Aqua Metals, Inc. (NASDAQ:AQMS) Q3 2023 Earnings Call Transcript

Aqua Metals, Inc. (NASDAQ:AQMS) Q3 2023 Earnings Call Transcript November 8, 2023

Aqua Metals, Inc. beats earnings expectations. Reported EPS is $-0.04, expectations were $-0.05.

Operator: Good afternoon and welcome to the Aqua Metals' Third Quarter Financial Results Conference Call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. A question-and-answer session will follow the formal presentation. [Operator Instructions] Please note that this conference is being recorded. It's now my pleasure to turn the conference over to your host, Bob Meyers of FNK Investor Relations. You may begin Bob.

Bob Meyers: Thank you, operator and thank you everybody for joining. Earlier today, Aqua Metals issued a press release providing an operational update and discussing financial results for the third quarter ended September 30th, 2023. This release is available on the Investor Relations section of the company's website at aquametals.com. Hosting the call today are Steve Cotton, President and Chief Executive Officer; and Judd Merrill, Chief Financial Officer. Before we begin, I would like to remind participants that during the call, management will be making forward-looking statements. Please refer to the company's report on Form 10-K filed March 9th or Form 10-Q filed today, November 8th, for a summary of the forward-looking statements and the risks, uncertainties, and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those forward-looking statements.

Aqua Metals cautions investors not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements. The company does not undertake and specifically disclaims any obligation to update or revise such statements to reflect new circumstances or unanticipated events as they occur except as required by law. As a reminder, after the formal remarks, we will be taking questions. [Operator Instructions] We will take as many questions as we can in our available time slot. And with that, I'd like to turn the call over to Steve Cotton, CEO of Aqua Metals. Steve, the call is yours.

A closeup of a CO2 laser cutting through a piece of metal, demonstrating precision motion.

Steve Cotton: Thank you, Bob and thank you to everyone who joined us today. Our strategy focus is paying off as we have made significant progress in commercializing our innovative technology. This strategy honed on lessons learned as the industry has matured is based on self-sustainability and measured growth. The rechargeable battery industry is still in its early stages and is susceptible to growth in the electrification of cars, the slow expansion of a charging infrastructure, and technological innovation and batteries themselves. The overall trajectory, however, remains steep. But short-term fluctuations in growth rates, investments and commercialization are to be expected. In contrast to others in the industry, Aqua Metals has built a strategy that can expand with multiple revenue streams, at a measured pace, and most importantly, does not involve a singular mass of capital expenditure.

Unlike others, we do not plan to build first a massive and expansive plant requiring government grants or loans to succeed. Put another way, we do not need to spend $1 billion in CapEx to make $1 billion in revenue. With our unique technology and engineering design, our commercial plant is expected to require about half of the CapEx per ton of our closest competitor due to the inherent efficiency of our process and because our ability to scale at a metered pace requires half of the capital cost of other technologies, we have significantly greater flexibility in our funding mechanisms. We can certainly apply for government grants and loans, and we are doing so. If those avenues do not come to fruition, we can use traditional debt to finance our growth because we will be in a better position to service that debt due to our greater efficiency and the significantly smaller capital needs.

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