Good morning. Welcome to EnWave Corporation's Q1 2026 Earnings Conference Call. My name is Daryl, and I will be your operator for today's call. Joining us for today's presentation are the company's President and CEO, Brent Charleton, and Dylan Murray, EnWave CFO. As a reminder, all participants are in a listen-only mode, and the conference is being recorded. After the presentation, there will be an opportunity to ask questions. If anyone should require operator assistance during the conference, please press star zero on your telephone keypad. Finally, I would like to remind everyone that this call will be made available for replay via a link in the Investor Relations section of the company's website at www.enwave.net. Now, I would like to turn the call over to EnWave CEO, Mr. Brent Charleton. Sir, please proceed.
Thanks very much, and thanks again to everyone who has joined us today for EnWave's Q1 fiscal 2026 quarterly conference call. We appreciate your continued support of EnWave and your interest in our results. And now, the information that we will present today contains forward-looking information that is based on our management's expectations, estimates, and projections. Our statements are not a guarantee of future performance and involve a number of risks, uncertainties, and assumptions. Please consider the risk factors in the filings made by EnWave on SEDAR when reviewing this information. Also, all amounts discussed will be in Canadian dollars, unless otherwise noted. Now, we entered fiscal 2026 with a clear focus to scale our recurring royalty revenue, deepen the partnerships we have with established food manufacturers, and to accelerate the adoption of our REV dehydration technology across high-margin categories.
Our financial performance in Q1 fiscal 2026 was similar to past Q1s due to the lack of additional machine orders received during the winter holiday period. Our machine sales pipeline continues to be strong, and we are optimistic regarding several near-term decision points. Comparatively, we saw year-over-year quarterly improvement in several financial metrics this quarter, including a 36% increase in revenue, 8% improvement in EBITDA, which was also the improvement we had in our quarterly gross margin, and most importantly, third-party royalties and total royalties earned were up 18% and 12%, respectively.
Now, in regards to new agreements, we signed three new license agreements year to date, including deals with a U.S. snacking company who will conduct initial commercial production in Mexico, Shiny Way, a New Zealand-based cannabis company, and Bowen Gumlu Growers Association of Australia, most recently for the development and commercialization of several tropical fruit and vegetable products. Also, in Q1 and to the date of this call, our team attended six food trade shows, including events in Mexico, the U.S., and Europe. In fact, I'm taking this call from Mexico currently as we wrap up a federal government trade mission. Our proactive efforts to market and sell REV technology has intensified in recent quarters.
As we continue to pursue new license opportunities for our proprietary drying technology, we see that food manufacturers are increasingly focused on clean label processing, the nutrient retention of their products, extended shelf life, and the energy efficiency in their processes. Now, REV technology continues to differentiate itself by delivering on all four focus areas. And as I've just stated, our commercial pipeline remains robust across North America, Europe, and emerging international markets. We are actively engaged with midsize and large food companies, exploring applications in fruit and vegetable snacks, functional ingredients, dairy inclusions, meat and protein snacks, and pet nutrition. The diversity of use cases supports our long-term thesis that REV is not a single product solution. It is a platform technology with broad food industry applicability. Additionally, we believe the broader food industry backdrop remains highly favorable for EnWave.
Consumers continue to demand healthier snacks, high-protein snacks, nutrient-dense products, shelf-stable convenience items, and clean label formulations. At the same time, manufacturers are facing margin pressure from energy costs, labor constraints, and supply chain volatility. REV technology addresses these dynamics directly through faster drying times, improved energy efficiency, superior nutrient and flavor retention, and reduced processing steps. In short, our value proposition is becoming increasingly aligned with macro industry trends. Royalty revenue remains the foundation of our long-term value creation strategy. Now, while quarter-to-quarter results can fluctuate based on REV machine manufacturing, timing, and orders, underlying demand trends among our licensees remain strong. Several partners are expanding distribution, introducing new SKUs to market, and increasing production runs using our technology.
Now, looking ahead, our priorities for fiscal 2026 include the continued expanding royalty revenue from existing partners, as several of those licensees are planning capacity increases and product line expansions this year, and supporting their growth is our fastest path to compounding recurring revenue. We look to converting pilot evaluations into commercial machine orders, as we have multiple advanced stage evaluations underway and decision points forthcoming, as I mentioned, and also focus on entering additional high-margin verticals, including the pet treat area, more functional ingredient projects, and the premium snack category, which demonstrates strong ROI economics for our current and future license partners. EnWave is building a high-margin, royalty-driven food technology platform, and now, while equipment sales provide near-term revenue, the long-term value lies in scaling those recurring royalties. Every new commercial license agreement represents a potential multiyear revenue stream with strong operating leverage.
