PACE Innovation Partnership Award,
recognizing Aspen's collaboration
with General Motors centered on our PyroThin C2C barriers as the
thermal runaway solution for GM's Ultium battery platform
"We continue to execute the transition of our Energy Industrial
products to our external manufacturing facility and dedicate our
manufacturing plant in East
Providence to the production of aerogel for EV thermal
barriers. We believe the Q1 results further demonstrate that we
have the capability with existing assets and supply arrangements to
deliver $650 million of annual
revenue with at least 35% gross margins and 25% Adjusted EBITDA
margins," commented Don Young,
Aspen's President and CEO. "We
remain deeply engaged with a growing list of automotive OEMs and
battery cell manufacturers and have strong conviction that we are
providing a unique solution to a very challenging problem. We
remain focused on scaling the five OEM awards that we have in hand
alongside maximizing our Energy Industrial business."
Updated 2024 Financial Outlook
Aspen updated its 2024 full year outlook as
follows:
($ in millions,
except per share amounts)
|
Metric
|
Prior 2024
Outlook
|
Updated 2024
Outlook
|
Delta
|
%
Improvement
|
|
Revenue
YoY Growth
|
>350
47%
|
>380
59%
|
30
12%
|
9%
26%
|
|
Adjusted
EBITDA
|
>30
|
>55
|
25
|
83 %
|
|
Net Income
(Loss)
|
>(23)
|
>2
|
25
|
109 %
|
|
Earnings Per
Share
|
>(0.30)
|
>0.03
|
0.33
|
109 %
|
|
The Company's 2024 outlook assumes depreciation and amortization
of $30 million, stock-based
compensation expense of $14 million,
other (income) expense and income tax expense of $9 million, and weighted average shares
outstanding of 75.8 million for the full year.
A reconciliation of net loss to non-GAAP Adjusted EBITDA for the
2024 financial outlook is provided in the financial schedules that
are part of this press release. An explanation of this non-GAAP
financial measure is also included below under the heading
"Non-GAAP Financial Measures."
Ricardo C. Rodriguez, Chief
Financial Officer and Treasurer noted, "We added $10 million of revenue quarter over quarter, a
12% increase. More importantly, we increased Adjusted EBITDA by 42%
quarter over quarter, to $12.9
million, and operating income increased by 76%, further
validating the scalability of our operations. We are increasingly
optimistic about our outlook for the year as our main automotive
OEM customers capture their fair share of the EV market, and our
Energy Industrial customers benefit from incremental supply through
our external manufacturing facility." Mr. Rodriguez added, "These
elements, combined with our team's continued execution, enable us
to raise our 2024 baseline Adjusted EBITDA outlook by 83%, to
$55 million on $380 million of revenue, and to anticipate
positive net income for the year."
Aspen may incur, among other
items, additional charges, realize gains or losses, incur financing
costs or interest expense, or experience other events in 2024,
including those related to the planned capacity expansion, supply
chain disruptions, or further cost inflation, that could cause
actual results to vary materially from this outlook. See Special
Note Regarding Forward-Looking and Cautionary Statements below.
Last Twelve-Month Financial Comparison
A comparison of
key financial metrics for the trailing twelve-month periods ended
March 31, 2023 and 2024:
($ in
millions)
|
Metric
|
LTM Q1
2023
|
LTM Q1
2024
|
Delta
|
%
Improvement
|
|
Revenue
|
188
|
288
|
100
|
53 %
|
|
Gross
Profit
% Margin
|
12
6%
|
87
30%
|
75
|
629 %
|
|
Adjusted
EBITDA
% Margin
|
(60)
(32%)
|
4
1%
|
64
|
107 %
|
|
Operating
Income
% Margin
|
(80)
(42%)
|
(28)
(10%)
|
52
|
65 %
|
|
Net
Loss
% Margin
|
(80)
(43%)
|
(31)
(11%)
|
49
|
61 %
|
|
Total
CAPEX
|
213
|
152
|
(61)
|
29 %
|
|
Conference Call and Webcast Notification
A conference
call with Aspen management to
discuss first quarter 2024 results and recent business developments
will be held Thursday, May 2, 2024 at
8:30 a.m. ET. During the call,
management will respond to questions concerning, but not limited
to, Aspen's financial performance,
business conditions, and financial outlook. Management's discussion
and responses could contain information that has not been
previously disclosed.
