Innoviz Technologies Ltd. (INVZ) Earnings Call Transcript
November 11, 2026
Earnings Call Speaker Segments
Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for standing by,and welcome to Innoviz's Third Quarter 2026 Earnings Call. [Operator Instructions] I must advise you that this call is being recorded. I would now like to hand over the call to our first speaker, Ada Menaker, Head of Investor Relations. Ada, please go ahead.
Good morning. I would like to welcome you to the Innoviz Technologies Third Quarter 2026 Earnings Conference Call. Joined us today are Omer Keilaf, Chief Executive Officer; and Eldar Cegla, Chief Financial Officer. I would like to remind everyone that this call is being recorded and will be available on the Investor Relations section of our website at ir.Innoviz.tech. Before we begin, I would like to remind you that our discussion today will include forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties relating to future events and the future financial performance of Innoviz. Actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements made today speak only to our expectations as of today, and we undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise them. For a discussion of some important risk factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from any forward-looking statements, please see the Risk Factors section of our Form 20-F filed with the SEC on March 4, 2026. Omer, please go ahead.
Thank you, Ada, and good morning to everyone joining us on our earnings call. In the third quarter, revenues were $12.1 million, below our expectations -- this was primarily due to a customer's decision to shift time lines into next year, which they recently shared with us. As a result, our NRE milestones moved, and we are lowering our full year guidance to $44 million to $46 million. We continue to make progress on these customers' programs, and we expect to realize the full value of these NREs [indiscernible] -- in the fourth quarter, we are implementing an operational realignment that we expect to save $17.5 million on an annualized basis. With a mature LiDAR serving both automotive and defense and production capacity in place, we believe that we can reduce costs without affecting our ability to support customers. Together with our expansion into defense with Perse, this realignment supports our runway well into 2028. Defense is a fast-growing market with ASPs an order of magnitude higher than automotive, we expect Persis to drive revenue growth and improve profitability in the near term while diversifying our end market exposure and broadening our customer base. We are working on several programs with leading strategic primes for counter UAS and perimeter security applications, and we are delivering units to customers such as Cala, Drive and others. We are in discussions with dozens of potential customers in Israel and abroad, many of whom have started to work with our technology. In September, my fact, the DARPA of Israel, recognize the maturity, robustness and performance of our Lider defense applications. We see this as an important vote of confidence in our later product, and it is already helping us broadening our reach. Let me tell you what we are seeing in the defense market right now and why we believe Persis is well suited to its needs. The threats countries face today look very different than they did a few years ago. Drone Warfare has become 1 of the most pressing security challenges facing the world from Ukraine to Israel and beyond. In such award, a country's traditional arsenal on the day 1 matters much less than the maturity, resilience and production capacity of the supply chain it needs to fight asymmetric warfare. Products built for high volume, high-performance markets like automotive are a strong fit for these requirements. Until now, limitations in reliability, performance and resilience kept Lider out of defense applications. We designed our products to solve these problems for automotive. And now we are among the first to introduce Slider into homeland security and defense. -- while legacy solutions can struggle in harsh complex environments, our lighters were designed from the ground up to perform in challenging conditions. They are well positioned to help systems detect and locate the threats that governments are spending heavily to counter. Nate's projected investment in counter UES capabilities is $40 billion over the next 5 years with additional spending by the U.S. and other nations. Our internal analysis shows that the aggregate opportunity for LiDAR in homeland security and defense applications could reach $7 billion to $8 billion by 2030. We are already starting to capture this opportunity with defense sales comprising 10% of revenue in the most recent quarter. We expect to see volume orders in the first half of 2027, expanding defense share of revenue to 20% to 30% next year and potentially growing further thereafter. With perceive Innoviz is addressing multiple applications in homeland security and defense. First, in country UAS, we are enabling sentimental level 3D localization of Jones at distances of up to several hundreds of meters. Defense systems that use our LiDARs can locate multiple threats in real time, even at low altitude and in clutter environments. That precise localization can help these systems to respond quickly and accurately while potentially minimizing collateral damage. Our LiDARs can be deployed on both stationary and mobile platforms. They will be used to secure installations, convoys and military units on the move. Second, in perimeter security, we believe systems that integrate our LiDARs are significant improvement over legacy camera and radar-based solutions in locating and identifying intruders. Such systems can be used to protect borders, airports, military facilities and energy infrastructure. Third, in men, patrol vehicles, unmanned ground vehicles and robots, we offer our autonomous driving and functional safety expertise and add the ability