Velo3D, Inc. (NYSE: VLD), a leading additive manufacturing technology company for mission-critical metal parts, today announced financial results for its fourth quarter and fiscal year ended December 31, 2021. Velo3D also appointed Ellen Pawlikowski to its Board of Directors.
Velo3D has strengthened its board of directors with the addition of General Ellen Pawlikowski, an experienced commander and board member with strong roots in the aviation, space, and defense industries. This background and her in-depth knowledge of customers’ needs will support the growth in adoption of Velo3D’s additive manufacturing technology within these critical industries.
Pawlikowski’s appointment to the board is effective March 15, 2022. Additionally, the 12-person board will decrease in size to nine members with the planned resignation of early company investors Ricardo Angel, Jory Bell, David Cowan, and Sven Strohband following the company’s successful completion of the public listing on The New York Stock Exchange.
In addition to being an accomplished leader, Pawlikowski is an engineer with experience in research, development, and testing and has a deep understanding of customer needs. Her business acumen coupled with technical expertise will help Velo3D during its period of rapid growth in adoption of its end-to-end metal additive manufacturing solution.
“The Velo3D team is focused on delivering real-world results and meeting the promises we’ve made to our customers, investors, partners, and employees, and Ellen’s track record shows she can help us meet our challenging goals to land and expand within critical industries and broaden the adoption of our additive manufacturing technology,” said Benny Buller, Velo3D CEO and Founder. “We’re honored to have Ellen join the board and her extensive experience working with innovators and leading organizations will help us capitalize on the blue-ocean opportunity ahead of us. I am also immensely grateful for the contributions of Ricardo, Jory, David, and Sven to the board over the course of their service and for believing in the vision of Velo3D.”
Pawlikowski currently serves on the boards of Raytheon, SRI international, and Applied Research Associates. She served in the U.S. Air Force for 36 years and retired as a 4-star general. Her last assignment was as the Commander of the US Air Force Materiel Command.
“Velo3D is a critical tool to innovation in the aerospace, aviation, and defense industries and I strongly believe that its technology can be transformative to its customers,” said Pawlikowski. “While it’s amazing to see how Velo3D is empowering customers to solve their biggest challenges today, I think that its additive manufacturing technology will be even more impactful on innovation in the future.”
Pawlikowski has a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley. She also has a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from the New Jersey Institute of Technology.
Financial results
“Our performance reflects strong execution as we exceeded our fourth quarter and fiscal year 2021 revenue forecast, surpassed our bookings target and achieved a key strategic milestone as we shipped our first Sapphire XC system which will be a significant driver of our growth in 2022,” said Benny Buller, CEO of Velo3D. “Overall, 2021 was an important and successful year for Velo3D, and I’m enormously proud of everything we achieved. Customer demand for our industry leading Sapphire systems remains high as we help some of the world’s most innovative companies create the future using our advanced additive manufacturing technology”.
“In addition to shipping a record number of systems in the fourth quarter, our strong bookings reflected increasing demand across a number of verticals as we execute on our land and expand strategy. For the year, shipments increased more than 75% and we continued to add new customers, including our first customer in Europe, which is a significant market opportunity we are looking to capitalize on this year. Also, we believe we remain well positioned to achieve our 2022 goals given our fourth quarter execution as well as the strong revenue visibility provided by our current backlog of 23 systems, including 18 Sapphire XC systems. As a result, we are reiterating our previous 2022 revenue guidance of $89 million,” continued Buller.
“Looking forward, we are excited about our long-term opportunities given our industry leading technology, continued execution on our growth plans and strong customer demand. Specifically for 2022, our strategic priorities will focus on expanding our new and existing customer footprint in both the U.S and Europe reflecting the increasing demand for our Sapphire XC system. Additionally, we will continue the buildout of our new manufacturing facility which will enable us to more than double annual shipments in 2022. Finally, we will remain focused on delivering the highest level of service possible to enable our customers to design and build the high value metal parts they need to succeed-without compromise,” concluded Buller.
Summary of Fourth Quarter and FY 2021 results
Revenue for the fourth quarter was $10.4 million, an increase of 20% compared to the third quarter of 2021. For fiscal year 2021, revenue rose 45% to $27 million. The improvement in revenue was driven primarily by higher Sapphire system sales as well as increased revenue from support services and recurring payment transactions due to the Company’s increasing installed base of systems.
The Company shipped a record 8 systems in the fourth quarter including its first Sapphire XC system. For 2021, the Company shipped a total of 23 systems compared to 13 systems in 2020, an increase of 77%, including shipments to 10 new customers. Finally, with the booking of 34 systems in 2021, the Company has increasing confidence in its ability to reach its revenue goals this year.
Gross margin for the quarter was 16% and primarily reflected the impact of launch customer price concessions for the Company’s first Sapphire XC system shipped during the quarter. This pricing reduced the Company’s gross margin for the fourth quarter by approximately 400 basis points and is expected to impact gross margin through the third quarter of 2022 as the Company completes the delivery of an additional 9 Sapphire XC systems under its launch customer contract. Additionally, as we gain experience with Sapphire XC production, the Company expects to lower its material costs and reduce labor and overhead expenses per unit. As a result of these efficiencies, the Company expects to achieve a gross margin of 30% in the fourth quarter.
Operating expenses for the quarter rose 26% sequentially to $20.8 million, primarily driven by increased headcount and other general and administrative costs to fund the Company’s global expansion plans. Non-GAAP operating expenses, which excluded stock-based compensation expenses of $2.6 million, were $18.2 million.
Net loss for the quarter was $14.4 million. Non-GAAP net loss, which excludes loss on fair value of warrants, gain on fair value of earn out liabilities and stock-based compensation, was $17.5 million. Adjusted EBITDA for the quarter, excluding loss on fair value of warrants, gain on fair value of earn out liabilities and stock-based compensation, was a loss of $14.7 million. For more information regarding the Company’s non-GAAP financial measures, see “Non-GAAP Financial Information” below.
The Company ended the quarter with a strong balance sheet with $223 million in cash and investments, which reflects the repayment of $20.8 million in debt. As a result, the Company believes it has the liquidity for ongoing technology investments, as well as providing the resources needed to fund its growth plans.
Guidance
For fiscal year 2022, the Company is providing the following guidance.
- Reiterating previous revenue guidance of $89 million
- Total bookings – 47-49
- Total shipments – 47-49
- Sapphire XC shipments – 23-25
- New customer additions – 23-25
For fiscal year 2022, given its significant backlog and increasing demand for its Sapphire XC solution, the Company remains confident in its ability to achieve its 2022 revenue forecast of $89 million.
The Company will host a conference call for investors this afternoon to discuss its fourth quarter 2021 performance at 2:00 p.m. Pacific Time. The call will be a webcast and can be accessed from the Events’ page of the Investor Relations section of Velo3D’s website at https://ir.velo3d.com/.
Link: www.velo3D.com
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