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spk02: Good afternoon and welcome to Perazzo Inc.' 's fourth quarter and full year financial results conference call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. A question and answer session will follow the formal presentation. If anyone should require operator assistance during the conference, please press star zero on your telephone keypad. As a reminder, this conference is being recorded today, Wednesday, March 22, 2023. I would now like to turn the call over to Perazzo's CFO, Jim Sullivan. Please go ahead.
spk08: Thank you. Good afternoon, and thank you for joining today's conference call to discuss Parasso's fourth quarter and full year 2022 financial results. I'm Jim Sullivan, CFO of Parasso, and joining me today is Ron Glibury, our CEO. This afternoon, we issued a press release in related Form 8-K, which was filed with the SEC. The press release and Form 8-K are available on Parasso's website at www.parassoinc.com under the Investor Relations section. There is also a slide presentation that we will be using in conjunction with today's call that may be accessed through the webcast link on the IR website. As a reminder, comments made during today's conference call may include forward-looking statements. All statements other than statements of historical fact could be deemed as forward-looking. PARASO advises caution and reliance on forward-looking statements. These statements include, without limitation, any projections of revenue, margins, expenses, non-GAAP gross profit, non-GAAP gross margin, non-GAAP operating expenses, adjusted EBITDA, non-GAAP net loss, cash flows, or other financial items, including anticipated cost savings. Also, any statements concerning the expected development, performance, and market share or competitive performance of our products or technologies. All forward-looking statements are based on information available to Perasso on the date hereof. These statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors that may cause Perasso's actual results to differ materially from those implied by the forward-looking statements, including unexpected changes in the company's business. More detailed information about these risk factors and additional risk factors are set forth in PRASO's public filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. PRASO expressly disclaims any obligation to update or alter its forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise, except as required by applicable law. Additionally, the company's press release and management statements during this conference call will include discussions of certain measures and financial information in terms of GAAP and non-GAAP. Included in the company's press release are definitions and reconciliations of GAAP to non-GAAP items, which provide additional details. For those of you unable to listen to the entire call at this time, a recording will be available on the investor relations section of our website. Now, I would like to turn the call over to our CEO, Ron Glibrey, for his prepared remarks. Ron?
spk04: Thank you, Jim. Good afternoon and welcome to everyone joining today on the phone and by webcast. As outlined in today's press release, Perazzo achieved strong growth for the fourth quarter and full year, highlighted by a number of accomplishments across the business. Both product and total revenue in the fourth quarter were up double digits sequentially and over 100% year over year. Our strong top line growth for the quarter and year was driven by robust demand and higher shipments of our millimeter wave ICs for fixed wireless access, as well as our memory IC products.
spk06: We also achieved meaningful improvement in our gross margins throughout the year.
spk04: Reflecting back in 2022, I'm proud of the team's execution during what was and continues to be a challenging environment for not only the semiconductor industry, but many industries across the globe. All things considered, we had a productive full first year as a combined company, following the completed merger transaction with MOSIS in late 2021. Our strong year-over-year growth and expanded gross margin for the year are a testament to our differentiated technology and the team's ability to deliver against customer demand despite wide-reaching supply chain challenges. Total revenue for the full year increased 162% over 2021, and we expanded non-GAAP gross margins to nearly 50%. Product revenue for 2022 grew 189% year-over-year, primarily reflecting the rampant shipments from our millimeter-wave and memory IC products. We also achieved significant business and product milestones during the year, including the launch of our prospective product family for millimeter-wave fixed wireless access and Perazzo's introduction of the world's most integrated dual-band 5G millimeter-wave beamformer IC. Also notable was our appointment of Mark Lunsford as the company's first chief revenue officer in support of expanding Peraza's commercial reach. I would also highlight the strategic technology license and patent agreement that we entered into with Intel Corporation, which added non-dilutive cash to the balance sheet while also contributing to a reduction in operating expenses. Shifting to an update in our primary target markets. we've been very pleased with the increase in validation