Shareholders and other interested parties may call +1 (833)
470-1428 (domestic) or +1 (929) 526-1599 (international) and
reference conference ID "917527" to participate in the conference
call. In addition, the conference call and an accompanying slide
presentation will be available live as a listen-only webcast hosted
at the Investors section of Aspen's website, www.aerogel.com.
Following the live event, an archived version of the webcast
will be available on Aspen's
website for convenient on-demand replay for at least a year. A copy
of this press release is posted in the Investors section on
Aspen's website.
Non-GAAP Financial Measures
In addition to providing
financial measurements based on generally accepted accounting
principles in the United States of
America ("GAAP"), Aspen
provides an additional financial metric that is not prepared in
accordance with GAAP ("non-GAAP"). The non-GAAP financial measure
included in this press release is Adjusted EBITDA. Management uses
this non-GAAP financial measure, in addition to GAAP financial
measures, as a measure of operating performance because the
non-GAAP financial measure does not include the impact of items
that management does not consider indicative of Aspen's core operating performance. In
addition, management uses Adjusted EBITDA (i) for planning
purposes, including the preparation of Aspen's annual operating budget, (ii) to
allocate resources to enhance the financial performance of its
business, and (iii) as a performance measure under its bonus
plan.
Management believes that this non-GAAP financial measure
reflects Aspen's ongoing business
in a manner that allows for meaningful comparisons and analysis of
trends in its business, as it excludes expenses and gains not
reflective of Aspen's ongoing
operating results or that may be infrequent and/or unusual in
nature. Management also believes that this non-GAAP financial
measures provides useful information to investors in understanding
and evaluating Aspen's operating
results and future prospects in the same manner as management and
in comparing financial results across accounting periods and to
those of peer companies. This non-GAAP measure may not be
comparable to similarly titled measures presented by other
companies.
The non-GAAP financial measure does not replace the presentation
of Aspen's GAAP financial results
and should only be used as a supplement to, not as a substitute
for, Aspen's financial results
presented in accordance with GAAP. In this press release,
Aspen has provided a
reconciliation of Adjusted EBITDA to net loss, the most directly
comparable GAAP financial measure. Management strongly encourages
investors to review Aspen's
financial statements and publicly filed reports in their entirety
and not rely on any single financial measure.
About Aspen Aerogels, Inc.
Aspen is a technology leader in sustainability
and electrification solutions. The Company's aerogel technology
enables its customers and partners to achieve their own objectives
around the global megatrends of resource efficiency, e-mobility,
and clean energy. Aspen's
PyroThin® products enable solutions to thermal runaway challenges
within the electric vehicle ("EV") market. Aspen Battery Materials,
the Company's carbon aerogel initiative, seeks to increase the
performance of lithium-ion battery cells to enable EV manufacturers
to extend the driving range and reduce the cost of EVs. The
Company's Cryogel® and Pyrogel® products are valued by the world's
largest energy infrastructure companies. Aspen's strategy is to partner with
world-class industry leaders to leverage its Aerogel Technology
Platform® into additional high-value markets. Aspen is headquartered in Northborough, Mass. For more information,
please visit www.aerogel.com.
Special Note Regarding Forward-Looking and Cautionary
Statements
This press release and any related discussion
contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the
Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 that involve risks
and uncertainties that could cause actual results to be materially
different from historical results or from any future results
expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements, including
statements relating to Aspen's
2024 financial outlook. These statements are not historical facts
but rather are based on Aspen's
current expectations, estimates and projections regarding
Aspen's business, operations and
other factors relating thereto, including with respect to
Aspen's 2024 financial outlook.
