Aeva Technologies Inc (AEVA) 2025 Q4 法說會逐字稿

內容摘要

  1. 摘要
    • 2025 年 Q4 營收為 560 萬美元,全年營收 1,810 萬美元,年增約 100%,創公司新高;主因為感測器出貨量提升及多元應用拓展
    • 2026 年營收指引為 3,000~3,600 萬美元,年增 70%~100%;全年非 GAAP 營運費用預計與去年持平或小幅增加(最多 10%)
    • 市場反應未於逐字稿中揭露
  2. 成長動能 & 風險
    • 成長動能:
      • 獲得歐洲頂級乘用車 OEM 首個量產專案,Aeva 成為該 OEM(中國以外)全球獨家 LiDAR 供應商,預計 2028 年量產
      • Nvidia 選定 Aeva 為 Drive Hyperion 平台參考 LiDAR 感測器,帶動更多 OEM 導入
      • 與 LG Innotech 建立策略合作,LG 投資最高 5,000 萬美元並協助擴產,推進 4D LiDAR 於物理 AI、工業自動化等新市場應用
      • 防禦市場拓展,與 Forterra 合作,LiDAR 已開始出貨,並有多個國防專案洽談中
      • Eve 精密感測器已於 2025 年底開始出貨,預計今年工業感測器出貨量將成長五倍
    • 風險:
      • OEM 客戶 Level 3 自駕部署時程可能調整,雖目前未見直接影響,但產業時程具不確定性
      • 營收仍高度依賴少數大型 OEM 及新專案進度,若專案延遲將影響成長動能
  3. 核心 KPI / 事業群
    • 2025 年營收:年增約 100%,達 1,810 萬美元,主因感測器出貨量提升及多元應用拓展
    • 2025 年非 GAAP 營運損失:年減 17%,達 1.02 億美元,營運費用年減 12%
    • 2025 年底可動用流動性:2.47 億美元(現金及等價物 1.22 億美元 + 1.25 億美元未動用額度)
  4. 財務預測
    • 2026 年營收預估 3,000~3,600 萬美元,年增 70%~100%
    • 2026 年非 GAAP 營運費用預計與去年持平或小幅增加(最多 10%)
    • CapEx 由 LG Innotech 投資協助擴產,具體金額未揭露
  5. 法人 Q&A
    • Q: 請談談與 Nvidia 的合作關係,對未來有何影響?
      A: Nvidia 選定 Aeva 為 Drive Hyperion 平台參考 LiDAR,這是長期合作成果,已與 OEM 共同開發量產專案。該平台為多家 OEM(如 Mercedes-Benz、Uber、Stellantis 等)提供共通感測架構,Aeva 有機會成為多家 OEM 的核心供應商,尤其在 Level 3 及更高自駕應用。
    • Q: 關於新獲得的全球前五大乘用車 OEM,競爭態勢如何?Aeva 如何勝出?另外,國防市場的 pipeline 有多大?
      A: 該 OEM 有豐富 time-of-flight LiDAR 經驗,現正轉向 FMCW 技術,Aeva 憑藉差異化性能與平台優勢勝出,將於多車型、品牌部署。國防市場規模大,Aeva 已與 Forterra 合作並開始出貨,還有多個國防專案洽談中,預期短期內可成為營收重要來源。
    • Q: LG Innotech 在物理 AI 市場的角色?是否還需其他夥伴?
      A: LG Innotech 是關鍵合作夥伴,具備全球規模、資源與產業經驗,雙方正共同開發 Omni 360 度感測器等新產品,並針對工業自動化、機器人等市場拓展。LG 已投資約 5,000 萬美元並承擔部分 CapEx,未來將持續合作拓展新市場。
    • Q: 國防市場近期需求成長的驅動因素?Aeva 技術優勢為何?
      A: 國防預算年增,對 AI 與先進感測需求提升。Aeva LiDAR 可於無 GPS 環境下進行自我定位,具備長距離、速度偵測、且不被夜視鏡偵測等優勢,已成為 Forterra 等客戶選擇主因,國防應用已佔去年產品銷售近兩位數百分比。
    • Q: OEM 客戶近期對 Level 3 部署時程調整,是否影響現有或 pipeline 專案?
      A: 目前未見直接負面影響,反而因 OEM 決定升級技術棧,Aeva 得以切入新專案。多家 OEM 聚焦 2028~2029 年 Level 3 部署,Aeva 正好切入這一波技術轉換。

完整原文

使用警語:中文譯文來源為 Google 翻譯,僅供參考,實際內容請以英文原文為主

  • Operator

  • Good day. My name is Stephanie, and I will be your conference facilitator. I would like to welcome everyone to Aeva Technologies fourth quarter and full year 2025 earnings conference call.

