Airgain (NASDAQ:AIRG) Q2 2026 Earnings Call

0:00 Good afternoon. Welcome to Airgain's Second Quarter twenty twenty six Conference Call. My name is Jasmine, and I will be your operator for today's call. Joining us today are Airgain's President and CEO, Jacob Soon and CFO, Michael Elbans. As a reminder, this call will be recorded and made available for replay via a link found in the Investor Relations of Airgain's website at investors.airgain.com. Following management's prepared remarks, the call will be opened for questions from Airgain's covering analysts.

0:50 I caution listeners that during this call, Airgain's management will be making forward looking statements about future events as well as Airgain's business strategy and future financial and operating performance. Actual results could differ materially from those stated or implied by these forward looking statements due to risks and uncertainties associated with the company's business. These forward looking statements are qualified by the cautionary statements contained in today's earnings release and Airgain's SEC filings. This conference call contains time sensitive information that is accurate only as of the date of this live broadcast, 08/05/2026.

1:40 Airgain undertakes no obligation to revise or update any forward looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this conference call. In addition, this conference call will include a discussion of

1:57 non GAAP financial measures. Please see today's earnings release for further details, including a reconciliation of GAAP to non GAAP results. Now, I'd like to turn the call over to Airgain's CEO, Jacob Soon.

2:19 Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for joining us. The second quarter marked another meaningful step forward for Airgain. Revenue increased 19% sequentially to $13,700,000 We achieved positive adjusted EBITDA, and we advanced important customer programs across the business. Enterprise and automotive continued their revenue growth trajectories, while consumer sales remained relatively stable, supported by Wi Fi seven demand and strong Tier one relationships.

3:05 We enter the second half with a stronger foundation than we had at the beginning of the year. Customer engagement is deeper. Our pipeline is more mature, and more programs are progressing from evaluation into trials and deployments. We are encouraged by this progress, and we are increasingly confident in the direction of the business. Our priorities are clear, built on the momentum in our core businesses, convert the AirgainConnect pipeline into revenue, advance Lighthouse toward commercialization and increase the operating leverage of our business model.

3:54 Let me start with AirgainConnect. During the second quarter, we continued to expand our AirgainConnect portfolio through our work with FirstNet built with AT and T. We added Mega5 II and MegaGO II, both FirstNet's TracStat solutions that use high power technology designed for demanding coverage environments. Together with AC Fleet and GoKit Pro, AirgainConnect now provides multiple connectivity solutions for vehicle, fixed, portable and rapid response applications. The portfolio serves first responders, utilities, transportation, energy and other critical field operations.

4:52 Through FirstNet, AT and T offers Airgain's HPUE vehicle solution for public safety customers. Airgain also retains the ability to offer its HPV technology through other carrier networks globally. This broader portfolio gives customers greater deployment flexibility, simplifies installation, and improves operational readiness. It also gives Airgain more entry points with customers and more ways to support them as their connectivity needs expand. The AirgainConnect pipeline continued to grow since our last call and now includes approximately 60 Tier one and Tier two opportunities.

5:49 Our focus is increasingly on pipeline conversion, and more than half of the pipeline is now in trial or post trial stages, up from approximately one third since our last call. The mix remains balanced with approximately 55% of opportunities in first responder markets and 45% in utilities and other commercial fleet applications. In Q2, we secured five Tier two design wins across AirgainConnect, four are with first responder organizations, and one is with a utility company.

6:39 One of these wins is with a large county wide public safety customer covering fire, ambulance and police fleets. The potential deployment spans more than 1,000 vehicles, but units are expected to be added in phases of vehicles enter service. This illustrates how these programs can begin modestly and grow into meaningful long term opportunities. We are also in the final phase of the sales cycle for a Tier one first responder opportunity, which we are targeting to close by the end of the year.