Words such as "may," "will," "could," "would," "should,"
"anticipate," "predict," "potential," "continue," "expects,"
"intends," "plans," "projects," "believes," "estimates," "outlook,"
"assumes," "targets," "opportunity," and similar expressions are
used to identify these forward-looking statements. Such
forward-looking statements include statements regarding, among
other things, Aspen's expectations
about capacity, revenue, revenue capacity, backlog, costs,
expenses, profitability, cash flow, gross profit, gross margin,
operating margin, net loss, Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA margin
and related decreases, improvements, timing, variability or trends;
beliefs about higher than expected demand from the EV market and
how it may enable a path to profitability, expectations about
improvement in ability to absorb fixed costs and reduction of
conversion costs as a percentage of sales and the same leading to
target revenue capacity and gross margins and Adjusted EBITDA
margins; Aspen's expectations
regarding the planned second manufacturing plant in Georgia ("Plant II"), the extended
construction and commissioning timeframe for Plant II, Aspen's efforts to manage the construction of
Plant II to align with our expectations of demand from EV
customers, and the use of contract manufacturers to meet demand
from Energy Industrial customers; beliefs about the general
strength, weakness or health of Aspen's business; acceleration in demand;
beliefs about current or future trends in the energy, energy
infrastructure, chemical and refinery, LNG, sustainable building
materials, EV thermal barrier, EV battery materials or other
markets and the impact of these trends on Aspen's business; beliefs about the strength,
effectiveness, productivity, costs, profitability or other
fundamentals of Aspen's business;
beliefs about the role of Aspen's
technology and opportunities in the electric vehicle market;
beliefs about Aspen's ability to
provide and deliver products and services to electric vehicle
customers; beliefs about content per vehicle, revenue, costs,
expenses, profitability, investments or cash flow associated with
Aspen's electric vehicle
opportunities, including the EV thermal barrier business; beliefs
about revenue growth and profitability; beliefs about the
performance of PyroThin® including its ability to
mitigate the propagation of thermal runaway in electric vehicles;
beliefs about Aspen's ability to
expand the market for PyroThin®, to achieve design wins,
to commence shipments of production parts, and to become an
industry standard solution for thermal runaway management; beliefs
about Aspen's thermal barrier
design, prototype, quoting and assembly activities; and
expectations about the cost of the capital projects, including
Plant II; and beliefs about the Company's pending application with
the DOE seeking a loan pursuant to the DOE LPO's ATVM. All such
forward-looking statements are based on management's present
expectations and are subject to certain factors, risks and
uncertainties that may cause actual results, outcome of events,
timing and performance to differ materially from those expressed or
implied by such statements. These risks and uncertainties include,
but are not limited to, the following: inability to execute the
growth plan, inability to continue construction of Plant II and to
do so at a cost consistent with Aspen's estimates and aligned with
Aspen's expectations of demand
from our EV customers; the right of EV thermal barrier customers to
cancel contracts with Aspen at any
time and without penalty; any costs, expenses, or investments
incurred by Aspen in excess of
projections used to develop pricing under the contracts with EV
thermal barrier customers; Aspen's
inability to create customer or market opportunities for, including
PyroThin®; any other battery performance and safety
products, battery materials or for other new products developed
from Aspen's aerogel technology;
any disruption or inability to achieve expected capacity levels in
any of the three existing production lines in East Providence, RI or the Mexico assembly facility or at any contract
manufacturer; any failure to enforce any of Aspen's patents; the general economic
conditions and cyclical demands in the markets that Aspen serves; and the other risk factors
discussed under the heading "Risk Factors" in Aspen's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the
year ended December 31, 2023 and
filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") on
March 7, 2024, as well as any updates
to those risk factors filed from time to time in Aspen's subsequent periodic and current
reports filed with the SEC. All statements contained in this press
release are made only as of the date of this press release.
Aspen does not intend to update
this information unless required by law.