to detect drones overhead. Finally, our LiDARs can add in tactical surveillance and recon applications. To simplify integration into our partner systems, we also offer the Innoviz smarter, which we introduced earlier this year. It pairs our LiDAR with an onboard NVIDIA or nano processor. Much of the processing is done on the device, so partners can integrate it more quickly, and it carries a higher ASPs for us. We believe that our strategy of addressing the market through integrators and primes has begun to pay off. We are already working on several programs with leading strategic primes for counter UAS and perimeter security applications. We expect these programs to generate revenues in 2027, and we hope to be able to tell you more about them. We have delivered hundreds of units for testing and integration, and we are focused on converting these early engagements into partnerships. Last month, we were at the Association of the United States Army, AUSA Annual Meeting and Exposition. It was 1 of the busiest conferences I have attended in years. We met dozens of potential customers, including the CTOs and senior leaders of key defense companies and system integrators. Our LiDARs could close a gap in operators' ability to precisely locate drone positions -- and this resonates strongly with the people we met. We came away from the conference with multiple promising opportunities for strategic partnerships and long-term projects, primarily in counter UAS -- our goal now is to turn these conversations into evaluations and collaborations with U.S. customers and partners who feel a sense of urgency. As we introduce our LiDARs to the market, customers increasingly not that they see the potential of our technology for next-generation products beyond the applications we are initially targeting. In September, [indiscernible] recognized our mature, robust and scalable liter capabilities for defense applications. We are working closely with [indiscernible] to prove that the lighter technology is foundational for counter U.S. is introducing us to similar entities abroad and we believe our work with them could drive significant adoption of our LiDARs in Israel and beyond. Let me now update you on our automotive business. Late in the third quarter, 1 of our customers, let us know that they are pushing their SOP time line out of -- out to next year. As a result, a large portion of our NRE revenues moved into 2027. And and we expect to recover their full value then. Our projects with VW, Danatrack and Mobile are progressing, and we are pleased with our development work with other customers as well. We are competing for a variety of RFIs and RFQs with multiple OEMs. And going forward, we believe we could support automakers with a production ready, automotive-grade LiDAR platform without the need for incremental investment. At the same time, we are using our existing technology to expand in homeland security and defense, a business that gives us a shorter path to revenue growth and profitability. With that, I'll turn it over to Eldar to discuss our financials.
Thank you, Omer. In the third quarter, revenues were $12.1 million with roughly 10% from our new process business from -- for home-led security and defense. As Omer mentioned, the shortfall largely reflects NREs that moved into 2027 when 1 of our customers shifted its SOP timing. Gross margin in the quarter was negative 10.3% and due to the lower revenues. We expect gross margin to improve as unit volumes increase over time, and we believe the ramp of proceeds can accelerate that trajectory. Cash used in operation and capital expenditure was $21.4 million, mainly due to the timing of payments related to our production ramp-up. . Over the past 4 quarters, we averaged cash burn of $15 million, a significant decrease from previous years that demonstrate our commitment to disciplined spending. We continue to have no long-term debt and we ended the quarter with approximately $54.4 million in cash, cash equivalents, short-term deposits and marketable security on the balance sheet. For the details of our operating expenses and stock-based compensation, please see the tables in our press release. Now turning to our updated guidance for the full year. As mentioned, we now expect revenues of $44 million to $46 million, with approximately 6% to 7% coming from precis. We expect 2 to 3 new programs and new NRE payments plan of $20 million to $30 million. Our pipeline also includes several mature opportunities together worth more than $30 million in NREs. The timing of NRE booking is hard to predict, and this could close either before year-end or in 2027. Going forward, as our revenue shift from NREs to LiDAR sales, we plan to replace these targets with KPIs that better reflect our business. To support our operation runway into 2028 as we grow our defense business, we have made a difficult decision to optimize our operations. Since we are serving both our end market -- since we are serving both our end markets with a mature production-ready LiDAR, we are able to introduce additional efficiencies across the company. These actions will be implemented in the fourth quarter and are expected to deliver approximately $17.5 million in annualized savings. This includes about $12 million in cost from an approximately 20% workforce reduction with the balance coming from saving in OpEx and CapEx versus our current run rate. Over the next year, we expect to see meaningful business expansion driven by our home-led security and defense end markets. We are encouraged by the progress we have already made this year. Our initial orders are being delivered, and we are engaged in active discussions with multiple strategic partners on projects that can lead to substantial high-margin business. We have more work ahead of us, but we believe our path to breakeven has been shortened by our entry into the defense market and the operational efficiencies that we are putting in place. With that, I'll turn the call back to Omer for his closing remarks.