  • (Operator Instructions)

  • As a reminder, today's conference is being recorded and simultaneously webcast. I would like to now turn the call over to Andrew Fung, senior director of Investor relations and corporate Development. Andrew, please go ahead.

  • Andrew Fung - Senior Director of Investor Relations and Corporate Development.

  • Thank you, and welcome, everyone, to Aeva’s fourth‑quarter and full‑year 2025 earnings conference call.

  • Joining us on the call today are Soroush Salehian, Aeva’s Co‑Founder and Chief Executive Officer; and Sara Sinna, Aeva’s Chief Financial Officer.

  • Ahead of this call, we issued our fourth‑quarter and full‑year 2025 press release and presentation, which we will refer to today. These materials can be found on our Investor Relations website at investors.ava.com.

  • Please note that on this call, we will be making forward‑looking statements based on current expectations and assumptions, which are subject to risks and uncertainties. These statements reflect our views only as of today and should not be relied upon as representative of our views as of any subsequent date.

  • These statements are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations. For further discussion of the material risks and other important factors that could affect our financial results, please refer to our filings with the SEC, including our most recent Form 10‑Q and Form 10‑K.

  • In addition, during today’s call, we will discuss non‑GAAP financial measures, which we believe are useful as supplemental measures of Aeva’s performance. These non‑GAAP measures should be considered in addition to, and not as a substitute for or in isolation from, GAAP results.

  • The webcast replay of this call will be available on our company’s website under the Investor Relations section.

  • And with that, let me turn the call over to Sureoush.

  • Soroush Salehian - Chief Executive Officer

  • Thanks, Andrew, and good afternoon, everyone.

  • 2025 was a transformational year at Aeva.

  • In an evolving industry, we significantly solidified our leadership position, with more customers adopting our unique perception platform and industry leaders partnering with us to further accelerate our momentum.

  • Coming out of one of our best CES events to date this past January, Aeva is building on that momentum and is off to a very strong start in 2026.

  • We see a growing number of exciting opportunities to pursue this year and are focused on aligning supply to respond to the rapidly increasing demand for Aeva’s suite of perception solutions.

  • This will build on 2025’s significant accomplishments. One of the biggest is our first major passenger‑vehicle production program award.

  • This award is from a top European passenger OEM, long known as a leader in the automotive industry, with a strong track record of bringing industry‑defining capabilities to market at mass volume.

  • Aeva will be the exclusive LiDAR supplier to this OEM globally, outside of China.

  • In addition, Nvidia selected Aeva as the reference LiDAR sensor for its Drive Hyperion development platform, which is being adopted by an expanding number of major OEMs to bring Level three and higher automation to production vehicles. This is another major validation for the need for LiDAR from one of the leaders in the industry.

  • As the core LiDAR sensor on the platform, Nvidia will incorporate our unique 4D data to enable OEM development, validation, and simulation, which we believe could further accelerate the adoption of Ava’s perception platform across the automotive industry.

  • We also continue to deliver on milestones for existing production customers, such as Daimler Truck.

  • With Daimler Truck, we successfully completed on‑road validation of our Atlas B samples and are on schedule to deliver final C samples this year.

  • As the exclusive long‑range LiDAR supplier and primary detection sensor for Daimler Trucks’ autonomous production trucks, we are excited to continue supporting their progress toward commercialization.

  • To advance a growing number of opportunities beyond automotive, we formed a strategic collaboration with LG Innotech to bring 4D LiDAR to a broad range of physical AI applications, where LG Innotech is already a major player with significant global scale.

