- 2020 annual revenue of approximately $94 million
- Record shipments of 4,100 units
- $350 million of cash on the balance sheet at December 31,
2020
- Long-term outlook remains strong, but at this time 2021
guidance withdrawn due to reduced near-term visibility
Velodyne Lidar (NASDAQ: VLDR, VLDRW), the global leader in lidar
technology founded by David Hall with foundational patents, today
announced preliminary fourth quarter 2020 revenue and provided an
update on recent business trends and outlook. During the fourth
quarter of 2020, Velodyne shipped more than 4,100 sensors to its
global customer base, bringing the annual total units shipped in
2020 to more than 11,500, including over 600 solid state Velarray
units in the fourth quarter alone. These unit amounts represent a
single quarter record for Velodyne, and the company believes that
it has sold more sensors in 2020 than reported by all of its
competitors combined. Additionally, Velodyne increased its signed
and awarded contracts to 25 and expanded its pipeline to 183
projects across multiple end-markets and use cases, up from 175
since the end of the third quarter of 2020.
Since the company’s earnings call in November, Velodyne
announced multiple key business developments which affirm the
company’s ongoing success and support its long-term outlook:
- Introduction of the Velarray M1600, an innovative solid state
lidar sensor designed to serve mobile robotic applications. The
Velarray M1600 enables touchless mobile and last-mile delivery
robots to operate autonomously and safely, without human
intervention.
- Signing of a multi-year sales agreement with Motional, a
Hyundai and Aptiv combination, for Alpha Prime sensors. Velodyne
will be the exclusive provider of long-range, surround-view lidar
sensors for Motional’s SAE Level 4 driverless vehicles.
- An agreement for Alpha Prime sensors with May Mobility for its
entire growing fleet of self-driving shuttles.
- An agreement with Local Motors to use Velodyne’s sensors to
enable safe, reliable operation of Olli, the company’s 3D-printed,
electric and self-driving shuttle.
- Participation in Qualcomm’s Smart Cities Accelerator Program to
promote lidar in smart city solutions, and working with Qualcomm,
governments and solution developers to create applications that
improve public services and enhance safety and quality of
life.
- Velodyne’s Velabit lidar sensor named a winner in the “Best of
What’s New” awards by Popular Science and the “2020 Innovation
Award” by Silicon Valley Robotics.
In response to the global COVID-19 pandemic, Velodyne deployed
early, rigorous health and safety protocols related to COVID-19 and
increased automation at its manufacturing facilities. However, in
the fourth quarter of 2020, the company’s San Jose factory
confirmed its first case of COVID-19, and further cases have been
reported. This reduced production capabilities at its manufacturing
sites later in the quarter and impaired the company’s ability to
fulfill certain of its customers’ orders in December. A substantial
portion of these deliveries are expected to be fulfilled by the
company in the first quarter of 2021 and the company is
implementing measures to meet anticipated incremental customer
demand in 2021.
Largely as a result of these COVID-19 related disruptions,
management now estimates fourth quarter revenue 2020 in a range of
$15.5 million to $16.0 million and full-year 2020 revenue of
approximately $94 million versus $101 million as previously
provided as guidance for the full year. Without these unexpected
end-of-year disruptions, Velodyne believes it would have met prior
revenue guidance for 2020. Demonstrating the company’s efficient
business model, the company expects to meet or exceed guidance on
other important financial metrics provided for the year, including
non-GAAP gross margin percentage and operating loss.
Velodyne is leading in the rapidly-growing lidar market, and as
the company enters 2021, it is confident it will continue to expand
its market opportunity, innovation, and leadership in broadly
diversified lidar sectors. Velodyne is adding new products and
manufacturing lines to meet customer product delivery demand in
future quarters, including the first commercial shipments of the
award-winning Velabit in the first half of 2021. In addition,
Velodyne continues to expand its engagement with customers and
prospective customers for long-term projects, including the
development and integration of software and broader solutions.
The company’s active engagement with its diverse customer base
reinforces its positive future outlook. Given the uncertainty
around COVID-19 worldwide and its downstream impacts, and customer
implementation timelines that are outside the company’s control,
the company has less visibility on the timing of expected purchase
orders and other projects in the pipeline. Velodyne is monitoring
the situation daily to understand COVID-19’s impact on signed and
awarded business, and other developments in customer plans
affecting the new business funnel, bookings, the company’s
manufacturing capacity, and ultimately, revenue. With this reduced
visibility and out of an abundance of caution, the company
withdraws any previous financial guidance for 2021 at this
time.
New projects in the fourth quarter drove Velodyne’s pipeline to
183 projects from 175 reported for the third quarter of 2020. The
new multi-year agreements, spanning all industry segments, are in
the U.S., EMEA, and Asia. Also, during the fourth quarter, Velodyne
advanced discussions for eight software projects to complement
existing sensor projects in its pipeline.
Commenting on the business and financial update, Velodyne CEO
Dr. Anand Gopalan stated, "Despite the impact of COVID-19 in the
past few months and on our near-term visibility, there is no change
in our fundamental outlook for the future. We are encouraged by the
expanding adoption of lidar across a wide variety of industries,
some of which are accelerating in a post-COVID world. As a result,
we believe our pipeline is the most robust in the industry and we
are manufacturing and shipping more lidar units than all our
competitors have reported.” He added, “With a manufacturing
operation of our scale, not just in the US but with global
partners, we must prioritize the safety of our employees and the
general public in our operations. We continue to follow heightened
safety protocols, and I am proud of the exceptional work from our
team as they produced a record 4,100+ sensors and delivered them to
customers in a truly challenging fourth quarter for our business
and individuals around the world.”
