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Ouster Announces Record Revenue and Margin for First Quarter 2024Ouster, Inc. (NYSE: OUST) ("Ouster" or the "Company"), a leading global provider of high-performance lidar sensors and software solutions for the automotive, industrial, robotics, and smart infrastructure industries, announced today financial results for the three months ended March 31, 20241. First Quarter 2024 Highlights
"Ouster continued its momentum into the first quarter after a strong 2023. We delivered revenue of $26 million and non-GAAP gross margin of 36%, both representing record levels. Alongside our strong operational results, we continued to advance the development of our next generation hardware products and software solutions," said Ouster CEO Angus Pacala. "We are committed to achieving the goals we set for 2024 that aim to further extend Ouster's competitive advantage and bring us closer to achieving profitability." Revenue growth in the first quarter was driven by large orders from customers in the robotics and automotive verticals, specifically for warehouse robotics, mapping, and autonomous vehicles. GAAP gross margin improved to 29% compared to (2%) in the first quarter of 2023, which was primarily driven by higher revenues, favorable product mix, lower manufacturing costs, and fewer costs related to inventory charges and purchase commitments. Non-GAAP gross margin increased to a record 36% compared to 25% in the first quarter of 2023. Non-GAAP gross margin excludes the impact of certain expenses outside of ordinary operations associated with the consolidation of product lines and outsourced manufacturing of Velodyne products.
2024 Business Objective Updates
Expand software solutions and grow the installed base: During the first quarter, Ouster continued to expand its software solutions with a new deep learning model that increases accuracy and detection range. The Company also enhanced Ouster Gemini with the ability to more seamlessly integrate with leading video management system vendors, helping to accelerate adoption in the multi-billion dollar security industry. Ouster also recently collaborated with a recipient of the U.S. Department of Transportation SMART Grant to assist with improving pedestrian safety, near miss detection, traffic counting, and traffic flow analytics. Advance the development of digital lidar hardware: Ouster continued to execute on its product roadmap in the first quarter. The Company introduced new firmware designed to improve the performance capabilities of its REV7 sensors, coinciding with heightened interest from AI and robotics customers. Ouster's next generation "L4" custom silicon chip is taped out and is expected to bring significant improvements in performance, reliability, and manufacturability, along with safety certifications to the OS sensor family. The Company plans to integrate the Chronos chip into its final form factor, solid-state digital flash ("DF") sensors in the next year. Progress on the long-term financial framework: Ouster advanced on its long-term financial framework during the first quarter. With revenue growth of 51% year over year, GAAP gross margin of 29%, and operating expenses 14% below third quarter 2023 levels, Ouster is progressing on its path to profitability. Second Quarter 2024 Outlook For the second quarter of 2024, Ouster expects to achieve $26 million to $28 million in revenue. Upcoming Investor Events Ouster management will participate in the following upcoming investor event:
Conference Call Information Ouster will host a conference call and live webcast for analysts and investors at 5:00 p.m. ET today, May 9, 2024 to discuss its financial results and business outlook. To access the call, please register at https://registrations.events/direct/Q4I934282. Upon registering, each participant will be provided with call details and a registrant ID. The webcast and related presentation materials will be accessible for at least 30 days on Ouster's investor relations website at https://investors.ouster.com. A telephone replay of the call will be available 2 hours after the call ends, and can be accessed via phone through May 23, 2024 by dialing (800) 770-2030 from the U.S. or +1 (609) 800-9909 from outside the U.S. The conference I.D. number is 93428. About Ouster Ouster (NYSE: OUST) is a leading global provider of lidar sensors and software solutions for the automotive, industrial, robotics, and smart infrastructure industries. Ouster is on a mission to build a safer and more sustainable future by offering affordable, high-performance sensors that drive mass adoption across a wide variety of applications. Ouster is headquartered in San Francisco, CA with offices in the Americas, Europe, and Asia Pacific. For more information, visit www.ouster.com, or connect with us on X or LinkedIn. Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The Company intends such forward-looking statements to be covered by the safe harbor provisions for forward-looking statements contained in Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Such statements are based upon current plans, estimates and expectations of management that are subject to various risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from such statements. The inclusion of forward-looking statements should not be regarded as a representation that such plans, estimates and expectations will be achieved. Words such as "anticipate," "expect," "project," "intend," "believe," "may," "will," "should," "plan," "could," "continue," "target," "contemplate," "estimate," "forecast," "guidance," "predict," "possible," "potential," "pursue," "likely," and the negative of these terms and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements, though not all forward-looking statements use these words or expressions. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, including statements regarding Ouster's revenue guidance for the second quarter of 2024; anticipated new product launches and developments; Ouster's future results of operations, cash reserve and financial position; the anticipated timing and development of Ouster's next generation hardware and software solutions; the execution against the Company's product roadmap and demand for products; the Company's path to profitability and long-term financial framework; industry and business trends; Ouster's business objectives, plans, strategic partnerships, and market growth; and Ouster's competitive market position, all constitute forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from those that we expected, including, but not limited to, risks related to Ouster's limited operating history and history of losses; fluctuations in its operating results; the substantial research and development costs needed to develop and commercialize new products; its ability to maintain competitive average selling prices, high sales volumes and reduce product costs; competition in Ouster's industry; the negotiating power and product standards of its customers; the adoption of its products and the growth of the lidar market generally; product quality and liability risks; Ouster's future capital needs and ability to secure additional capital on favorable terms or at all; risks related to Ouster's indebtedness; its ability to manage growth, including growing the sales and marketing organization; risks related to international operations, including international manufacturing; cancellation or postponement of contracts or unsuccessful implementations; the Company's ability to manage its inventory; credit risk of customers; Ouster's ability to use tax attributes; Ouster's dependence on key third party suppliers, in particular Benchmark Electronics, Inc., Fabrinet, and other suppliers; supply chain constraints and challenges; conditions in the industries the Company targets or the global economy; the ability of its lidar technology roadmap and new software solutions to catalyze growth; Ouster's ability to recruit and retain key personnel; its ability to successfully integrate its business with Velodyne and achieve the anticipated benefits of the Velodyne merger; Ouster's ability to adequately protect and enforce its intellectual property rights, including as it relates to Hesai Group; legal and regulatory risks; risks related to operating as a public company; and other important factors discussed in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2023, as may be further updated from time to time in the Company's other filings with the SEC. Readers are urged to consider these factors carefully and in the totality of the circumstances when evaluating these forward-looking statements, and not to place undue reliance on any of them. Any such forward-looking statements represent management's reasonable estimates and beliefs as of the date of this press release. While Ouster may elect to update such forward-looking statements at some point in the future, it disclaims any obligation to do so, other than as may be required by law, even if subsequent events cause its views to change. In addition, see information below concerning non-GAAP financial measures. Non-GAAP Financial Measures In addition to its results determined in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States ("GAAP"), Ouster believes the non-GAAP measures of Non-GAAP Gross Margin and Adjusted EBITDA are useful in evaluating its operating performance. Ouster calculates Non-GAAP Gross Profit as gross profit (loss) excluding amortization of acquired intangibles, certain excess and obsolete expenses and losses on firm purchase commitments, and stock-based compensation expenses. Non-GAAP Gross Margin is calculated as Non-GAAP Gross Profit divided by revenues. Ouster calculates Adjusted EBITDA as net loss excluding interest expense (income), net, other expense (income), net, stock-based compensation expense, provision for income tax expense, goodwill impairment charges, restructuring costs excluding stock-based compensation expenses, certain excess and obsolete expenses and losses on firm purchase commitments, amortization of acquired intangible assets, depreciation expenses, certain litigation and litigation related expenses, merger and acquisition related expenses, gain on lease termination and other items. Ouster believes that Non-GAAP Gross Profit, Non-GAAP Gross Margin, and Adjusted EBITDA may be helpful to investors because it provides consistency and comparability with past financial performance and may be helpful in comparison with other companies, some of which use similar non-GAAP information to supplement their GAAP results. Adjusted EBITDA is also used by the Board and management as a performance metric for compensation purposes. The non-GAAP financial information is presented for supplemental informational purposes only, and should not be considered a substitute for financial information presented in accordance with GAAP, and may be different from similarly titled non-GAAP measures used by other companies. Reconciliation tables of the most comparable GAAP financial measures to the non-GAAP financial measures are included at the end of this press release.
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