ASPEN AEROGELS,
INC. Condensed Consolidated Balance
Sheets (Unaudited and in thousands)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
March 31,
|
|
|
December 31,
|
|
|
|
2024
|
|
|
2023
|
|
|
|
(In
thousands)
|
|
Assets
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Current
assets:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Cash and cash
equivalents
|
|
$
|
101,461
|
|
|
$
|
139,723
|
|
Restricted
cash
|
|
|
157
|
|
|
|
248
|
|
Accounts receivable,
net
|
|
|
84,029
|
|
|
|
69,995
|
|
Inventories
|
|
|
45,750
|
|
|
|
39,189
|
|
Prepaid expenses and
other current assets
|
|
|
23,708
|
|
|
|
17,176
|
|
Total current
assets
|
|
|
255,105
|
|
|
|
266,331
|
|
Property, plant and
equipment, net
|
|
|
422,736
|
|
|
|
417,227
|
|
Operating lease
right-of-use assets
|
|
|
16,824
|
|
|
|
17,212
|
|
Other long-term
assets
|
|
|
3,324
|
|
|
|
2,278
|
|
Total
assets
|
|
$
|
697,989
|
|
|
$
|
703,048
|
|
Liabilities and
Stockholders' Equity
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Current
liabilities:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Accounts
payable
|
|
$
|
44,713
|
|
|
$
|
51,094
|
|
Accrued
expenses
|
|
|
12,762
|
|
|
|
22,811
|
|
Deferred
revenue
|
|
|
3,130
|
|
|
|
2,316
|
|
Finance obligation for
sale and leaseback transactions
|
|
|
1,206
|
|
|
|
—
|
|
Operating lease
liabilities
|
|
|
1,769
|
|
|
|
1,874
|
|
Total current
liabilities
|
|
|
63,580
|
|
|
|
78,095
|
|
Convertible note -
related party
|
|
|
118,030
|
|
|
|
114,992
|
|
Finance obligation for
sale and leaseback transactions long-term
|
|
|
3,556
|
|
|
|
—
|
|
Operating lease
liabilities long-term
|
|
|
21,620
|
|
|
|
21,906
|
|
Total
liabilities
|
|
|
206,786
|
|
|
|
214,993
|
|
Stockholders'
equity:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Total stockholders'
equity
|
|
|
491,203
|
|
|
|
488,055
|
|
Total liabilities and
stockholders' equity
|
|
$
|
697,989
|
|
|
$
|
703,048
|
|
ASPEN AEROGELS,
INC. Consolidated Statements of
Operations (Unaudited and in thousands, except share and
per share data)
|
|
|
|
Three Months
Ended
|
|
|
|
March 31,
|
|
|
|
2024
|
|
|
2023
|
|
|
|
(In thousands,
except
share and per share data)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Revenue
|
|
$
|
94,501
|
|
|
$
|
45,586
|
|
Cost of
revenue
|
|
|
59,358
|
|
|
|
40,500
|
|
Gross
profit
|
|
|
35,143
|
|
|
|
5,086
|
|
Operating
expenses:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Research and
development
|
|
|
4,489
|
|
|
|
4,099
|
|
Sales and
marketing
|
|
|
8,303
|
|
|
|
7,713
|
|
General and
administrative
|
|
|
17,213
|
|
|
|
12,182
|
|
Impairment of
equipment under development
|
|
|
2,702
|
|
|
|
—
|
|
Total operating
expenses
|
|
|
32,707
|
|
|
|
23,994
|
|
Income (loss) from
operations
|
|
|
2,436
|
|
|
|
(18,908)
|
|
Other income
(expense)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Interest expense,
convertible note - related party
|
|
|
(3,038)
|
|
|
|
(275)
|
|
Interest income
(expense)
|
|
|
(477)
|
|
|
|
2,387
|
|
Total other income
(expense)
|
|
|
(3,515)
|
|
|
|
2,112
|
|
Loss before income tax
expense
|
|
|
(1,079)
|
|
|
|
(16,796)
|
|
Income tax
expense
|
|
|
(756)
|
|
|
|
—
|
|
Net loss
|
|
$
|
(1,835)
|
|
|
$
|
(16,796)
|
|
Net loss per
share:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Basic and
diluted
|
|
$
|
(0.02)
|
|
|
$
|
(0.24)
|
|
Weighted-average common
shares outstanding:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Basic and
diluted
|
|
|
75,762,893
|
|
|
|
69,162,739
|
|
Analysis of Cash Flow
The following table summarizes
our cash flows for the periods indicated.