Thank you, Eldar. This quarter, we took important steps to building a more robust and balanced company. We are reducing our cash burn and are ready to meet the opportunity presented by the defense business, which is off to a strong start. We are approaching this market through potential strategic partnerships with defense primes, integrators and technology solution providers which we believe will help us grow faster and expand our reach. We are delivering units to customers. Our partners are integrating our LiDARs into their systems, and we believe the recognition from a fact can help us accelerate adoption about. On the automotive front, our programs are moving forward towards production and we continue to compete for new businesses. . While our short-term results have been below our expectation, I'm encouraged by the technological and business progress we made this quarter and about what we are creating with our partners and customers. And with that, operator, let's begin the Q&A.
[Operator Instructions] First question will come from Jash Patwa from JPMorgan.
Omer, could you maybe walk us through the revised SOP time lines for the Mobileye Volkswagen and Daimler Truck programs. I'm just curious like what is driving the delays? And to what extent do they reflect broader technology challenges as opposed to issues integrating the LiDAR itself? And I have a quick follow-up.
Sure. I want to rest assure you that the delays are unrelated to the LiDAR. Those are related to internal challenges that the carmaker has related to the program. And I don't think that I should share with their problems, but -- those are unrelated to the LiDAR. They are very satisfied with the LiDAR, and it is definitely not related to us. And therefore, I don't see any coupling between this program to other programs that we're involved with.
Understood. And just any updated SOP time lines, how should we think about the ramp in LiDAR shipments towards these programs into 2027?
Sure. So the program that was expected to launch this year was pushed to next year, which basically means the ramp-up would start not at the beginning of the year. At a later time, I don't want to give the exact date now, but it's planned for next year. The programs with Daimler and Audi are still on track with the planned schedule.
Got it. Understood. And Eldar, I think you gave some hints around how you're thinking about 2027, but maybe if you could double-click on any moving pieces that we should keep in mind, particularly the trajectory of LiDAR shipments? How should we think about NRE and defense revenue -- and as these programs approach SOP, should we think about any incremental costs associated with the launches?
So I'll start with the last question, sorry, in terms of extra cost. So we have everything we need in place the production line maturity that we have in Fabrinet, the maturity of the products. And I'm not expecting any increase. On the contrary, as you saw, we were able to introduce some additional efficiencies, of course, unfortunately, not a very happy day for us today, but we look forward, and I believe that we will maintain this cost structure for the company for future times. In terms of revenue, so we shifted much of our focus to the security and defense market. We are competing, and we are already in deployment on testing and deployment for few programs that we expect to mature already next year. So we are expecting to see more meaningful numbers from this business, which is a good business for Innoviz with positive contribution to gross margins.
