Polight’s Q4 presentations watched and the Q&A listened to a couple of times.
Key points in brief:
- record quarter in terms of revenue and full-year revenue approx. 20 MNOK, growth of approx. 100% from the previous year
- AR/MR share of revenue 70% (!)
- MLens component assembly from Polight is the first step up the value chain; in addition to just the lens and motorics, a more valuable “plug-in assembly” is produced. Ramp-up is a thing for 2026.
- Locking in TWedge product specs is approaching: if customers can be committed, the goal is to produce components “en masse” in 18-24 months. Based on feedback, this should not be a problem.
- Polight continues recruiting, hiring 10-15 more people per year if I heard correctly –> customer demand is strong and staff workload is high
- CEO estimated the first volume-significant (AR/MR consumer device?) announcement to be ahead (in the autumn?), but in a conservative manner (and having learned lessons from the mobile phone side) left reservations for schedule changes
I won’t delve any deeper into the “project pipeline” situation from PoCs to design-in phase figures. The numbers are steady compared to the last quarter (new vs. ended), and maintaining additional projects will likely require the mentioned additional staff.
For the first time, I saw sector-specific order backlog in NOK in the interim report. Not big numbers, a few MNOK, but a step from an “R&D shop” to a company communicating with hard order numbers. Based on those alone, it looks like Polight will exceed the 2025 revenue level of 20 MNOK - even if the expected “big order” doesn’t come this year.
In the Q&A session, the understandable “when will Polight be cash flow positive” was asked. Internal figures are still not disclosed, but they noted with the CFO that if the roadmap hits the mark, Polight will be “very very profitable”. What the roadmap’s end year is was not stated. Somewhere in the 2030s, I guess.
To sum up - the company is doing what it should in this situation. More gas, so that the smoldering market demand doesn’t go looking for a better-oiled alternative.