and growth of the fixed wireless access market over the past year. In fact, this growth accelerated in 2022 as fixed wireless access continued to capture a growing share of the broadband market. According to a recent report published by Lightman Research Group, fixed wireless services represented 90% of all broadband net net ads in 2022. Together, T-Mobile and Verizon added nearly 3.2 million fixed wireless subscribers in 2022, which compared to approximately 720,000 net ads in 2021, representing year-over-year growth of more than 300%. To put these numbers in context of the longer-term market potential of T-Mobile's home internet and Verizon's 5G fixed wireless service, are currently available to more than 40 million and roughly 30 million homes respectively. The growing market momentum is derived from fixed wireless access being a natural extension of 5G deployments, as carriers and service providers seek to maximize available bandwidth capacity while also delivering faster and lower latency connectivity to their customers. As I discussed on previous calls, there continues to be increased recognition across the industry that millimeter wave technology will be required to address the challenges of continuously growing demand for wireless bandwidth. In addition to the fundamental benefits of millimeter wave technology, including incremental wireless bandwidth, fast multi-gigabit access speeds, and low latency, service providers are also recognizing its ability to address uniquely challenging use cases, such as high congested environments. One high profile example of this was the State Farm Stadium in February for the Super Bowl, where there were nearly 68,000 fans in attendance. For those of us that have attended large venue sporting events or concerts in recent years, you've likely experienced the frustration of either limited or effectively no wireless connectivity due to the density of the crowd. Specifically to the Super Bowl, an estimated 60% of the fans were Verizon customers, and they collectively used 47 terabytes of data, which was a 57% increase over Super Bowl 2022. Although Verizon acknowledged it deployed supplemental C-band spectrum to bolster their service, Verizon's VP of Device Technology named Millimeter Wave as the star of the show in terms of enabling the staggering demand and data traffic. The Super Bowl is only one example, however, where there continues to be a growing number of similar proof points that further emphasize the need for millimeter wave technology, which remains at the core of Perazzo's solution for both licensed 5G and unlicensed 60 gigahertz spectrum. For broader perspective on markets, I want to share several takeaways from following my recent attendance of Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, as well as from our team's participation at WISP America earlier this month. At a high level, one of the most striking observations is that millimeter wave has made significant strides in terms of acceptance for really accepting the exponential wireless demand in the carrier market. Specific to our own beamformer solution, it was clear based on our conversations and surveying other vendors at the show that we offer the most highly integrated dual band device in the market. To that end, we engage in multiple productive discussions relating to addressing the 5G consumer premise equipment or CPE, and how Peraza's 5G millimeter wave solution can enable more cost-effective end equipment, as well as 5G millimeter wave deployments. We should remember that the cost of the CPE equipment is the crucial aspect of the success of millimeter wave and 5G fixed wireless access. In terms of carrier acceptance of millimeter wave technology, we believe millimeter wave will be eventually the go-to technology for 5G fixed wireless access. One of the industry analysts we spoke to indicated that the revenue per bit for mobile users in the carrier market is 20 times the revenue per bit of fixed wireless access, which we expect will inevitably make millimeter wave the go-to solution for fixed wireless access in the carrier market. Over the last year, we further substantiated our technology leadership through expanded customer orders and design wins, as well as growing traction for both millimeter wave IC and integrated antenna solutions for fixed wireless access. After meeting with a number of the leading players at WISP America, I'm even more convinced that Peraza was establishing itself as a leading go-to millimeter wave vendor for wireless ISPs. In fact, we are now evaluating multiple requests and have accepted multiple requests for direct engagement to align on respective product roadmaps with certain wireless ISPs. Another prominent takeaway was the recognition that one of the primary benefits of millimeter wave is minimal network interference. More specifically, industry participants are acknowledging that Wi-Fi based connectivity is becoming increasingly difficult due to the scale from signal interference generated by the surging number of connected Wi-Fi devices. Actually, recognition of this issue in a commercial setting was recently provided by a millimeter wave equipment supplier named Intracom, who announced the deployment of 300,000 millimeter wave subscribers in Italy, where they specifically cited immunity to interference as the primary benefit of their system.