Maybe I can add on this. So obviously, we today, we did a restructure of the company in the way we -- I think that the people that are at Innoviz now they are encouraged by the momentum they see in programs that we are supporting now in the defense market. People are busy. They are working on multiple opportunities right now. which are also important for them. Eventually, the tasks that we are asked to fulfill is a very important one. And we are working with very strong companies that people are filled with trust that since our technology is capable of solving this problem they have the confidence that the company can succeed. Of course, in order to make sure that we are able to fulfill this capability and our success we had to do optimization for the team to allow us to capture that opportunity. So it is sad because people today are saying goodbye to people who worked very hard and they were part of the team. But I would say also that people that are in the team worked to me today and told me that they have full trust that the company can succeed with the technology that we've built. It is serving an important purpose. And now we look ahead and continue -- we'll continue to work on those opportunities. And eventually, we are still very much committed to take this amazing technology that we've built very unique, very, I would say, differentiated in how it can serve this purpose. And make it a reality. So it's kind of a tough day. And we -- it's also very sad to see the automotive programs that we've been working very hard is being pushed out. You can -- I'm sure that you can appreciate our frustration as well because we've been working very hard in levering and meeting the requirements. So obviously, it's -- the results are related to this push out, which we need to be responsive and responsible and to allow us to continue -- even though this is taking a hit on our revenues this year, and we are expecting to return those revenues next year. But even though we do need to keep our heads up and look on the opportunities that are in front of us. And I can tell you that the team here is working very hard to make that happen and are committed to make it that happen.
That's great color. And if I could just squeeze in 1 more here. Omer you mentioned that liquidity runway is good through 2028. I'm just wondering if there are any incremental equity raises that are embedded in that expectation?
No. Our planning for next year are not -- do not include fundraising or the use of ATM in that calculation of getting well into 2028.
Our next question is from Mark Delaney from Goldman Sachs.
This is Will Brian on for Mark Delaney. My first 1 relates to the realignment and the streamlining for your R&D operations. Can you speak to what that may mean or any implications on your ability to pursue incremental opportunities for growth, especially in the defense and home end market that you highlighted in the slides. And just maybe as a quick follow-on. What would you expect to get to the full run rate on those savings?
Sure. So I would say, right now, the activities that we are engaged with different customers are related to programs which are planning to utilize a mature product in -- the Innoviz to has -- we've always stressed its capabilities in its ability to see very high resolution and long range and its durability in dirt, et cetera, which are completely aligned with the needs of the defense market. The first market is now going through a very interesting mindset change in the way that they are looking on solutions that are already in production that are providing resiliency in terms of availability of the supply chain. And on that, we are checking all of the boxes. Our LiDAR is NDA compliant. So basically, we are meeting different teams that are amazed by what the sensor is capable of, in many ways, not only in counter US, but in counter US, we find many teams who are working on several applications as I think I shared in the past, we are already involved in a program where our LiDARs are being equipped on vehicles for counter US solution. We were awarded for a program that is expected to conclude beginning of next year, which is a proof of concept, which right now is working very well and is very promising. And that might turn into a very significant program for us, not only in Israel. It's a very unique solution, unique in the sense that there is no solution today in the world. for the threat of FPVs. Most of the teams that have been developing solutions for drones made an assumption that you will be able to identify the drone and track it from at least 1 kilometer. Now they are -- they understand that the threat is actually the last 100 meters, 200 meters, 300 meters, and the reaction time is critical, and there is no solution today that can give you that ability to react fast and accurate enough. And this is exactly what we are offering, and it's very unique. So basically, in terms of the downsizing -- we do not see an effect on these programs. We are directing the teams to support the delayed SOP in order to make sure that with the delay, it allows us to support these new opportunities that are in front of us while maintaining the new time line that we are outperformed it in front of the customer SOPs. What was the last question, sorry?
Just when you guys expect to get to the full run rate on the expected savings?
As the first quarter.
Yes, we are implementing it this quarter. And so savings will be affected as of Q1.
Got it. Well understood. And then for my second question, thank you for the incremental color on the defense market sizing. But I believe you said that defense could get to 20% to 30% of revenue next year. How much of this is already booked already? And then how much do you need to go out and execute on or win additional programs?