  • The goal of our partnership is to leverage each other’s strengths to accelerate deployment of Aeva’s 4D LiDAR across multiple markets. As part of this, LG Innotech is investing up to $50 million in Aeva through a combination of an equity stake, nondilutive investment for new joint products for physical AI, and capital investments to bring production capacity online for our next generation of products.

  • Since forming the partnership last May, we have made quick progress on a number of fronts, including joint development of Omni, the new 360‑degree product that we unveiled at CES last month.

  • This is in addition to Aeva’s line of Eve precision sensors designed for micron‑level accuracy in factory‑automation applications.

  • Shipments of these sensors began in late 2025 to our initial customers, such as SICK, and are on track to ramp up this year.

  • I am pleased to say that Aeva’s financials also reflect our building momentum.

  • We doubled our revenue in 2025 to a new record for the company, driven by increasing sensor shipments and expanding applications.

  • To better position Aeva to meet this growing demand, we bolstered our balance sheet by approximately $150 million with leading partners LG Innotech and Apollo.

  • With one of the strongest balance sheets in the industry and expanding interest in our differentiated technology, we look forward to another exciting year in 2026.

  • Now let’s dig a bit more into recent business developments. Starting first with our global production program award from a top European passenger OEM.

  • This is the OEM we have been working with on a development program over the course of 2025 and previously referred to as a global top‑ten passenger OEM.

  • The award is significant for a couple of reasons. First, in scale the OEM sees Level three capabilities as a key differentiator for its next‑generation vehicles and is developing a standardized automated‑driving platform for broad deployment globally across multiple vehicle model lines, not just the top‑end models.

  • Aeva will act as the exclusive Tier one supplier globally, outside of China, through the middle of the next decade, with a target SOP in 2028.

  • Second, this win marks the first major passenger OEM transitioning from time‑of‑flight to FMCW.

  • This OEM has extensive experience with time‑of‑flight LiDAR, including an initial rollout of limited Level three capabilities.

  • The OEM selected Aeva for its next generation following extensive evaluation of other solutions and based on Aeva’s ability to help achieve key use cases needed to safely enable Level three on a broader scale.

  • Given this OEM’s reputation as an industry leader in bringing new features and capabilities to market at mass volume, we believe their selection of Aeva is a tremendous vote of confidence in the superior performance and scalability of our differentiated technology.

  • We expect this to deepen our engagements with other major OEMs and potentially drive others also considering our perception technology to make similar decisions.

  • With our growing pipeline and deepening engagements, I am happy to share that a new global top‑five passenger OEM has selected Aeva for a development program focused on configuration, integration, and validation of our Atlas Ultra sensor for their next‑generation global production‑vehicle platform.

  • The OEM selected Aeva after extensive experience with time‑of‑flight LiDAR and growing appreciation for our unique performance, which helps address key use cases critical to enabling higher levels of automation at scale.

  • We believe Aeva is well positioned, given our differentiated performance, balance sheet, and commercial momentum, with more leading OEMs awarding Aeva as well.

  • Another example of our growing momentum is Nvidia selecting Aeva’s 4D LiDAR as the reference sensor for its Drive Hyperion platform.

  • Nvidia is one of the top leaders in autonomous vehicles and works with some of the biggest OEMs and industry players, such as Mercedes‑Benz, Stellantis, Uber, and others.

  • Drive Hyperion provides a common platform for integrated sensor and compute designed for real‑world autonomous‑driving applications. The same architecture consisting of a common suite of LiDAR, radar, and cameras can support a wide range of vehicle types, from passenger vehicles to robotaxis to delivery fleets, across multiple configurations.

  • We believe Nvidia’s selection further solidifies the case for LiDAR to enable higher levels of automation and has the potential to accelerate adoption of our technology.

  • As the reference sensor on the Drive Hyperion platform, Nvidia is integrating our 4D data for OEM development, validation, and simulation. This has the potential to make Aeva a core LiDAR supplier to passenger and commercial‑vehicle OEMs using the platform globally, outside of China.

  • As OEMs incorporate Aeva’s added dimension of velocity into their AV stack, we believe it will drive greater collaboration with Aeva and increase reliance on our technology, positioning us well to win their production programs.