spk06: Finally, while acknowledging the current macroeconomic conditions and associated uncertainty,
spk04: We remain optimistic about our compelling value proposition in the marketplace and ability to drive continued growth in 2023. We're particularly encouraged by expanding opportunities in the fixed wireless market, both domestically and abroad, as we further position Peraza to be a leading supplier of millimeter wave solutions across the licensed and unlicensed segments of the market. Our main focus in 2023 is to further capitalize on our existing leadership position in 60 gigahertz while also advancing a select target of development projects with key prospective customers and partners. Intermediate term over the next 12 to 18 months, we aim to leverage our current momentum in the wireless ISP market to penetrate the emerging millimeter wave opportunity in the carrier market, which is anticipated to ramp later in 2023 and into the first half of 2024. As part of our recently implemented cost reduction initiatives, we're emphasizing development projects with near-term paths to achieving return on investment, even though we continue to closely monitor potential longer-term opportunities. These include next-generation millimeter of applications, such as AR-VR connectivity, as well as the industry's formal evaluation of incorporating 60 gigahertz in future standards, such as Wi-Fi 8. In closing, I'm pleased with the momentum and expanding engagements that we've secured in 2022 and are extending into 2023 as we aim to build upon the strong first full year of combined operations. The recent actions we've taken to streamline the organization and reduce operating expenses position us to achieve improved operating results as we drive continued top line growth over the coming year. With that, I'll turn the call back to Jim to review the fourth quarter and full year financials and provide Our outlook for the first quarter of 2023. Jim?
spk08: Thank you, Ron. It's great to be speaking with you all today. During my comments, I will make several references to non-GAAP numbers. Unless otherwise indicated, referenced amounts exclude stock-based compensation expense, amortization of reported intangible assets, impairments of goodwill, business combination transaction costs, and the change in fair value of warrant liabilities. These non-GAAP financial measures and the reconciliation of the differences between them and comparable GAAP measures are presented in our press release and related current report on Form 8K, which was filed today with the SEC. Turning now to our fourth quarter and full year 2022 results. Total revenue in the fourth quarter increased to $3.9 million from $3.3 million in the third quarter of 2022 and $1.9 million during the same quarter a year ago. Full year 2022 total revenue increased over 160% to $14.9 million compared with $5.7 million in the prior year. Product revenue from the sale of our integrated circuits and millimeter wave antenna solutions in the fourth quarter was $3.8 million compared with $3.1 million in the prior quarter and $1.9 million in the fourth quarter of 2021. For the full year 2022, product revenue was $14.2 million compared with $4.9 million in the prior year. The strong year-over-year growth of both fourth quarter and full year 2022 product revenue was primarily attributable to increased demand and shipments of our millimeter wave antenna product solutions and a full year of revenue contribution from our memory products. Royalty and other revenue comprise non-recurring engineering services and royalty revenues from licenses of our memory technology and was $0.1 million in the fourth quarter and $0.7 million for the full year 2022. GAAP gross margin was 44.2% in the fourth quarter compared with 39.3% in the prior quarter and 30.4% in the year-ago quarter. The full year 2022 GAAP gross margin was 40% compared with 42.4% in the prior year. On a non-GAAP basis, excluding amortization of acquired intangible assets, Gross margin for the fourth quarter was 53.4% compared with 50.2% in the prior quarter and 30.4% in the fourth quarter of 2021. The sequential and year-over-year improvements in gross margin for the fourth quarter was primarily the result of increased shipment to the company's memory ICU products. As a reminder, the fourth quarter of 2021 included only two weeks of revenue contribution from our memory products following the closing of the business combination with Moses, Inc., whereas the fourth quarter of 2022 reflected a full quarter of contribution from memory products. For the full year of 2022, non-GAAP gross margin was 49.7%. Non-GAAP product gross margin expanded to 52.6% in the fourth quarter, compared with 46.3% in the prior quarter and 31.4% in the fourth quarter of 2021. For the full year of 2022, non-GAAP product gross margin expanded to 47.3% from 33.3% in the prior year. The improvements in product gross margins for the fourth quarter and for full year 2022 was primarily due to the revenue contribution from memory IC products, as well as increased shipments of our millimeter wave solutions. As reflected by our fourth quarter and full year results, we made considerable progress on driving expanded gross margin in 2022. For 2023, we continue to target a corporate non-GAAP gross margin of approximately 50% through a combination of anticipated revenue growth and benefits from