Velodyne Lidar Reports Third Quarter 2021 Financial Results

Proven technology executive, Dr. Theodore L. Tewksbury, to join Velodyne as Chief Executive Officer on November 10, 2021
35 total active multi-year agreements as of November 1, 2021
More than 4,400 sensor units shipped
Pipeline of 220 projects at November 1, 2021
$324.5 million of cash and short-term investments on the balance sheet at September 30, 2021

SAN JOSE, Calif. — (BUSINESS WIRE) — November 4, 2021 — Velodyne Lidar, Inc. (NASDAQ: VLDR, VLDRW), the leading lidar company, known worldwide for its broad portfolio of breakthrough lidar technologies, today announced financial results for its third quarter ended September 30, 2021.

Business and Financial Metrics

Units: Velodyne shipped a market leading more than 4,400 sensor units in the third quarter of 2021. The company also continued its leadership position in solid state sensor sales with more than 630 sensors sold.
Agreements: 35 total active multi-year agreements as of November 1, 2021.
Pipeline Strength: Velodyne’s multi-year agreement pipeline of projects grew to 220 at November 1, 2021.
Third quarter 2021 revenue of $13.1 million.
Revised full year 2021 revenue guidance to range between $60 and $63 million.
$324.5 million of cash and short-term investments on the balance sheet at September 30, 2021.

Drew Hamer, CFO of Velodyne Lidar, commented, “We are very excited that Dr. Theodore L. Tewksbury, a proven technology executive, will be joining Velodyne on November 10^th as our Chief Executive Officer. We believe his extensive leadership experience in addition to his engineering expertise will be instrumental in extending our technology and manufacturing leadership and geographic footprint in the lidar industry.

“The use of lidar today in our served markets and emerging target markets continues to gain momentum. We are moving into the first wave of mass commercialization, in certain markets such as Industrial and Robotics, as demonstrated by the larger volumes of product ordered by our customers, who are now expecting consistency of performance across and within our various product lines. This is a natural evolution from the R&D purchases our customers have done with us historically, where test samples were acceptable. As we prepare for large scale volume purchases to satisfy customer demands predicting linearity of shipping orders is uncertain but not indicative of our view of the growing market opportunity. With a robust balance sheet, we are focused on accelerating roadmap improvements in commercial and engineering execution to provide for our customers at the level and consistency of quality we, as the global lidar leader, can deliver. We expect to ship approximately 4,000 sensors in the fourth quarter, for a full year total of over 15,000, which would be up approximately 28% as compared to the full year 2020.

“At Velodyne, we are demonstrating how lidar-based autonomous technology is changing and shaping automotive and industrial sectors and helping create sustainable and efficient infrastructure. We believe we are the only lidar company today, through our hardware and software solutions, that can provide a full circle of autonomy and safety. We continue to work toward long-term stakeholder value through our mission to democratize lidar-based safety and autonomy.”

Since the company’s earnings call in August, Velodyne announced multiple key business developments and operational developments which affirm the company’s ongoing success and support its long-term outlook:

Operational

Dr. Theodore L. Tewksbury will join Velodyne as its Chief Executive Office on November 10, 2021. Tewksbury is a proven technology executive with more than 30 years of leadership experience across a series of public and private companies.
Virginia Boulet was appointed to Velodyne’s Board of Directors. A corporate governance expert, Boulet brings to the company more than 30 years of experience in corporate and securities law at New Orleans’ three largest firms, more than 22 years of experience serving on public boards and many years of experience teaching corporate and securities law at Loyola Law School.

Business

The University of California, Irvine selected Velodyne’s Intelligent Infrastructure Solution, or IIS, for its Smart Cities Initiative. IIS will be used at 25 intersections as part of a $6 million road network project in Irvine, California.
TOPODRONE, which is based in Switzerland and develops affordable, high-precision solutions for aerial surveys, signed a multiyear agreement for Velodyne’s sensors to be used for high-precision mapping and 3D modeling in demanding environments including farms, forests, infrastructure and more to support development that advances economic and sustainability goals.
AGM Systems has deployed the Alpha Prime lidar sensor on the AGM-MS5.Prime, AGM’s latest high-performance mobile scanning solution. This is the second sensor type AGM Systems has purchased from Velodyne.
MOV.AI is collaborating with Velodyne to provide robot manufacturers with enterprise-grade automation solutions, including mapping, navigation, obstacle avoidance and risk avoidance.
Announced Renu Robotics signed a multiyear agreement for Velodyne’s Puck™ Sensors to revolutionizing vegetation management for solar energy facilities.

Financial Highlights

Third Quarter Revenue: Total revenue of $13.1 million compared to $13.6 million in the second quarter of 2021. Product revenue was $11.8 million compared to $12.0 million in the second quarter of 2021. The overall product revenue was slightly down due to a combination of lower weighted average ASP than the prior quarter reflecting the ongoing evolution of the company’s product mix toward consumer affordable solid-state sensors and the company’s decision to standardize quality across and within its product lines, crucial for its customers as they ramp toward mass commercialization. License and services revenue of $1.3 million compared to $1.6 million in the second quarter of 2021.
Third Quarter Gross Loss: GAAP gross loss was $4.7 million and non-GAAP gross loss was $4.2 million, compared to a second quarter 2021 GAAP gross loss of $5.8 million and non-GAAP gross loss of $5.3 million. Both the third and second quarter’s GAAP gross loss included $0.5 million of stock-based compensation expense, including employer taxes.
Third Quarter Operating Expenses: GAAP operating expenses of $50.0 million and non-GAAP operating expenses of $33.4 million. Second quarter 2021 GAAP operating expenses were $83.3 million and non-GAAP operating expenses were $28.8 million. GAAP operating expenses included $16.3 million of stock-based compensation expense, including employer taxes, compared to second quarter 2021 GAAP operating expenses that included $53.6 million of stock-based compensation expense.
Third Quarter Net Loss and EPS: GAAP net loss was $54.7 million and non-GAAP net loss was $37.5 million. GAAP net loss per share was $0.28 and non-GAAP net loss per share was $0.19. This compared to a second quarter of 2021 GAAP net loss of $79.2 million and non-GAAP net loss of $34.4 million. Second quarter of 2021 GAAP net loss per share was $0.41 and non-GAAP net loss per share was $0.18.
Shares Outstanding: EPS for the third quarter of 2021 is calculated using weighted average shares outstanding of 196.2 million. As of September 30, 2021, actual shares outstanding were 195.9 million.
Liquidity: Velodyne completed the quarter with $324.5 million in cash and short-term investments on its balance sheet.
Nine Months Revenue: Total revenue for the nine-month period ended September 30, 2021, was $44.4 million, comprised of $34.3 million in product revenue and $10.0 million in license and services revenue. This compares to $77.5 million in the nine-month period ended September 30, 2020, of which $53.9 million was product revenue, including a one-time $11 million stocking fee, and $23.6 million was license and services revenue.
Nine Months Net Loss: GAAP net loss for the nine-month period ended September 30, 2021, was $174.8 million and non-GAAP net loss was $98.0 million. This compares to a GAAP net loss of $38.4 million for the nine-month period ended September 30, 2020, and $45.0 million in non-GAAP net loss.

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