7:25 Work remains before a final award, including customer specific certification requirements. We are making the necessary investments because the opportunity demonstrates the scale of the programs we are pursuing, and the certification can be leveraged to other lead opportunities as well. Hailure relationships are an important part of our go to market strategy. As announced in June, we expand our work with FirstNet built with AT and T across public safety, utilities, and other critical field operations.

8:11 Under this model, carrier sales teams help identify and advance customer opportunities, while Airgain supports product demonstrations, trials, integration, and customization. This extends our commercial reach and helps move qualified opportunities toward deployment. We have also developed a plug and play AirgainConnect configuration for the AT and T channel with the eSAM and required cabling pre installed. The goal is to simplify evaluation and deployment for utilities, sanitation fleets, and other non first responder customers, while working to expand this carrier enabled model to additional markets.

9:08 We continue to strengthen our relationship with carriers and the FirstNet authority with the support of well respected industrial veterans. Most recently, Jim Begle, former President of AT and T FirstNet and a member of the prestigious Wireless Hall of Fame Class of 2026, has joined Airgain as a strategic advisor. Jim will help us deepen relationships with public safety, the FirstNet authority and large fleet OEMs. We believe the pipeline for AirgainConnect has reached a stable level, and our emphasis is now on execution, advancing trials, supporting post trial requirements and helping customers move into phased deployments.

10:08 We believe this is the right approach to build a durable AirgainConnect business. Turning to Lighthouse, we continue to prioritize The U. S. Market opportunity given the ongoing geopolitical dynamics in The Middle East. We are deepening our engagement with domestic mobile network operators, service providers, enterprises and communities. We now have two scheduled end customer trials in The U. S. That collectively support coverage across all three major carriers. This represents meaningful progress from our prior U. S. Testing, which was conducted primarily with a network provider.

11:03 The first trial is with a large logistics company seeking to improve coverage across its operating environment. Our current production ready configuration supports the mid band spectrum used by AT and T and Verizon. The second trial is with a residential community seeking to address coverage gaps commonly experienced by large communities and HOAs. Our new configuration extends Lighthouse to the spectrum used by T Mobile, and we expect preproduction samples during Q3. In Q3, we also secured an international customers trial for our integrated four gs and five gs combo solution.

11:59 Initial samples are expected this quarter as well. These trials address a common problem, inconsistent cellular coverage across large operating environments and communities. Traditional solutions can be expensive, disruptive, and slow to deploy. Lighthouse is designed to provide a faster and more cost effective alternative while giving mobile network operators control over network performance. We also continue to advance our engagement with a Tier one U. S. Mobile network operator previously mentioned.

12:45 We are now working through the final certification and approval process for its enterprise offering, and the operator has identified several customers for potential trials. Our commercial approach combines a top down and bottom up strategy. We work with the MNOs to obtain network approval and reach enterprise accounts. At the same time, we engage directly with end customers, including enterprises and communities, to validate the need and create demand. Service providers and system integrators remain important deployment partners.

13:32 While we are making very good strides with Lighthouse, we view Lighthouse primarily as a 2027 revenue opportunity. Our near term objective is to complete trials, establish reference deployments, and demonstrate a repeatable commercial model. Any revenue before then would be incremental to that plan. Now, turning to our core markets. Enterprise IoT was the main driver of our sequential growth in second quarter, and we expect it to remain an important growth driver in Q3. Demand from our long standing end customers continues to increase, primarily in the energy monitoring applications, and we see renewed activity in the EV charging market.

14:32 Shipments under the previously announced $4,000,000 purchase order accelerated and are now expected to be completed by the end of this quarter. In parallel, we continue to expand opportunities in emerging applications such as robotics, drones, and data centers. Cocoa Robotics is preparing to launch its next generation autonomous delivery vehicles, and we expect the program to begin ramping up production shipments this quarter. Initial production shipments for a drone application are also expected to begin this quarter.