So we have quite extensive pipeline that we've already built with several customers who gave us indications for next year. The program that I was referring to earlier that we were awarded -- the next cycle is by itself is quite significant. The volumes that we have in our pipeline are further than what we are now guiding for, but we need to take into consideration also changes. So -- it's -- these are programs that we are working with the customer on several opportunities. And once we'll be awarded, we will provide an update. I can maybe share a little bit more information about the types of programs that we are currently engaged with. Primarily, the bigger programs are related to counter UAS these are related to convoy protections of vices. Today, the cost of a defense system for a vehicle of a truck, for example, cost around 3x the truck cost itself. What we are able to offer is a very affordable solution by the use of the LiDAR from a single point of view that allows detection, tracking and eventual interception of a drone. That's 1 type of program. There is another where we are providing a solution for critical infrastructure where they need full coverage of the surrounding of the SIN with multiple sensors, per location. This would be stationary or it could be on mobile, on a vehicle. Where you want to have a vehicle that is tracking and patrolling and wants to do interception at longer distances. Other than that, we are working with Matt on different, I would say, other architectures. And we are working with the different primes in Israel and the U.S. and Europe on more specific applications. So it's primarily counter UAS. There are -- we are also engaged in homeland security, where there are companies where today offering security solutions for outdoor where today's solutions are pretty limited. Today's solution, I think we talked about that in the past. We are -- we are disrupting this market by offering the LiDAR that displaces radars that are used today and we are very expensive and are unreliable. The bigger problem with the use of radars is the huge amount of false alarms. And I'm talking about hundreds a day. You can imagine how exhaustive that could be for a system which usually the only way to deal with it is either turn it off or just lower sensitivity to a point that it becomes irrelevant. So what we are capable of showing to customers is quite, I would say, quite interesting. So we expect it to be also a major contributor to our sales next year, and we are expanding our outreach by working with different distributors that we are -- that we've engaged and started to work with. We are not only trying to sell the solution ourselves. We are working with different distributors around the world.
And maybe I can sneak in 1 more. You all highlighted on your slide that you were competing on multiple RFIs and RFQs for other an L4 program. So maybe you can double-click to say how those are progressing and when you could expect those convert? And maybe how has that how those discussions evolve, let's call it, from 90 days ago?
Sure. So there are several programs, I would say, primary ones are related to Level 4 [indiscernible] I think the majority of them are also in the U.S. for long range and short range and with different teams. We sell LiDARs to these opportunities right now as part of the evaluation where they equip vehicle and test. We are going -- we are continuously doing evaluation days and testing and negotiation. So these are discussions that are still ongoing. And generally, I do see several opportunities there where I think that we -- I believe that we have a good fit, but these things tend to take longer than we have hoped for. but still opportunities that we're supporting. And again, we are primarily only offering Innoviz. We are not trying to promote Innoviz 3 right now. to these robotaxi programs. Innoviz 3 program -- is a product that we are promoting either to Level 3 programs or for the defense market when it relates to drone will size and weight matters. It's obviously a very attractive proposition that we are able to show to customers. The production of Jones worldwide are in the tens of millions a year. And today, the solutions that the sensors that are used in this category are pretty limited. So that's obviously another opportunity that is in front of us, and we are talking with some very interesting companies on that.
[Operator Instructions] Our next question comes from Casey Ryan from Americas.
Omer, you were just saying something very interesting. I was going to ask in defense, if you could categorize where the current revenue is if it's sort of fixed position solutions versus as you got into ground-based mobile -- but I was curious about airborne platforms and if there were opportunities there. It sounds like you were getting there. But I think that says something important about the weight of your product as well in airborne solutions. I was wondering if you can talk a little bit more about that?
