EV charging is redefining the concept of a home: Blink CEO

Blink Charging's (BLNK) revenue skyrocketed 130% in its latest quarterly report, positioning the company as a potential frontrunner in the EV charging space. Blink Charging CEO and President Brendan Jones joins Yahoo Finance Live to discuss why he believes Blink's growth trajectory will persist, describing it as the "most versatile company."

Jones acknowledges the narratives of slowing EV demand within auto markets, but counters: "We are still seeing growth across the segment." Additionally, he points out that the "fleet segment is on fire" despite waning spending seen in consumer segments, with apartment buildings and broad-base infrastructure adopting EV charging "growing the fastest."

Jones emphasizes Blink's commitment to diversification, stating: "We are the guys who always have a solution to whatever site it is, no matter what." He believes this versatility has fueled revenue gains because the company doesn't "give up revenue" but instead searches for ways to make their charging stations compatible with whatever site desires them.

For more expert insight and the latest market action, click here to watch this full episode of Yahoo Finance Live.

Editor's note: This article was written by Angel Smith

Video Transcript

RACHELLE AKUFFO: Blink Charging shares trading to the downside today. This comes after a mixed earnings report last week. The company reducing its full-year 2024 guidance but reporting a 130% growth in its 2023 revenue. A tough year for the company so far though, its stock losing over 17%.

To break down what's next for the company, we have Brendan Jones, Blink Charging CEO. Thank you so much for joining us this morning. So I want to dig into the earnings a little bit first here. How much of that is a product of the macro environment and some of the decisions that we've seen the major car makers make in terms of pulling back on some of their EV commitments?

BRENDAN JONES: Well, first, we have to recontextualize our earnings. We were up considerably well over 100% year over year. So Blink is actually experienced exponential growth from 22 into 23. And in fact, we even saw a EV increase last year. The automotive sector for EVs in the US finished at 8% open rate versus new vehicle sold. And in California, that was 25.

In February, we saw it hit almost 10%. So while there's a lot of news stories out there, it's still-- we're still seeing growth across the segment. And then Blink, of course, has shown exponential growth, highest revenue target at over $140 million.

And we believe that we're gonna continue to grow in 2022. It might not be at the same level. And there might be a little bit of slowdown in the growth factor. But overall, the industry is and will continue to grow.

AKIKO FUJITA: I mean, Blink is uniquely positioned to really be able to see, you know, where a lot of your clients are expecting EVs to go, whether it is in the investment in the chargers, whether it's in the manufacturing. What are you finding in that right now? Yes, things--

BRENDAN JONES: Hopefully.

AKIKO FUJITA: --EV transition is still happening. But we are seeing a rate of adoption slowing. Is that affecting the investments clients are making in these chargers?

BRENDAN JONES: No, not at this time. So again, you know, 8% moving up to 9%. We also operate fairly significantly in Europe as well where we're seeing 20%, 30%, and 40% EV penetration rates across the countries we're active in. 5 in 1 electric vehicles, that was the ratio globally. That's gonna improve over time as well.

So there's a lot of news stories. You see individual automakers that are contracting, others that are looking to expand. So we don't see it now. What's also happening is that the different fields are expanding. So while the consumer segment, which is primarily passenger cars, the fleet segment is on fire.

And in terms of charging, we're seeing a lot of activity now finally penetrating multifamily dwellings, apartment buildings, garage-based infrastructure. And those are the segments that are growing the fastest for EV charging right now.

RACHELLE AKUFFO: And, Brendan, I do want to ask you about this strategic shift from direct sales to a dealer partnership model most recently expected to expand in Rockville, Maryland, not too far from here in DC. Talk about that decision to make that shift and how you see that really impacting the greater ecosystem for Blink.

BRENDAN JONES: Well, Blink is a-- we're the most versatile company out there. If you want to buy a charger from us, no problem. You want us to provide network services, we do that. If you want us to come on your property and own and operate the charger and derive our income from the kilowatt sales, we'll do that as well. So it's more diversification for Blink.

We're the guys that walk in. And we always have a solution for whatever site host it is, no matter what. We don't give up revenue. We provide a solution. And we custom tailor that solution to whatever our site host or client's needs are.

AKIKO FUJITA: Brendan, I want to get back to your comment about multifamily units and where you're seeing growth there because for so long, when you look at the charging landscape, I mean, that has been a huge void.

When so many Americans actually live in apartments in multifamily units, I mean, how much growth are you anticipating there? And are we still talking about level two, expecting that these are drivers who want to just be charging overnight?

BRENDAN JONES: Yeah, according to most of the data out there-- and this is from McKinsey, PricewaterCooper House, Bloomberg's, just to name a few-- over 90% of the kilowatts that are gonna be deployed are gonna be level two charger. So that's the charger no matter what we hear.

But, you know, in the US, the share of voice is towards the DC fast charger when the workhorse is actually level two. Now, what we have to redefine in this industry is what the home is. And the home is not a single-family home. The home is a condo. The home is an apartment building. The home is where someone lives.

Now, working in collaboration with state and federal government and local municipalities, we're beginning to get legislation in place to penetrate condo associations, garage-based infrastructure. Even in some states, now it's mandated. If you're gonna repave or relight your garage, you have to add a certain percent of EV infrastructure to that.

More legislation and cooperation is needed on a state and local level to drive this. But these are the vehicles of the future. So we need to do the structural adjustment today to be able to reap the rewards later on.

RACHELLE AKUFFO: And, Brendan, just quickly, I want to ask about AI investments that Blink is looking at, everything from, sort of, customer prediction of where those needs are going to be, even in terms of the pressure that it puts on the grid in certain places. What sort of investments is Blink making in that space?

BRENDAN JONES: So we have our CTO working hard on this topic as many other companies do right now as well. So the first investment is gonna be on the customer satisfaction side, both on the service side and the reaction time, to making sure we're serving our customers best when either they call in for a problem or we need to roll a truck to service a charger in the field. This is gonna be the first step.

Then we'll take AI from a sales and marketing and how to be more responsive to our customer in terms of communications and identifying early trends of where chargers need to be. And that's the step we're actively working on. And we'll even have some announcement. We'll bring some third-party players on that to help us get it right.

AKIKO FUJITA: Yeah, AI is certainly gonna be key to also ensure that the grid isn't strained as a result of more charging.

BRENDAN JONES: Absolutely as well.

AKIKO FUJITA: Great conversation there. Brandon Jones, always good to talk to you, Blink Charging CEO. I appreciate your time today.

BRENDAN JONES: As well. Everybody have a great day. Thank you.