15:19 The near term revenue contribution is modest, but the program expands our presence in autonomous and mission critical applications. Finally, we recently secured a design win for remote energy monitoring in data centers, with revenue expected to begin in early twenty twenty seven. This win extends the Skywire platform into the growing data center connectivity market and creates a reference point for similar opportunities. IoT order patterns can be uneven, so we are not assuming the current growth rate will continue every quarter.

16:06 Still, the recovery in established programs and the breadth of newer applications give us greater confidence in the long term opportunity.

16:19 The near term picture in consumer is more mixed. Q2 revenue was relatively stable, supported by Wi Fi seven antenna shipments and demand from Tier one service providers. We're managing two distinct factors that are affecting consumer during Q3. The first is the continuing memory shortage. Rapid growth in AI infrastructure is causing suppliers to prioritize high bandwidth memory, tightening the availability and increasing the cost of the standard memory used in home gateways. The timing of improvement in the environment remains uncertain.

17:09 The second factor was the FCC ruling, which affected the timing of our MNO's new product launches. Our OEM partners have recently received conditional approvals. As a result, this issue contributed to shipping delays in the second half. Based on our backlog and customer forecast, we expect consumer revenue to decline sequentially in Q3, which is reflected in our guidance. Importantly, these timing issues do not reflect a change in underlying demand. Our solution spans multiple OEM platforms and service providers, reducing our reliance on any one gateway supplier.

18:04 Wi Fi seven and our Tier one MNO programs remain important long term growth drivers. We have secured the inventory required to support our current AirgainConnect and lighthouse plans into 2027, limiting the near term impact on these growth platforms. With that, I'll turn the call over to Michael. Thank you, Jacob. Before diving into the numbers, please note that my review of our financial results and guidance refers to non GAAP figures. Information about the non GAAP financial measures, including GAAP to non GAAP reconciliations, can be found in our earnings release.

18:53 Now, let's turn to our second quarter results. Q2 sales were $13,700,000 slightly above the midpoint of our guidance range and up 0.7% year over year, marking our first quarter of year over year growth in six quarters. Sequentially, Q2 sales increased $2,200,000 or 19% driven by growth across all our markets. Enterprise sales were $6,700,000 up $1,700,000 sequentially driven by higher IoT modems and custom product sales. Automotive sales were $1,200,000 up $300,000 sequentially reflecting higher sales of AirgainConnect vehicle gateways.

19:50 Consumer sales were 5,800,000 sequentially up $200,000 driven by Wi Fi seven antenna shipments. Non GAAP gross margin for the second quarter was 43.6% compared to 44.2% in the prior quarter and relatively flat year over year. The sequential decline was primarily due to a change in product and customer sales mix. Non GAAP operating expenses were $5,700,000 down $400,000 sequentially and down $800,000 or 12% year over year reflecting continued expense discipline.

20:39 Separately, GAAP operating expenses included $600,000 in severance expenses associated with the headcount reduction we mentioned on our last call. These actions align resources with our highest priority, development and customer programs. In Q2, adjusted EBITDA was $400,000 $200,000 higher than the midpoint of guidance. Adjusted EBITDA improved by $1,300,000 sequentially on higher sales and lower expenses, highlighting the operating leverage in our business model.

21:21 Non GAAP EPS was $0.2 $0.1 above the midpoint of guidance and an improvement of zero one zero dollars from the prior quarter. As of 06/30/2026, our cash balance was $7,600,000 $500,000 higher than the prior quarter. Net cash proceeds from our ATM were $1,000,000 Now moving to our outlook for the third quarter ending 09/30/2026. As a reminder, we provide quarterly guidance for sales, non GAAP gross margin and expenses, non GAAP EPS and adjusted EBITDA as we believe these metrics to be key indicators for the overall performance of our business.

22:14 For the third quarter of twenty twenty six, we project sales to range from $14,250,000 to $16,250,000 with a midpoint of $15,250,000 The midpoint represents 11% sequential growth driven by continued strength in enterprise and automotive, partially offset by the projected sequential decline in consumer that Jacob just discussed. We expect non GAAP gross margin to range from 41.5% to 44.5%, with a midpoint of 43%. The sequential change at the midpoint primarily reflects the anticipated decline in consumer market sales.

