Water Tower Research analyst Shawn Severson has noted that second-quarter 2023 results from Ocean Power Technologies Inc (NYSE-A:OPTT) (OPTT) showed its consulting business driving top-line growth, together with strong R&D efforts across the company's offerings.
Severson pointed out that OPTT saw its Q2 revenue grow by 22.7% year-on-year to $0.3 million, compared with $0.2 million in 2Q22, with the increase primarily due to higher levels of revenue, stemming from the acquisition of MAR, which produced $0.1 million in 2Q23, while sales of WAM-Vs also drove growth.
For the first six months of the current year, OPTT saw its Strategic Consulting Services division contribute around 53% of total revenue ($1.0 million), the analysts noted, with about 77% of total revenue coming from the North American market, while the remainder came from Asian and Australian markets.
OPTT saw its gross margin rise by 34.4% year-on-year in the second quarter to 12.9% from -21.5% in 2Q22 on higher sales and lower direct costs, Severson added.
The company recorded a Q2 net loss of $4.8 million (-$0.09 per share), compared with a net loss of $5.2 million (-$0.10 per share) in 2Q22, he noted, with the decrease primarily owing to an increase in interest income ($0.2 million) from purchasing marketable securities and utilizing employee retention credits ($1.2 million).
As of October 31, 2022, the company had total assets worth around $64.6 million of mainly cash, unrestricted cash, cash equivalents, and short-term investments (around $46.4 million), and OPTT has accumulated a deficit of $264.5 million and no bank debt, Severson said.