FTC Solar, Inc.

Hello, and thank you for standing by. Welcome to FTC SOLA's third quarter 2025 earnings conference call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. After the speaker's presentation, there will be a question and answer session. To ask the question during the session, you will need to press star 11 on your telephone. You will then hear an automated message advising your hand is raised. To withdraw your question, please press star 11 again. I would now like to hand the conference over to Bill Michalik, Vice President of Investor Relations. Sir, you may begin.

Thank you, and welcome, everyone, to FTC Solar's third quarter 2025 earnings conference call. Before today's call, you may have reviewed our earnings release and supplemental financial information, which are posted earlier today. If you have not reviewed these documents, they are available in the Investor Relations section of our website at fdcsolar.com. I'm joined today by Jan Brandt, the company's president and chief executive officer, Kathy Bainan, the company's chief financial officer, and Patrick Cook, the company's head of capital markets and BB. Before we begin, I remind everyone that today's discussion contains forward-looking statements based on our assumptions and beliefs in the current environment and speaks only as of the current date. As such, these forward-looking statements include risks, uncertainties, and actual results and events could differ materially from our current expectations. Please refer to our press release and other SEC filings for more information on the specific risk factors. We assume no obligation to update such information, except as required by law. As you'd expect, we'll discuss both GAAP and non-GAAP financial measures today. Please note that the earnings release issued this morning includes a full reconciliation of each non-GAAP financial measure to the nearest applicable GAAP measure. With that, I'll turn the call over to Jan.