  • Beyond automotive, Aeva continues to expand into new applications. As we highlighted at Aeva Day last summer, our unique perception platform leverages the same core hardware components with different software to reach an $80‑billion‑plus market opportunity across a wide range of applications.

  • This includes the fast‑growing, multibillion‑dollar defense market, where LiDAR is increasingly used for autonomous vehicles, drones, and security.

  • We are engaged with a number of leaders in the space and recently announced our first defense win with Forterra.

  • Forterra, a key provider of autonomous mission systems for defense and other complex operational environments, has selected Aeva to use our LiDAR technology for its autonomous‑vehicle system, AutoDrive.

  • Forterra is transitioning to Aeva due to our combination of long range, velocity, and vehicle positioning that enhances perception in unstructured and GPS‑denied environments where defense vehicles need to operate.

  • Unlike existing solutions, our sensors are also undetectable by night‑vision systems, a critical feature in sensitive operational environments.

  • We believe the large defence market can be a meaningful portion of our business in the near term. We have already begun sizable shipments to Forterra as of last quarter and look forward to supporting this program, as well as other defence opportunities currently in progress.

  • Moving now to Aeva’s key objectives, let me start with a review of our 2025 goals before turning to our plans for 2026.

  • We set ambitious goals for 2025 that were designed to further position Aeva on a path for significant and sustainable growth, and it was an incredibly successful year.

  • We exceeded our target for two additional wins with a top European passenger‑OEM production win and Nvidia in automotive.

  • With SICK AG and LMI Technologies in manufacturing and factory automation, as well as others such as Sensus, GTO, and smart‑infrastructure applications.

  • In terms of product and manufacturing readiness, we successfully completed the final release for Atlas, as well as the build‑out of our automated final‑assembly line, which we expect will enable annual system capacity to reach the hundreds‑of‑thousands range.

  • As we will discuss later on, one of our objectives this year is to focus on increasing capacity across our supply chain in collaboration with key partners.

  • Aeva also made significant strides toward expanding into new applications, such as precision sensing with our Eve sensors which have already begun shipping and our strategic collaboration with LG Innotech, which has resulted in expansion into new physical‑AI and robotics applications with joint new products targeted for market release.

  • We accomplished all of this while meeting our financial targets to grow revenues by about 100% and reducing operating expenses by more than 10%.

  • Looking to 2026, we are focused on further solidifying our leadership position in sensing and perception and our path to profitability.

  • In particular, we are targeting four or more additional commercial wins this year, including automotive and non‑automotive applications.

  • At the same time, we will remain focused on upcoming production launches with our customers. We are on schedule to begin shipping our Atlas C samples to Daimler Truck this year and are working closely together ahead of start‑of‑production.

  • We also plan to further accelerate expansion within industrial robotics and the broader physical‑AI space with the release of Omni, targeted for the second half of this year, and a five‑times increase in industrial sensor shipments.

  • To support our growing programs, we will build on our efforts to scale manufacturing, achieved last year.

  • Key milestones will include beginning manufacturing on our fully automated final‑assembly line and working with key partners to increase module‑supply‑chain capacity to support our growing number of commercial wins.

  • And lastly, we plan to do all of this while continuing to strengthen our financial position.

  • Consistent with the financial framework we shared at Aeva Day last year, and consistent with our results over the past several years, we target another year of significant growth while maintaining similar levels of operating expenses.

  • To sum it up, we expect this year to be another major year for Aeva, with significant opportunities to advance our commercial momentum with new wins, while keeping our focus on supporting existing programs and financial discipline.

  • With that, I’ll turn it over to Saurabh.

  • Saurabh Sinha - Chief Financial Officer

  • Thank you, Sureoush, and good afternoon, everyone.

  • Before I walk through the financials, I want to emphasize the themes that defined our fourth‑quarter and full‑year 2025 performance.

  • We are seeing increasing near‑term commercial momentum in existing as well as new markets that have shorter sales cycles, while at the same time continuing to grow our mid‑term revenue potential with major program awards.

  • We are also strategically positioning Aeva with partnerships such as LG Innotech to further capture the rapidly growing number of opportunities across physical AI.