23:05 We are experiencing higher component and module costs, but we have offset these increases through pricing and product cost initiatives. We project non GAAP operating expenses to be approximately $6,000,000 Non GAAP EPS is expected to be positive $04 at the midpoint of our guidance. Adjusted EBITDA is expected to be positive $700,000 at the midpoint of our guidance.

23:36 Now, I would like to turn the call back over to Jacob for his closing thoughts. Jacob? Thanks, Michael. Q2 reinforce our confidence in the directions of the business. We deliver on our commitments and enter the second half with building momentum. Our Q3 outlook reflects continued sequential growth and improved profitability, with operating expenses expected to remain relatively stable. We should generate greater operating leverage as revenue scales. We are also making tangible progress across our growth platforms. AirgainConnect is producing design wins and moving more opportunities through trial and post trial stages.

24:29 Lighthouse is advancing into scheduled U. S. End customer trials as we continue working through the approval process with a Tier one mobile network operator.

24:42 We are encouraged by our progress, but we recognize that converting these opportunities takes time and consistent execution. Our priorities are clear: deliver our Q3 outlook, convert more customer programs into revenue, and expand adjusted EBITDA through gross margin improvement and disciplined growth. Operator, we are now ready to take questions.

25:17 Thank you. We will now take questions from Airgain's sell side analysts. Our first question is from Jason Schmidt with Lake Street Capital Markets.

26:03 Please go ahead. Hey, guys. Thanks for taking my questions. Just want to start with AirgainConnect. Obviously, it sounds like the funnel continues to expand with, I think you noted over 50% in trials or post trial stages. How should we think about those trials converting to orders and revenue and the timing around that?

26:30 Hi, Jason. Yes, great questions. On the AirgainConnect, yes, definitely, we are very encouraged about the progress. And as I indicated in the call, in second quarter, we were able to convert five of those design wins. So we're hoping to be able to continue to increasing that rate. While we cannot giving you a precise number, our goal is to convert at least a third of that every quarter. That's going to be the goal. We're also really close to closing a Tier one opportunity. We're really wrapping up the last stage, which is just the certification. So that should also really help the second half growth as a whole.

27:20 Okay. That's helpful. And then just following up on your comments on the drone applications, understanding it's minimal revenue here in the near term. But can you discuss what you're seeing in that market and if you continue to target other customers in that space?

27:41 Yes. Certainly, we're very excited about this particular opportunity relating to our IoT product. So this particular application, it's actually using our IoT modem to help us its brain so to speak. For drone applications, we're also seeing a number of those using our automotive product,

28:07 including our AirgainConnect solutions as well. In that setup, they're using our AirgainConnect actually on the vehicle to be able to improve communications with the drone. So we're seeing a number of those opportunities using our overall product. And to give you more color on this, Jason, this is pretty exciting to see on the Skywire modem growth altogether. We've been very much entrenched with end customers that are very much into the application of energy monitoring, HVAC, you name it. It's basically very industrial and but those are very resilient type of markets.

28:52 Seeing new applications such as robotics a couple of quarters ago and then drones this quarter and then we started to engage with a couple of companies on a data center remote monitoring application that is good to see that those new market application provide future growth specifically for 2027. At this point in Q3, we're counting on the robotics company to start the initial shipments on production units. We expect to see production units next quarter with a drone company and at the same time, data center should be in the early part of twenty twenty seven. But we're using those references points, to your point there, to really try to expand that type of a base and market applications.

29:44 Got you. No, I appreciate that color. I'll jump back into queue. Thanks a lot, guys. Thank you. Our next question is from Anthony Stokes with Craig Hallum. Please go ahead.