Our focus is not on short-term volatility, it is on building durable, compounding cash flows. With my summarized update complete, I'll now ask Dylan to summarize EnWave's detailed quarterly financial performance.
Thanks, Brent. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us today. Please note that the figures I'll be discussing can be found in our press release from yesterday and in the financial statements and MD&A filed on SEDAR, and all amounts are in Canadian dollars, unless otherwise noted.
I will make reference to Adjusted EBITDA, which is a non-IFRS financial measure, so please refer to the non-IFRS financial measure disclosures and reconciliation to GAAP net income, both in the press release and in our MD&A. Also, please note that the comparative period I'll refer to throughout this presentation is the prior year, Q1, ended December 31st, 2024. Revenues for Q1 were CAD 1.6 million, compared to CAD 1.2 million in Q1 2025, an increase of CAD 0.4 million or 36%. The decrease was primarily related to reduced equipment construction contract revenue for the period, offset by an increase in royalties and tooling revenue. Base royalties were CAD 500K in Q1 2026, compared to CAD 425K in the comparative period, an increase of CAD 75K or 18%.
Total royalty revenue for Q1 2026, including exclusivity payments, was CAD 627K, compared to CAD 559K in the comparative period, an increase of CAD 68K or 12%. Royalties grew due to increased royalty partners, product sales, partner production, and exclusivity payments for the quarter. And as our royalty partners grow their businesses and increase capacity utilization of installed REV equipment, further REV installations will follow from new sales contracts and material royalty growth should continue in the coming quarters. Gross margin for the company in Q1 2026 was 37%, compared to 29% in the comparative period. The increase in margin are result of higher royalties and the production mix of large machines at various stages of commissioning and fabrication.
SG&A expenses, including R&D, were CAD 1.5 million for Q1 2026, compared to CAD 1.3 million for Q1 2025, an increase of CAD 0.2 million or 16%. The increase primarily related to more sales personnel, the timing of patent maintenance fees, and professional fees incurred during the period. In the comparative period, legal costs associated with the term loan and credit facility were capitalized. At the end of the quarter, there were 6 full-time employees, including Brent, working for EnWave in the sales and marketing department. This is a 50% increase in personnel from the comparative period. The company will continue to prioritize sales and marketing activities in the coming quarters to drive machine sales. Adjusted EBITDA is a non-IFRS financial measure, so please refer to our MD&A for the reconciliation from GAAP net income to Adjusted EBITDA.
The company reported an Adjusted EBITDA loss of CAD 585K for Q1 2026, compared to an Adjusted EBITDA loss of CAD 635K for Q1 2025, an improvement of CAD 50K over the comparative period. The increase in Adjusted EBITDA was primarily driven by increased machine sale revenue and royalties for the period. We finished Q1 2026 with cash and cash equivalents of CAD 2.5 million and a net working capital surplus of CAD 8.5 million as of December 31. EnWave also has a credit facility with Desjardins for growth and working capital purposes. As of the date of our quarterly filings, approximately CAD 2.4 million is available to the company at a rate of prime + 1.5%, and the facility remains undrawn to date.
In the prior quarter, the company closed a fully subscribed private placement of 7.5 million common shares to the company at a price per share of CAD 0.40 for aggregate gross proceeds of CAD 3 million. The company is using the funds to increase inventory levels by manufacturing two large-scale machines, specifically a 100-kilowatt nutraREV and a 120-kilowatt quantaREV machine. We forecast both machines in aggregate will be approximately 75% complete by March 31st. This investment, combined with an expanded marketing presence through increased trade show attendance and sales personnel, is designed to ensure faster order fulfillment and support prospective future machine sales.
Thanks, Dylan. To summarize Q1 fiscal 2026, royalty performance remains on an upward trajectory. Our commercial pipeline activity is strong, operating discipline continues, and industry tailwinds support growth for our business. We are confident in the strategic direction of the company and the long-term opportunity ahead. So on behalf of the entire EnWave team, I want to thank our employees, our partners, and shareholders for your continued commitment. I'd now like to open the call for your questions. Operator, please provide the appropriate instructions.