Sure. I'll start with saying that we're involved in all of those categories. I'll start with the last one, it's easy. Innoviz 3 is a lightweight and a very small form factor and hence, it's attractive for these applications. The -- I would say, where we started was related to mobility in the sense that when you think about the soft belly, I think that's the term of the defense armies are related to logistics and convoys equipping every vehicle with a defense system for drones today is super expensive and quite honestly, unrealistic because today, if you want to be able to identify track and intercept drawn by using a radar, you need to use super expensive and large and heavy radars that are basically unavailable for that capacity. And therefore, these vehicles are under a lot of threat. The driver in the vehicle is unaware. And these attacking drones are obviously playing those opportunities. Being able to offer a low cost relatively low-cost solution and very practical because of the size of the product is very attractive because even if you want to use radars in an infrastructure, you could triangulate with multiple radars to get sufficient accuracy, you cannot do that on a vehicle. You cannot use multiple radars on a single vehicle and try to triangulate radars to get sufficient accuracy, you need to use a single point of view sensor that gives you the information as soon as possible. The task in hand is being able to detect, track, guide the interception tool in less than 10 seconds. And you need to make an assumption that you might need to deal with multiple threats in parallel. So I would say the claim to fame or I would say what the LiDAR enables in a way is a solution for mobility. For sure, the same cost-attractive solution for infrastructure is available. But I think that what we're solving for vehicles and mobility is just, I would say, a game changer because there is just -- there's no other alternative. So as far as we understand, -- and as I'm in discussion with different teams who are trying to solve the problem of interception -- they all went through cameras, thermal cameras, radar, imaging radars and they all come back saying that eventually, they don't get sufficient accuracy. Just to understand when you're throwing something at a drone that is shooting something at a drone at 150 or 200 meters, there is a ballistic path. It's not a straight line, which means that in order for you to really accurately get close enough to the drone, let's say, that your kill zone is around 0.5 meter or 2 meters or even 3 meters, a radar with 0.5 degree resolution will have only 2% chances of actually hitting that drone. You need a LiDAR that has 5-centimeter range accuracy in order to have basically 100% hit rate. And you need that heat rate because you don't have multiple opportunities. You need to be able to deal with multiple drones in a very short time, and you need that accuracy. So that's what a LiDAR offers. And it offers that a LiDAR that is already in a production in high-volume automotive grade available in different conditions, in Mad when you think about these activities, they are not done in the lab, they are done outside in tough conditions. So these are the points when we show to customers -- this is what usually catches their attention. And I think everyone is -- that everyone we talk to on the primes that are today selling a solution for drone, they have a blind spot. They have a solution for drones that are coming from possibly a kilometer or 2 kilometers -- they don't have a solution for the last engagement. And this is what we are able to offer them, and that is the engagement we're starting from.
Okay. Great. Just very quickly, I guess this falls into defense, but are there market opportunities for civilian infrastructure? I think in the news we see ability infrastructure becoming part of the sort of areas of risk. So I don't know how that would be implemented. But is there a market that sort of falls into sensing and sort of perimeter defense solutions. Against drones for whatever reason, I guess, but something that will be bigger beyond just military installations and military assets.
For sure. When I'm referring about Homeland Security, I refer to those opportunities exactly, we are talking about airports, and we are talking about energy sites railways, I think just recently, we had a customer announcing implementation of our sensors in railways, companies are using our LiDARs in municipal areas either for detection of soil wrongdoing in thought growing or bridge collision. So obviously, the LIDAR usage is much beyond counter UAS. or defense systems. We do expect big opportunities on that front as well. Eventually, I mentioned on the call that we are offering the Innoviz to smarter which is a LiDAR in a compute box. So it's a solution that we -- I think we announced first a year ago. And it's a product that allows anyone to use the LiDAR anywhere. And run its application at the edge. And that opens -- unlocks several other opportunities beyond counter UAS, of course.
Okay. Great. Last question very quickly. What's happening with color, integrating multiple sensors and color? Has that been decisive or important in any of the near-term activities? Or where are we going, I guess, with integrating color into the solution.
So Innoviz 3, possibly you remember when we announced Innoviz 3 for the first time, we showed that it also comes with a version that includes color. We went on that path knowing that when integrating a LiDAR into the windshield of a vehicle, it's a packaging problem. And therefore, being able to fuse these 2 modalities together is going to be beneficial in terms of power, in terms of volume, in terms of basically just because of the very small real estate that is founder. So it's definitely an option that we can offer. When it comes to the defense systems, the metrics are differently -- or look differently. Counter UAS there is less opinion for color or generally in the perimeter security. It's primarily range resolution, resilience -- and of course, if we need to add a color, we can add color. So I think that for the applications that we are targeting and in discussing with customers, possibly color is less of a need. And if there is a need, we can obviously add.
There are no further questions. I'm handing the call over to Omer for closing remarks.
Okay. Thank you very much for being here today. Again, we are looking ahead on the opportunities in front of us. And we hope that we'll be able to show you that the transition into the defense market will pay off early. And will allow the company to succeed. We have high confidence in the technology the company is offering today. We believe that our technology has many opportunities to scale, and we are determined to succeed. Thank you very much. Goodbye.
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