Velodyne is a direct beneficiary of the accelerated global
interest in the enhanced perception capabilities that lidar
enables. Velodyne is uniquely positioned with the broadest
portfolio of commercial lidar products available today and an
unmatched manufacturing capacity to meet an increasing number of
industries seeking to integrate lidar technology. Velodyne’s active
and multi-segment customer base includes disclosed customers such
as Caterpillar, Ford Otosan, GM, Honda, Hyundai Mobis, Toyota,
Volkswagen, Zoox, Didi, EasyMile, Gatik, Google, Leica Geosystems,
and Motional.
At the end of the fourth quarter 2020, Velodyne had $350.4
million in cash on its balance sheet which included $73.7 million
of proceeds from the voluntary early exercise of a portion of the
Graf Industrial warrants.
Under the terms of the Graf Industrial warrant agreement,
Velodyne has the right to call for redemption of all of the
outstanding Graf warrants if the closing sales price of the Common
Stock is at least $18.00 per share on 20 trading days within a
30-day trading period. Velodyne’s right to call the warrants was
achieved on January 5, 2021. The company is evaluating whether or
not to call the warrants for redemption, including whether to call
the warrants on a cash or cashless basis. The Company will provide
additional information on the warrants in due course.
CEO Dr. Anand Gopalan said in closing, “Our recent announcements
continue to prove our leadership in delivering a diversified and
comprehensive approach to lidar solutions to our broad set of
customers. We are the front runner with the most extensive suite of
sensors at a wide range of performance and price points. Our
sensors serve multiple industries and multiple customers within
each industry. Velodyne’s ability to address many segments is a
competitive strength, and we insulate ourselves by not relying on a
single-sector concentration. As the market leader, Velodyne remains
committed to investing in and advancing lidar solutions with the
goal of safer mobility for all.”
Velodyne targets to report fourth quarter 2020 financial results
for the period ended December 31, 2020, following the close of the
market on Thursday, February 25, 2021.
About Velodyne Lidar
Velodyne Lidar (NASDAQ: VLDR, VLDRW) ushered in a new era of
autonomous technology with the invention of real-time surround view
lidar sensors. Velodyne is the first public pure-play lidar company
and is known worldwide for its broad portfolio of breakthrough
lidar technologies. Velodyne’s revolutionary sensor and software
solutions provide flexibility, quality and performance to meet the
needs of a wide range of industries, including autonomous vehicles,
advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS), robotics, unmanned
aerial vehicles (UAV), smart cities, and security. Through
continuous innovation, Velodyne strives to transform lives and
communities by advancing safer mobility for all. For more
information, please visit: ir.velodynelidar.com and follow us on
Twitter: @VelodyneLidar.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains “forward-looking statements” within
the meaning of the “safe harbor” provisions of the Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including but not limited
to, statements regarding our financial outlook and market
positioning. Forward-looking statements give our current
expectations and projections relating to our financial condition,
results of operations, plans, objectives, future performance and
business. You can identify forward-looking statements by the fact
that they do not relate strictly to historical or current facts.
These statements may include words such as "anticipate",
"estimate", "expect", "project", "plan", "intend", "believe",
"may", "will", "should", "can have", "likely" and other words and
terms of similar meaning in connection with any discussion of the
timing or nature of future operating or financial performance or
other events. All forward-looking statements are subject to risks
and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ
materially from those that we expected, including: the impact on
our operations and financial condition from the effects of the
current COVID-19 pandemic both on Velodyne’s business and those of
its customers and suppliers; Velodyne’s ability to execute its
business plan; the timing of revenue from existing customers,
including uncertainties related to the ability of Velodyne’s
customers to commercialize their products and the ultimate market
acceptance of these products; uncertainties related to Velodyne’s
estimates of the size of the markets for its products and future
revenue opportunities; the rate and degree of market acceptance of
Velodyne’s products; the success of other competing lidar and
sensor-related products and services that exist or may become
available; Velodyne’s ability to identify and integrate
acquisitions; rising costs adversely affecting Velodyne’s
profitability; uncertainties related to Velodyne’s current
litigation and potential litigation involving GRAF or Velodyne or
the validity or enforceability of Velodyne’s intellectual property;
Velodyne’s ability to partner with and rely on third party
manufacturers; general economic and market conditions impacting
demand for Velodyne’s products and services; and changes in
applicable laws or regulations.
Given these factors, as well as other variables that may affect
Velodyne’s operating results, you should not rely on
forward-looking statements, assume that past financial performance
will be a reliable indicator of future performance, or use
historical trends to anticipate results or trends in future
periods. The forward-looking statements included in this press
release and on the related teleconference call relate only to
events as of the date hereof. Velodyne undertakes no obligation to
update or revise any forward-looking statement as a result of new
information, future events or otherwise, except as otherwise
required by law.
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version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210107005930/en/
Investor Contact: Drew Hamer Chief Financial Officer
InvestorRelations@velodyne.com
Media Contact: Sean Dowdall Sean@landispr.com
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