Thank you. At this time, we'll be conducting a question-and-answer session. If you would like to ask a question, please press star one on your telephone keypad. A confirmation tone will indicate your line is in the question queue. You may press star two if you would like to remove your question from the queue. For participants using speaker equipment, it may be necessary to pick up your handset before pressing the star keys. If there are any outstanding questions at the end of the call, the company will be happy to take them by email at ir@enwave.net. One moment, please, while we poll for your questions. Our first questions come from the line of Noel Atkinson with Clarus Securities. Please proceed with your questions.
Hi, Brent and Dylan. Thanks for taking questions today, and nice to see the solid royalty revenue in Q1. On the equipment side, I was wondering if you're still targeting new orders for six-eight large-scale machines in fiscal 2026, like you've previously mentioned.
As I mentioned on the call, Noel, thanks for the question. Our pipeline remains strong and none of the large-scale opportunities that we have targeted to close in regards to signing new licenses and equipment purchase agreements throughout the fiscal year have fallen off the table. So all of the opportunities I've spoken to in times past are still relevant.
Okay. And then I think on the prior call, you folks had also talked about sort of targeted royalties of sort of CAD 2.3 million. I know that Q1 included some of the exclusivity payments, but are you guys still kind of on track, hopefully, for that?
Yeah, we're still comfortable with that range of royalty collection throughout the fiscal year, given that there are two primary large-scale partners here who are turning on new large-scale machines, and the anticipation that a high level of capacity utilization will take place instantaneously, and that would be the two machines sold to MicroDried. The one machine that was sold to BranchOut Food, which is, well, actually going to be installed early next month. And then also the machine that was turned on sort of the midway point of last fiscal year at Procescir in Mexico. So we should see growth for those three marquee partners, as well as the additional machines that we are planning to sell over the course of the next three quarters.
Okay, cool. And then just one more quick one for me. So, in you, you mentioned some new areas that you're going after for opportunities, pet treats, premium snack, functional food. What are you seeing in terms of, you know, why are these companies starting to come to you now? Is it that you were out there in the market, you're meeting at the trade shows? Is it that MicroDried and BranchOut are starting to get good traction with their products in the market? Like, what do you sort of attribute this to?
Well, specifically to the pet treat industry, where there is obviously some very high margins to be won in that particular vertical. We had been engaging with the market leaders in that space, trying to court their attention for quite some time, and more recently, those industry trends have intensified, where there's been a shift in focus from perhaps the standard kibble that a dog would eat or a cat would eat on a day-to-day basis, where there's more money being spent now on that reward treat, and more interest in the growing aspects of that particular contribution to the market. So from that interest and momentum in the industry, we've now been working with some of the biggest players in that space, and are hopeful of announcing some new partnerships in the coming months here in regards to that.
In the other alternative protein space, I think that's just serendipitous of like, again, overall consumer acceptance of different ways to ingest protein versus your traditional means. So there's some new opportunities there. And then also, to be frank, like some new industrial application projects have come out of left field, while attending trade shows. So it really does prove the fact that, you know, we need to be boots on the ground, attending all major food tech trade shows. And, if we weren't doing that, some of these opportunities just wouldn't have come across our desk.
Okay, great. All right. That's all for me. Thanks.
Thanks, Joel.
Thank you. Our next question has come from the line of Bart Goemaere with B eursTips. Please proceed with your questions.
Hi, Brent and Dylan. Good results on the royalties. Just some questions on the pipeline. The 100-kilowatt nutraREV and 120-kilowatt quantaREV are going to be 75% complete end of this quarter, but when are they going to be 100% complete?
I'll take that one, Brent. So strictly in terms of a revenue recognition perspective, it's 100% complete when the machine is commissioned. But in the latter half, so not this upcoming quarter, March 31st, but our Q3, the machines will be predominantly finished.
Okay. Thank you. How many small machines do you have in inventory?
We probably have about four-eight small-scale machines in inventory, and we're also currently building two 10-kilowatt machines right now, based on our prospective pipeline.
Yeah, Bart, and when Dylan says four-eight small-scale machines, we have a couple machines which have basically zero book value, that are being used internally right now for test purposes, but have the ability to be sold if there's an immediate demand for them. And then we would just build more additional machines to replace those units.