increased scale and reduced production costs on our millimeter wave antenna product solutions, as well as the ongoing contribution from sales of our higher margin memory ICU products. GAAP operating expenses for the fourth quarter of 2022 were $16.2 million, which included a $9.9 million non-cash charge for the impairment of goodwill. This compared with $5.3 million in the prior quarter, which included a $2.6 million reduction associated with a gain related to a license and asset sale, and $5.3 million in the fourth quarter of 2021. The $9.9 million non-cash charge for the impairment of goodwill in the fourth quarter of 2022 was determined by performing an impairment test, of which a key factor is the price of the company's common stock and resultant market capitalizations. For the full year 2022, GAAP operating expenses were $38.3 million, compared with $18.5 million in the prior year. Totally operating expenses for the fourth quarter of 2022 on a non-GAAP basis, which excludes stock-based compensation, amortization of reported intangible assets, and the aforementioned goodwill impairment charge, were $4.8 million, compared with $3.7 million in the prior quarter and $3.7 million in the same quarter a year ago. Full year 2022 operating expenses on a non-GAAP basis were $22 million, compared with $12.3 million in the prior year. In February 2023, we announced that we'd implement cost reduction initiatives to reduce operating losses and streamline operations, as we further emphasize shorter-term market opportunities. We expect to decrease our operating expenses by approximately $5 million on an annualized basis, primarily from lower headcount, and targeted reductions in expenses for certain longer-term research and development projects. To date, these initiatives remain on track, and we have begun to realize the cost reduction benefits. GAAP net loss for the fourth quarter of 2022 was $14.6 million, or a loss of $0.71 per share, compared with a net loss of $4 million, or $0.20 per share, in the prior quarter, and compared with net income of $2.5 million, or $0.28 per diluted share, in the same quarter a year ago. The full year 2022 GAAP net loss was $32.4 million, or a loss of $1.61 per share, compared with a net loss of $10.9 million, or $1.86 per share, in 2021. On a non-GAAP basis, net loss for the fourth quarter of 2022 was $2.8 million, or a loss of 13 cents per share, which excluded stock-based compensation, amortization of acquired intangibles, the change in fair value of warrant liability, and the goodwill impairment charge. This compared with a non-GAAP net loss of $2 million or 10 cents per share in the prior quarter and a net loss of $3.9 million or loss per share of 51 cents in the same quarter a year ago. The full year 2022 non-GAAP net loss was $14.7 million or a loss of 73 cents per share compared with a net loss of $12.8 million or 2.19 per share in the prior year. The weighted average number of basic and diluted shares outstanding for purposes of calculating both GAAP and non-GAAP EPS for the fourth quarter of 2022 was 20.5 million shares, which excludes 1.8 million shares of our common stock and exchangeable shares that are escrowed pursuant to the terms of an escrow agreement related to the December 2021 business combination and is subject to earn out based on achievements of certain stock price targets. Adjusted EBITDA, which we define as GAAP net income or loss as reported, excluding stock-based compensation, amortization of reported intangibles, change in fair value of warrant liability, goodwill impairment charges, interest expense, depreciation and amortization, and the provision for income taxes was negative $2.5 million in the fourth quarter of 2022, compared with negative $1.8 million in the prior quarter and negative $2.8 million in the prior year period. For the full year of 2022, adjusted EBITDA was negative $13.7 million compared with negative $8.8 million in the prior year. From a balance sheet perspective, during the fourth quarter of 2022, we collected approximately $1 million of refundable Canadian tax credits. In addition, to date, since September 30th, 2022, we have collected approximately $2.5 million from a lead customer. Approximately $1.5 million represented accounts receivable at September 30th, 2022, and the additional approximately $1 million related to shipments in September 2022 for which the company had deferred revenue recognition. The company expects to recognize the $1 million of revenue related to these shipments in the quarter ending March 31, 2023. As of today, the company has known past due amounts from this customer. At December 31, 2022, we had 23,376,466 shares of common stock and exchangeable shares outstanding. This amount is includes the 1.8 million shares subject to escrow, as noted previously. Turning to our business outlook, we've entered the new year with a healthy order backlog from customers and a robust pipeline of new engagement opportunities, which we believe positions us for continued growth in 2023. Specific to the first quarter of 2023, the company expects total net revenue to be in the range of $4.7 million to $5 million, which at the midpoint would represent sequential growth of approximately 25% and year-over-year growth more than 40%. This concludes our prepared remarks and we will now open the call to questions. Operator, please initiate the Q&A session.