  • And we continue to do this with disciplined capital management supported by the strategic financing we completed earlier in 2025, which strengthens our liquidity and extends our runway through key milestones.

  • Now let me review Aeva’s Q4 and full‑year 2025 financial results.

  • We had a record revenue quarter and year for Aeva in 2025. Revenue in Q4 was $5.6 million, and for the full year was $18.1 million, which reflects the doubling of our revenues last year compared to 2024.

  • This increase in revenue was driven by higher sensor shipments across a number of customers and applications, as well as NRE revenues from customers such as Daimler Truck and the top European passenger OEM.

  • Our non‑GAAP operating loss was $23.8 million in Q4 and $102 million for the full year. On a full‑year basis, non‑GAAP operating loss declined by 17%, driven by a 12% reduction in non‑GAAP operating expenses.

  • Aeva’s gross cash use, which we define as operating cash flow less capital expenditure, was $23.7 million in Q4 and $119.7 million for the full year.

  • Aeva’s total available liquidity at the end of 2025 was $246.9 million, which consists of $121.9 million in cash, equivalents, and marketable securities, and $125 million in an undrawn facility that is fully aevailable to draw at management’s sole discretion.

  • We believe this provides Aeva with a competitive advantage to continue supporting both existing customers and securing additional wins across a broad range of applications.

  • Moving now to our financial outlook for 2026. At a high level, we expect to continue strengthening our financial performance consistent with the framework we highlighted at Aeva Day last summer.

  • More specifically, we target growing revenue to a range of $30 million to $36 million in 2026, which would represent an increase of approximately 70% to 100% year-over-year and marks our third consecutive year of a similar revenue trajectory essentially doubling annually.

  • The targeted growth in revenue is anticipated to come from a combination of increasing product shipments and increasing contributions from multiple programs as they approach production.

  • Where we land within our guided range will depend on the exact timing of customer shipments, development activities, and ramp. Consistent with prior years, we expect revenues to fluctuate from quarter to quarter.

  • In terms of spend, we plan to remain strategic and disciplined in how we manage our capital. We see opportunities to balance the need to invest in the business with the completion of certain product‑development costs, and as such, we target full‑year 2026 non‑GAAP operating expenses to be similar to the prior year, or with a slight increase of up to 10%.

  • So, in summary, Aeva is executing on its roadmap to capture more of the $80 billion‑plus market opportunity while maintaining a disciplined financial approach. Looking ahead, we expect this to continue, and we remain focused on maintaining a balance sheet that enables further expansion while continuing to deliver on our customers’ milestones.

  • Now let me turn the call back to Soroush for closing remarks.

  • Soroush Salehian - Chief Executive Officer

  • Thank you, Sureoush.

  • Across an expanding number of industries from automotive to industrial automation, robotics, and more the momentum for our perception platform to enable the rise of physical AI is increasingly clear and taking hold.

  • Coming off a landmark year at Aeva, I would like to thank the Aeva team for their dedication and tireless work, as well as our growing list of stakeholders for their tremendous contribution and support. I fully expect 2026 to be another major year for us, with a focus on execution and a growing number of opportunities to further strengthen Aeva’s leadership position and foundation for significant long‑term value.

  • And with that, we’ll now move to questions and answers.

  • Operator

  • (Operator Instructions)

  • Joseph Moore, Morgan Stanley.

  • Joseph Moore - Analyst

  • Great, thank you. I wonder if you could talk about the Nvidia relationship a bit more. I know we discussed the CES, but can you, how long have you been working with them? And can you sort of talk about what benefits you may see from that over time?

  • Soroush Salehian - Chief Executive Officer

  • Yeah, hi, Joseph, this is Sureoush. Happy to take that.

  • This Nvidia reference win for us is a major collaboration, and I think the biggest piece of it is that this is not just another collaboration where anyone can interface with Nvidia’s stack. This is the result of a period of effort we’ve been working together for quite some time, and we’re actively working on a production program for an OEM together.

  • So, first of all, it’s a validation for LiDAR itself because Nvidia is one of the top leaders in the AV space. Our partnership centers around the deployment of Atlas Ultra, as well as incorporating Atlas for all the OEMs developing on the Nvidia Drive Hyperion platform.