Thanks, Bill, and good morning, everyone. I'm glad to be with you again to share the continued and exciting progress that FTC Solar is making to position the company as a leading single access tracker provider in the market, a path that continues to be clearer every day for us through the technology we bring to the market that is looking for additional competition. It was one year ago that I joined you for my first earnings call as CEO of FTC. I'm pleased to say that over that year, the company has been on a recovery and growth trajectory, and our third quarter results represent a great mark of traction and continuation of that progress. Third quarter revenue and adjusted EBITDA both came in above the high end of our guidance ranges. Adjusted EBITDA was at the highest levels in five years and one of the best in company history. And compared to a year ago, third quarter revenue was up 160% and represents our highest quarterly revenue level in eight quarters. More importantly, we are continuing to improve our positioning, strengthen our balance sheet, improve our daily execution, and enhance our product innovation resulting in faster speeds of installation for our customers. All of this while gaining traction with existing and key new customers, we remain on an impressive growth trajectory. Twenty twenty six is setting up nicely and I see our long term upside is even greater than I did a year ago or even just three months ago, especially as we continue to execute on execution. We have been working to enhance all aspects of our daily operations, working to make the business better, stronger and more resilient each day. We're continuing to optimize our global supply chain, including for geographic capability, flexibility around tariffs, and reducing landed costs. We're also increasing our capabilities at our Alpha Steel facility to best support customer domestic content needs while increasing access to 45X credits. We're ensuring that we're engaging with customers early and often, understanding their needs and creating value for them. And we're optimizing our product roadmap and providing customer service that goes the extra steps. Speaking of progress, I'd like to take a moment to share a bit of insight into some of the steps involved as FTC looks to move up the market share leaderboard. We've been doing these things since I joined, but there's quite a bit of activity that happens below the surface and may shed some light on why we highlight qualitative traction in our presentations. Since we launched our 1P Pioneer Tracker, we have embarked on the process to secure purchase orders. That process involves several layers. Approvals from IPPs that will own the project focus on how we deliver service, O&M, software platforms like SunOps and SunPath. This AVL process is about the long-term operations of the site. In the past year, Pioneer has been vetted and added to dozens of approved vendor lists. EPCs have similar vendor approval lists that is focused a bit more on how the product is procured, designed, delivered, and installed. EPCs are learning one by one not only how easy and fast our tracker is to install, but also how robust our supply chain is. I may be biased, but I also find that we have the most responsive team in the market, led by seasoned solar professionals that have decades of relationships in solar, something that I'm very proud of. Just this quarter, we were approved for procurement by one of the largest EPCs in North America. MSAs don't just make for good PR. It means that two companies typically negotiate agreements for procurement, making it easier for us to contract when the project's near the start of construction. This quarter, we highlighted an MSA with one IPP, but we also have non-volume-based agreements with large EPCs that make contracting easier in the future. We hope to share some exciting developments on that front as we move ahead. As we go through these processes, one thing we notice is that our tracker does best when people see it and touch it. Every company talks about how fast they are, but when people see it and have that aha moment, it tends to be quite impactful, and that has led to some positive traction for us post-RE+. Since then, we've been hosting EPCs at our Austin demonstration facility so they can install it for themselves and see how easy it is. We've also built demonstration roads at operation centers for EPCs, an important step forward towards contracting. Starting this quarter, we're taking the show on the road with a new demonstration trailer. Now that some of the regulatory noise has lessened, we see many opportunities to capture new business thanks to the benefits and labor that we provide that are so badly needed by our customers. We track this progress internally and we'll continue to give you updates as we take the steps to make FTC the market leader I know that it can be. On the product front, we believe that we have what is unquestionably the fastest and easiest to install tracker in the marketplace. This is not from some third party study that backs into results, but from the actual measurement of workers installing our tracker. Today, FTC's independent row 1P architecture, where each row is controlled by a single motor, is aligned with the majority of the market and is the future of the industry. It is also significantly cheaper to install without expensive electrical work to power heavy-duty multi-row motors. Independent row 1P architecture has been known for benefits in uptime, ground access, maintenance, and slope adaptability, leading to higher production for asset owners when matched with the right software. As these benefits become more important and as developers increasingly utilize software to optimize individual row positioning to capture up to 4% additional output, we believe the share of market will only continue to improve. Matched with center-mounted slu drives, only a few tracker vendors, including FTC, have both slu drives and single-ware architecture, and we believe we have the best solution. Our constructability, which can be built from piles to mounted modules with an efficiency of 0.053 labor hours per module, we believe is unmatched in the solar industry, and there is at least 20% more labor savings to be had. Already at 0.053 labor hours per module, we believe we are nearly two times faster to install than our largest peers. In fact, we recently posted a video on LinkedIn showing a crew of four installing a 75-module row in less than an hour, and I would encourage everyone to view it. This efficiency is driven by our innovative Python clips, our slide and glide rails, an open Trunnion design, and PowerSynch clips. And this productivity is something that any customer crew can achieve with our tracker, and I encourage every EPC to review this for themselves. This is crucial as labor shortages are increasingly a pinch point for the industry and are expected to continue. and as labor continues to increase as a proportion of total project costs. And as the industry looks to increase the use of robotic solutions, including for construction, we believe our trackers are better suited there as well, with fewer fasteners and overall fewer components to be installed. Clear robotic interface advantages, including hardware-free module placement and consistent geometric reference points. Our tracker allows modules to glide and hold into a proper position, self-supported and aligned, Once you slide the module to the rail, it is fixed there and ready to take cinch clips, which can be done with one hand or one robotic actuator. There's no need to hold on both ends, no need to move back and forth to align bolts, no need to hold multiple bolt components, and no need to twist or turn anything, which means it dramatically reduces the human or robot labor and complexity relative to competing solutions. Over the past few quarters, I've shared with you all of the great progress we have made in taking the great underlying 1P platform and expanding our product line to ensure we have the right products to meet customer needs across their portfolio. This has included adding solutions for high wind zones up to 150 miles an hour, compatibility across module types, the ability to make module changes late in the design cycle, terrain following features to reduce and eliminate the need for land grading, and introducing the widest range of stow in the industry at up to 80 degrees. to maximize hail stove flexibility and customization. And we're continuing to innovate. Last quarter, I told you about our next-generation extra-long tracker for 2,000-volt systems, which will enable reduced EVOS and O&M costs while increasing power capacity by 33%. Today, I'll share with you that we're also introducing a washerless tracker, which is exactly what it sounds like. We're eliminating the need for washers for any connections. It may sound simple, but it takes the part countdown by an additional 15% or more on a tracker that we already believe has fewer parts than competing solutions, furthering our mission to make the most constructible trackers on the market, reducing labor time and complexity. Through continued innovation in R&D and software, our goal is to be twice as fast as our largest peers. We see this innovation push through our long-term agreements and our mission to add to the more than 7.5 gigawatts of MSAs we have added over the past year. The most recent being the one gigawatt agreement we announced in Q3 with Livona Renewables, which has a first project expected to begin in early 2026. Supported by our strong and expanded product line and a strengthened balance sheet, we have seen a meaningful step forward in our discussions with customers and prospects. In the U.S., our largest market, our pipeline has expanded with more customers and larger projects. This includes many new prospects and notably new and renewed discussions with multiple industry leaders, including Tier 1 EPCs. We're gaining visibility, we're getting more access, and more projects are available for us to win. Internationally, we are also continuing to make progress, strengthening our team, building our relationships, and advancing pipeline and project discussions. We hope to have much more to share on the customer front in the coming weeks and months. So as I look back on the past year, it's possible I didn't fully anticipate everything that was going to happen on the regulatory and legislative fronts, which included uncertainties around ITC, 45X, and tariff adjustments, just to name a few. And the net result of these things did push some expected new business to the right. But overall, we have been on a steady recovery over the past year and are in a greatly enhanced position with adjusted EBITDA hitting the highest levels in five years. Quarterly revenue levels are up 160% year over year and at their highest levels in eight quarters. We have new cash on the balance sheet and additional capacity with a financing arrangement. Our product offering is more compelling and complete than ever with a great deal of features added. And I'm confident that our growth will continue, including as we convert to seven plus gigawatts of MSAs. We have made great progress over the past year. And to me, this is just a start. I often tell the team, don't judge us based on where we're starting, but rather where we're going. So look at all that we have accomplished in one year, the product, the balance sheet, the MSAs, the pipeline. Now looking ahead, we've positioned our technology as an independent road tracker with SLU drive. This is the dominant technology, same as the market leader. and structurally advantage in our view, checking the boxes and expanding the market with our software suite and 80-degree hailstone. Of course, the market leader has significant volume advantages. So does the market value innovation? It does, and not all trackers are created equal. There is a great new innovation in IP, and the market wants more competition. Where our trackers excel perhaps the most is in constructability. Can great technology that is a labor accelerator like ours gain traction in the market that will face only increasing labor constraints? We believe so. We have been getting on the AVLs of more top developers and EPCs, further expanding our customer and prospect list. In addition to our current momentum, gaining only a small portion, even 5% of the top developer projects to start, would provide incredible growth rate and a long runway for us. And as we grow, we gain those volume advantages to become even more efficient and give back more to our customers who can now complete more projects with the same amount of labor using our tracker. and have a healthier, more competitive tracker market. We have done a great deal to prepare the company and lay the groundwork, and now more than ever, I believe the company is in a position to do great things, lock in many new projects, and reap the rewards of the great work and innovation. And we're aiming for a top market shares position that is now possible. I have never been more optimistic about the long-term potential of the business, and I look forward to providing you with continued updates on our progress in the months ahead. With that, I'll turn it over to Cathy.