Vuzix Corporation (NASDAQ:VUZI) announced its third-quarter results ending September 30, 2021, reporting a total revenue increase of 9% to $3 million, compared to $2.8 million during 3Q 2020.
The Rochester, New York-based company said the increase in total revenue was due to higher sales of its smart glasses products that increased by 12% in 3Q 2021, compared to 3Q 2020.
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"We continue to see growing demand across our product lines with an increasing number of proven use cases, and we have invested to be best prepared to fulfill that demand,” said Paul Travers, CEO of Vuzix. “While we are pleased to report another period of both sequential and year-over-year revenue growth, our third-quarter sales came in at the low end of our expectations largely due to shipping delays, external supply chain challenges, and the timing of larger orders associated with several blue-chip customers."
Travers added that the healthcare and the return of logistics and warehousing purchase orders following the debilitating impact of the COVID pandemic were high growth verticals for the company.
The smart glasses and AR (Augmented Reality) technology company said it made an overall gross profit of $0.6 million, accrediting its growth to the improvements in product gross margins before overheads and other items compared to last year.
“We continued to make good commercial progress with an expanding number of Fortune 100 firms across multiple industries that are looking to standardize on Vuzix Smart Glasses throughout their respective operations to support training, logistics, and supply chain use cases,” Travers said in a statement.
Travers added: “Feedback from these customers about our products and their operational benefits generating a meaningful return on investment has been uniformly positive and we intend to extend the breadth and competitiveness of our solutions going forward as industry growth accelerates. At the same time, we are addressing expanding opportunities for our optical and display solutions on the OEM side."
The company spent more on research and development (R&D) in 3Q 2021 compared to the previous year.
R&D expense was $3.3 million compared to $1.9 million for the comparable 3Q 2020 period, an increase of about 74%. Vuzix noted that the rise in R&D expense was driven largely by increases in external development expenses related to Next Generation Smart Glasses and salary, benefits, and non-cash stock-based compensation due to head-count additions.
"Vuzix Next Generation Smart Glasses are being prepped for introduction in what will be a revolutionary leap for enterprise AR smart glasses,” Travers said. “On the software side, our new Vuzix Custom Solutions business unit, formerly referred to as the Integrated Solutions Business Unit, is streamlined and focused with strong talent and is engaged with a number of large organizations to drive requirements around solving problems and implementing solutions for enterprises based upon a full suite of Vuzix Smart Glasses-based solutions and services."
The company reported a net loss attributable to common stockholders of $7.9 million, compared to a net loss of $5.3 million for the same period in 2020.
The net cash operating loss after adding back non-cash items for the third quarter of 2021 was $5.8 million as compared to a loss of $3.0 million for the third quarter of 2020.
As of September 30, 2021, the company maintained cash and equivalents of $128.7 million and an overall working capital position of $140.3 million.
"With only eight weeks left in the year, we have a lot on our plate to complete by year-end. We remain focused on successfully completing multiple strategic initiatives that we believe will accelerate the adoption of smart glasses, expand our business model, augment our optical know-how and capabilities, and ultimately unlock significant value for Vuzix shareholders,” Travers said.
“We are continuing to develop our core technology and next-generation products that we believe will be vital to enabling broader market adoption in support of enterprise, defense, aerospace, and OEM smart glasses manufacturers. We expect to introduce four new smart glasses products in 2022, starting in the first quarter,” he added.
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