  • Why the Hyperion platform matters is because it is one common platform one reference set with the same LiDAR, the same radar, cameras, and the Nvidia processor with the software on top. That entire stack gets replicated across all OEMs that work with Nvidia. And that’s why we believe it has massive potential for us: with one partner, we get the potential for multiple OEMs that sign on.

  • As a result of that, and on the heels of our win with the top European OEM, we’re seeing increasing demand and a higher conversion rate for securing additional wins and bringing our products to market.

  • As OEMs leaders like Mercedes‑Benz, Uber, Stellantis, and others deploy this technology, we expect that the potential for our LiDAR sensor to serve as the reference set for these production programs will be very significant and critical, especially for deployments at Level three and beyond.

  • Joseph Moore - Analyst

  • Yeah, very cool. Congratulations.

  • Thank you.

  • Operator

  • Colin Rush, Oppenheimer and Company.

  • Colin Rusch - Analyst

  • Thanks so much, guys, and congrats on this top five development program. I would love to understand a little bit more with that top five passenger OEM the competitive dynamics, how many other folks are at the table, and where you really found some leverage in terms of being able to push yourself to the front on that. And then the second part of my question is really around the pipeline and the defence space.

  • Obviously, having the Forterra relationship is a great validation. But I’m curious about how robust the pipeline is around those defense applications as we move toward a more autonomous sort of military environment across the globe.

  • Soroush Salehian - Chief Executive Officer

  • Yeah, Colin, happy to take that. Thanks for your question.

  • So first of all, on the top five, I think the biggest thing for us is this is another major validation point for the transition from time‑of‑flight toward FMCW and the growing pipeline to your point about the pipeline for our technology and the company here.

  • First of all, this OEM has extensive experience with time‑of‑flight and existing LiDAR solutions. Based on our engagement and the joint development that we are doing now, they are increasingly transitioning and looking to adopt our technology. The reason for that is because they view FMCW as the key driver for future‑proofing their AV stack. That is important because there are certain use cases as the OEM is transitioning from the lower‑level automation to Level three and higher where they can take advantage of the differentiation from FMCW and from our perception stack. That is one of the key drivers for where we are today with them.

  • We are now progressing with the configuration and integration. It really surrounds our Atlas Ultra, but importantly, again, we are going to be working on one common platform that is built on the same Atlas Ultra product that we are deploying for the other top‑ten passenger OEM. With some tuning relevant to this OEM, mostly in software, this will deploy across multiple vehicle lines and across multiple car brands for the OEM’s global production platform. So one common platform that is going to go across multiple car brands.

  • That being said, given where we are, we believe Aeva is very well positioned, given both our differentiated performance, our technology platform, our balance sheet, and the growing commercial momentum for the company with our partners, to deliver on this program and also to continue our conversion rate from development toward production. We are excited to reach this point and to share this today already within a couple of months after some of the other announcements.

  • On your other point about defense, as I mentioned on the call and as you alluded to, this is a growing market. It is a massive market already, but it is one where we are seeing increasing interest in advanced sensing like LiDAR to enable autonomy at different levels, including for AGVs, autonomous ground vehicles for the ground, and also for drone applications. This is a multibillion‑dollar market.

  • Our first win with Forterra in defense was at the beginning of this year, and we are moving quickly on this. We have already started making sizable shipments to Forterra. And we have a number of other engagements in defence that we think could be a meaningful contributor to our near‑term product sales. That is something we are going to keep building on, and it is momentum we are seeing.

  • It is another proof point that the team here is ticking on multiple fronts. Aeva is one of the only pure‑play companies in the perception space that has real commercial traction both in automotive and non‑automotive applications. We are looking to leverage that and grow our scaling to support that demand, and that is the focus for this year.

  • Colin Rusch - Analyst

  • Appreciate the insight thanks.

  • Operator

  • Suji DeSilva, ROTH Capital.

  • Suji Desilva - Analyst

  • Hi, sir, congratulations on the customer announcement here. Maybe you can talk about the physical AI market. I know LG-I is a partner there but will LG-I be able to enable you to tap the global physical AI opportunity, or will you need other partners, to target various pockets of.