30:04 Thanks. Good afternoon, Jacob and Michael. I wanted to follow-up on Jason's questions on the AirgainConnect, the pipeline. I'm curious what you're learning so far with the companies that have been in trial and the five that you converted what they liked. Also maybe it'd be helpful if you know the numbers or a rough estimate, how many total vehicles are in those 60 opportunities? Just trying to get a sense of average deal size perhaps and anything else you might be willing to share?

30:33 Yes, absolutely, Tony. So in terms of the 60 deals that we are tracking, those are Tier one and Tier two deals. Tier one, if you recall, those are 500 plus vehicle fleet. Tier two are between fifty and five hundred vehicles. We used to give a statistic on the Tier three, which are below 50 vehicles, but those are going to go through distribution channel very quickly on that. So our focus is on Tier two and Tier one because those are going to be the meaningful path to revenue. If you recall about a year ago, we started to also define the overall cycle time that it would take to close from first contact or first interest or expression of interest to the revenue generation.

31:23 And we mentioned that the Tier two would take about 12 to I'm sorry, about nine to fifteen months, so about twelve months on the average a year. And the Tier one would be about twelve months to

31:35 eighteen months. And we happen to be right on that schedule right now with the Tier two starting to ramp up from a closure standpoint, five in Q2, we're very excited about that. I believe last quarter we had one. Those five represents four first responders fleet and one utility company. What I can tell you is that the orders as we are seeing from our POS data, is taking place on all of five companies. So they are starting the deployment phase And of course, we're hoping that that deployment takes place over the next two, three quarters altogether. For the Tier one, it is a more complex type of a sale because it has multi layered type of contacts and approval, sometimes certification from different departments and sometimes in many cases executive level approval.

32:29 So this is more of a consultative type of an approach where we have been bringing together an overall ROI analysis working together

32:38 to be able to anticipate some of the savings and the performance improvement as well too. So those require more trials and under different type of conditions and we're going through that. One thing that I can share as well too is the Tier one, Tier two of about 60 deals right now, I would say that 70% of that is Tier two and about 30% of that is Tier one. And other Tier one, what's interesting is that the majority are non first responders. Those are fleet that are definitely very large across the whole U. S. In many cases and at the same time, they are looking at this as an important type of decision because this is having a gateway. Whereas on the Tier two, I would say that about 70% of that is first responders and those are the smaller size that are looking for that simplification that we bring all the critical range that we can offer especially with Omega-five II. I hope that helps. Yes. I mean, I'll add a little bit more color to what Michael just saying about the differentiation.

33:43 It's becoming very clear to us that for the non first responder vehicle, most of them don't have that trunk space. Those are like the sanitation vehicles. Those are like pest control vehicles and other street vehicles. They don't have that trunk space. So the current setup, it's a router on the back, which is not acceptable to them. So most of them are using a a TiVilla or even to say mobile device that doesn't give them that coverage. And what AirgainConnect is able to offer to them is this all in one option that they are really intrigued. And in working with the network operators, there was a major Tier one opportunity that basically AirgainConnect is the only viable solution to them and also going to help them save a lot of these content instead of paying multiple data plan, they can consolidate.

34:41 That provide them a major cost advantage and also easier to maintain, easier to manage. So we've seen that as a major differentiation that it's really resonate with the prospects. And so overall, I think that overall, I would say the overall size of those 60 opportunities is tens of thousands. That's what we're seeing at this point. Great. Thanks for all the color guys. Thank you, Tony. At this time, this concludes our question and answer session. If your questions were not answered, you may contact Airgain's Investor Relations team at airggateway grp dot com.

35:37 I'd like to turn the call over now to Mr. Sun for closing remarks. Thank you for your thoughtful questions and continued interest in Airgain. We are encouraged by our progress and look forward to updating you as we execute our priorities through the second half. We appreciate your time today. Operator, you may now conclude the call. Thank you for joining us today for Airgain's second quarter twenty twenty six earnings call. You may now disconnect.