|
|
Three Months
Ended
|
|
|
|
March 31,
2024
|
|
|
|
(In
thousands)
|
|
Net cash provided by
(used in):
|
|
|
|
Operating
activities
|
|
$
|
(17,749)
|
|
Investing
activities
|
|
|
(25,863)
|
|
Financing
activities
|
|
|
5,259
|
|
Net (decrease) increase
in cash
|
|
|
(38,353)
|
|
Cash, cash equivalents
and restricted cash at beginning of period
|
|
|
139,971
|
|
Cash, cash equivalents
and restricted cash at end of period
|
|
$
|
101,618
|
|
Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Financial Measures
The
following tables present a reconciliation of the non-GAAP financial
measure included in this press release to the most directly
comparable GAAP measure:
Reconciliation of Adjusted EBITDA to Net Loss
We
define Adjusted EBITDA as net income (loss) before interest
expense, taxes, depreciation, amortization, stock-based
compensation expense and other items, which occur from time to time
and which we do not believe are indicative of our core operating
performance.
For the three months ended March 31,
2024 and 2023:
|
|
Three Months
Ended
|
|
|
|
March 31,
|
|
|
|
2024
|
|
|
2023
|
|
|
|
(In
thousands)
|
|
Net loss
|
|
$
|
(1,835)
|
|
|
$
|
(16,796)
|
|
Depreciation and
amortization
|
|
|
5,786
|
|
|
|
2,704
|
|
Stock-based
compensation
|
|
|
4,706
|
|
|
|
2,267
|
|
Other expense
(income)
|
|
|
3,515
|
|
|
|
(2,112)
|
|
Income tax
expense
|
|
|
756
|
|
|
|
-
|
|
Adjusted
EBITDA
|
|
$
|
12,928
|
|
|
$
|
(13,937)
|
|
For the trailing twelve months ended March 31, 2024 and 2023:
|
|
Last Twelve
Months
|
|
|
|
March 31,
|
|
|
|
2024
|
|
|
2023
|
|
|
|
(In
thousands)
|
|
Net loss
|
|
$
|
(30,850)
|
|
|
$
|
(80,050)
|
|
Depreciation and
amortization
|
|
|
18,400
|
|
|
|
9,797
|
|
Stock-based
compensation
|
|
|
13,393
|
|
|
|
9,824
|
|
Other
expense
|
|
|
2,235
|
|
|
|
521
|
|
Income tax
expense
|
|
|
756
|
|
|
|
-
|
|
Adjusted
EBITDA
|
|
$
|
3,934
|
|
|
$
|
(59,908)
|
|
For the 2024 full year financial outlook:
|
|
Year
Ending
|
|
|
|
December 31,
2024
|
|
|
|
Current
|
|
|
Prior
|
|
|
|
(In
thousands)
|
|
Net income
(loss)
|
|
$
|
2,000
|
|
|
$
|
(23,000)
|
|
Depreciation and
amortization
|
|
|
30,000
|
|
|
|
30,000
|
|
Stock-based
compensation
|
|
|
14,000
|
|
|
|
14,000
|
|
Other expense, net and
income tax expense
|
|
|
9,000
|
|
|
|
9,000
|
|
Adjusted
EBITDA
|
|
$
|
55,000
|
|
|
$
|
30,000
|
|
View original
content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/aspen-aerogels-inc-reports-first-quarter-2024-financial-results-and-recent-business-highlights-302133691.html
SOURCE Aspen Aerogels, Inc.