  • Soroush Salehian - Chief Executive Officer

  • Yeah, Suji, happy to answer that.

  • The rise of physical AI is super broad right now, and it is expanding pretty quickly. I think it is an area that is going to hinge on and rely on advanced sensing, including LiDAR and perception, significantly and increasingly in the coming years. But there is near‑term opportunity in physical AI.

  • As you mentioned, for us, with the same core platform and different software, we can address different markets automotive, manufacturing automation, or defence and we can also scale the performance to provide unique capabilities that are not achievable with existing LiDAR solutions in general. For example, getting to micron‑level accuracy for factory‑automation applications.

  • That relates directly to physical AI and robotics. In our strategic collaboration with LG, we see them as a key partner that can help us expand these markets. They have direct credibility, scale, resources, and, most importantly, commitment at the highest level from the CEO, CTO, and other leaders to bring together new products based on FMCW technology for those markets.

  • They are one of the largest suppliers of camera and vision modules to consumer companies like Apple. They deliver automotive solutions to a number of players in automotive, and they are also working on vision‑ and laser‑based solutions for the robotics market, including humanoids and others. That is something we are working on together.

  • Our first joint product is Omni, which is a 360‑degree sensor solution for the industrial‑robotics market, and I think that will be a big part of the physical‑AI application. We are also working on next‑generation products that we think can help address some of those other markets and customers that I mentioned earlier.

  • We are excited about that. I think we are in a very good position. They are very dedicated. They are investing significantly about $50 million into the company and also taking on the CapEx for that. I think that is a good sign, and we will continue to leverage our existing partners and deliver on the new‑market expansions that we are starting to see now.

  • Suji Desilva - Analyst

  • Okay, and then my other question on the defence market I’m just curious why you think now you’re seeing the interest and traction from the defence customers.

  • Is it your readiness, or their interest in something that is catalysing that? And also, is the competitive landscape different there, or what are they using currently that they may be upgrading to FMCW?

  • Soroush Salehian - Chief Executive Officer

  • Yeah, of course. I think, first of all, the defense budget is seeing significant growth year over year, and it is a big area. And I think we are seeing that also rely more and more heavily on AI‑based solutions AI‑based, edge‑based solutions and that is why having a perception system and not just a gadget is important here.

  • With our technology, there are a number of key advantages that explain why some of this acceleration of defence opportunities is happening, and I will give you one of those examples. For example, for ground vehicles and the one we have with Forterra one of the key challenges for applications in defence is when you have automated vehicles, you need to rely on sensors, including LiDAR.

  • There is no GPS; it is a GPS‑denied environment. With our technology, because we have the ability to do our own motion estimation and odometry, that helps with navigation in GPS‑denied environments. That is one of the advantages of FMCW.

  • We have long‑range sensing with velocity, which is critical because anything happening in the field in the battlefield that is dynamic is super critical to see immediately. So, we can instantly detect those.

  • And third, and very importantly, in the field when you use active sensing, if they are time‑of‑flight‑basing especially the time‑of‑flight sensors that are out there today they are very easily detectable by night‑vision goggles. Night‑vision goggles have very high penetration across the battlefield. This becomes problematic. One of the core drivers for our selection was the fact that with our technology, it is not visible in night‑vision goggles, besides all the other things I mentioned.

  • We are seeing that interest now from other players in the market, and we think that is why it is moving quickly. And we have already shipped actually, as part of last year we had sizable shipments in the defence application that were almost a double‑digit percentage of our product sales.

  • I think because of the agile movement and the new emerging players driving that, we are seeing ourselves being pulled into that market, which is quite exciting.

  • Operator

  • Richard Shannon, Craig Allum.

  • Richard Shannon - Analyst

  • Oh, hi, guys. Thanks for taking my question. I’m actually going to ask a follow‑on, kind of rephrasing a prior question I’d love to ask in a slightly different way and then have my own question here. And the first one is on the top‑five OEM specifically on the dynamic of competition here.