Okay, thank you. And any further color on the cannabis markets in the United States? I know it's not your priority, but things are happening there, or, well, should the routes to be happen, anything on that?
To be very transparent, there is not an active U.S. cannabis project on the go, but more so there are cannabis projects on the go in other jurisdictions, where there's consideration of additional investment to further manufacturing capacity with a current licensed partner, as well as some of the recent work and data that's been collected for specific strains being dried, does lend itself well for further marketing of this technology within the cannabis space. We will obviously entertain new inquiries, and we do outbounds to the largest companies to see if there's renewed interest. But really, when we look at the pipeline, we're like 95% food and ingredients at this point in time.
Okay, thank you.
Thanks, Bart.
Thank you. We have reached the end of the question and answer session. I will now turn the call back over to Brent Charleton, CEO, for any closing remarks.
Thanks very much. I will address a few of these questions that have been submitted through the webcast, so they're now available. I'll speak to the question, and then Dylan or I will respond. The first question coming in asks: Should we be concerned about the falling levels of cash? Will there be need for further financings? Great question. So we had committed that the CAD 3 million that we recently raised through the life financing to be put directly towards the building of inventory, so that we would have the ability to recognize revenue faster, given that it takes about six-seven months to build large-scale equipment, and we are confident in the pipeline of need for these large-scale pieces of equipment.
So there should not be any concern with the falling levels of cash, given we have near-term opportunities to convert the inventory back into cash. And then we'll continue to put that cash to work. We'll continue to start building additional large-scale inventory, again, given our confidence levels in the pipeline. And so at this point in time, right now, we don't foresee a need for further financings, but of course, dynamics change in the, along the path of growing a business. Second question, can you clarify the company's current cash runway based on Q1 operating cash outflows?
Yeah, I think that's kind of the same comment there that Brent just addressed. Q1 unique for us in that it was really about building those inventory levels and that 120-kilowatt and 100-kilowatt machine on spec. So we don't forecast the same burn use of cash over the next fiscal period. And then just also wanna, you know, remind everyone, it's also a function of just working capital. You'll see an increase in trade receivables and our asset account related to POC machines. That's just a timing of collections.
Thanks, Dylan. Next question: Any update on the pharmaceutical industry? So similar to the answer that I have just given in regards to our pipeline makeup and cannabis' contribution or small contribution to opportunities. Similarly, the pharmaceutical industry opportunities are still being fielded by GEA Lyophil out of Germany. So the majority of inquiries that we get, we pass on to those folks to discuss potential test work to be completed. And ultimately, what they need to move forward to scale up this tech in collaboration with EnWave is, again, the commitment level from at least one or potentially a consortium of pharmaceutical companies that will use this drying platform through the drug approval process from start to finish. And that's a very difficult task to achieve in terms of gaining that commitment level, but it's something that GEA continues to pursue.
At this time, pharmaceutical opportunities are a very small part of the near term, you know, cash-generating opportunities for EnWave. Last question here. Oh, another couple more popped up here. What were the main drivers behind the improved gross margin in Q1?
So I'd say that's really two parts of that. One is the increase in royalties, which will drive higher margins. So we had higher royalties this quarter versus the same quarter last year. And the second one is just a really busy manufacturing department. So all the, you know, labor costs associated with that department are capitalized to the balance sheet, to inventory, then expensed immediately to PNL. So being busy is great for margins.
Thanks, Dylan. And then the last question here is: Do you plan to provide more frequent updates on machine sales or deployments to support investor visibility? When we sign a new contract to sell a new machine, we announce every single one of those transactions, whether they be large machines, small machines, or with large or small companies. So in terms of investor updates, we try to provide short snippet interviews along the way here to provide update on sentiment within the business, which always try to be very forthright and transparent. At this point, like I mentioned on the call, we have internal confidence in our pipeline right now, and it's really just a matter of pushing over a few of these deals simultaneously, whereas it was a slow Q1 and perhaps could be a busier Q2, Q3 here.
So that's where we're working towards as a team. Okay, so seeing that there's no additional questions deployed into this portal here, I wanted to thank again everyone who participated in the call this morning and ask if anyone has further questions after the call, they feel free to reach out to Dylan or myself. Thanks to everybody.
Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. This does now conclude today's teleconference. We appreciate your participation. You may disconnect your lines at this time. Enjoy the rest of your day.