  • The way you phrased your answer, Sureoush, was kind of leaning heavily toward making me think that there is no other competition going on here, but I’d love to hear you state that or what you think is going on there. And then my question really is on the targeting for wins for this year. I would love to get a sense of how many of those you expect to be in the automotive space with higher‑volume opportunities. Thank you.

  • Soroush Salehian - Chief Executive Officer

  • Sure, Richard, good question. I’m happy to answer.

  • So, on the top‑five, obviously, let me say there has always been competition, but I think the competitive landscape has for sure consolidated. If you look at the pure‑play, capable companies that can compete, it is less.

  • One of the key drivers for our engagement with the OEM is because, from what we see and the feedback we receive, they are intending to make that transition to FMCW. From everything we see and the feedback we hear, that is going to happen, and what we are working together on is the timing and how we intercept that for the next‑generation vehicle platforms.

  • We are looking at options that we think could potentially accelerate and adopt and intercept an existing program, and we are also looking at opportunities that follow right after that. These have similar SOPs to the other passenger program, maybe slightly later to follow that up. That is what I can say right now. Obviously, a key differentiator is our technology.

  • The other piece of it, though, is that it is not just about the tech or having a cool gadget. You have to have all the automotive capability the certifications, the teams, and the experience and the ability as a Tier one supplier to deliver those.

  • And lastly, I think having a strong balance sheet helps us be a viable and long‑term partner to an OEM like that. The catalyst here for us has been the top‑ten passenger OEM followed by Nvidia. So, I think we are now seeing growing demand from multiple OEMs, including other top‑ten or top‑five OEMs that are in discussions with us about the adoption of our technology because they may have similar views.

  • I would say that is where we are. Obviously, we are just getting going, and we will provide more as we go forward, but overall we are pretty excited, and this is something we have been talking about for quite some time.

  • And then, to your other question about the wins for this year: we target about four wins for this year. My expectation is that it is going to be split fairly evenly so, let’s say, target two and two of each but it also depends on the timing of the customers and their decision‑making.

  • But I can tell you, we have multiple programs across each of these markets within automotive and passenger and commercial vehicles, and non‑automotive across the different sectors that provide us opportunities. I hope that we can even exceed that target, but we are just getting going on the year, and we are setting some aggressive targets. This is, by the way, two times more than what we targeted last year.

  • Operator

  • Matthew Patchouli, Kocor Genuity.

  • Matthew Patchouli - Analyst

  • Hey guys, congrats on the quarter and thank you for taking my questions. Maybe just start, we've seen some recent pullbacks, from OEMs kind of towards their level three deployments, do you fore see this impacting any of the existing programs that you have and maybe more broadly with anything that's in the pipeline, do you foresee any OEMs kind of delaying their timelines there?

  • Soroush Salehian - Chief Executive Officer

  • Yeah, sure, man. Happy to answer that.

  • So, actually, what is interesting is that some of the OEM programs that are looking to transition one of the reasons, as I said, is the fact that they are looking to future‑proof their stack. And what they see, based on the experience they built up with the existing stack and their solutions, is that there were some gaps.

  • And that is where the opportunity for us is quite interesting, because now this is a position where it actually helps us. One of the reasons, for example, that we have the Level three program with this top‑ten passenger OEM is because they decided to make that transition from another time‑of‑flight solution.

  • These folks, depending on who you are talking about, are now looking to focus all their efforts separate from Level two onto Level three for programs coming up a couple of years from now, by 2028. That is the timeline. We are seeing this focus from the market across multiple OEMs to achieve the same or similar goals by a similar timeframe between 2028 and 2029. And this is not just one OEM it is multiple.

  • And as you see, for example, from the announcement today on the top‑five, that is another one that has a similar timeline in mind. So, I think Aeva is coming at the right time. Some of those adjustments or transitions are actually coincidental with the OEMs making those decisions.

  • This does not mean that they are looking not to do Level three. They are actually looking to bring Level three with the right partners and the right stack as soon as possible, and they are putting all their focus on that besides the Level two program. So that is what I would say about the topic you mentioned.

  • Operator

  • Great Thank you. This concludes today's question-and-answer session. This brings us to the end of today's meeting. We appreciate your time and participation. You may now disconnect.