spk02: Thank you. At this time, we will be conducting a question and answer session. If you would like to ask a question, please press star 1 on your telephone keypad. A confirmation tone will indicate your line is in the question queue. You may press star 2 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. One moment, please, while we poll for questions.
spk05: Our first question comes from David Williams with Benchmark.
spk02: Company, please proceed.
spk01: Hey, good afternoon, gentlemen, and congrats on the progress. It sounds like there's a lot of really exciting opportunities, and it's good to see you guys capitalizing on that.
spk06: Thank you. Thanks, David.
spk01: Yeah, so maybe, Ron, first to you, just if you could talk a little bit about what you're hearing from customers, and you gave some good commentary about your travels at Mobile World Congress and with Americas. Can you elaborate a little bit just kind of what you're hearing, what your customers are excited about, and kind of how you think the market is developing overall, just kind of based on your discussions with the industry?
spk04: Well, to be quite frank, I mean, I would say the most, exciting progress right now is on the fixed wireless market in a 60 gig space. And I mean, to that end, I think I was, you know, we were a bit ambiguous in the conversation about, you know, engaging with wireless ISPs, for example. But now we've actually confirmed three separate meetings where they're coming to our headquarters to sit down with our engineers, and we're going to map out roadmaps together. So We really believe that, you know, we're going to become the dominant, if not already the dominant players in that marketplace. And, you know, people traveling here just kind of prove that to me. And I think, you know, we've got a lot of education to do in terms of, you know, making sure that the WISPs understand that, you know, the real benefits. And frankly, the real benefit, Dave, is the bandwidth, right? It's just really coming down to bandwidth. And, you know, people... there's kind of past, I guess, almost expectations about millimeter wave with regards to rain and so on. And I think what people are seeing now that it really, really works. So that was a big takeaway for us over the last few weeks. I think for 5G millimeter wave, it's kind of as I've been predicting over the last year or so, which is, okay, so 2022 for sure was a major, major year for fixed wireless with the carriers, let's face it. But it was really mostly in C-band. But let's face it, so two things, you know, came out of that for me. One is, well, there's really a demand for good internet service, right? So, I mean, I think with, you know, two plus million customer ads, that's clear. You know, but the other is that I think for the carriers, again, you know, their revenue per bit is far greater on mobile. And we just see this broad shift you know, happening later this year and into 2024, two millimeter wave as just part of that overall solution for their network, right? And really as a function of, you know, growth and demand. So probably my two big takeaways were in the unlicensed WISP market, really, I would say, you know, our goal this year is to absolutely be the dominant player in that market. I think engaging directly with those wireless ISPs face-to-face to share our respective roadmaps is critical in that regard. And on the carrier front, really, you know, that shift over, fixed wireless is clearly an important opportunity for them. The shift, you know, we see that shift over to millimeter wave later this year into 2024. Dave?
spk01: Sorry, Dylan, I was on mute there. My apologies.
spk04: Sorry, I thought I lost you. Sorry about that.
spk01: No, no, no, no. I was talking away and didn't want to clatter in the background. So I guess if we kind of think about, and I think you mentioned this on the new Wi-Fi standards and the potential for that to be included in the protocol. Can you talk a little bit about that just to help me understand what that means?
spk04: It's kind of late breaking news, but last week there was a formal vote at the IEEE to actually study the use of, including 60 gigahertz, in the next generation of Wi-Fi. So it's by no means set, but there's now a study group that's really formally looking at how people can make that happen. So I would say there's two driving applications, again, from a 100,000-foot level. One application is, You know, really, I guess historically, 60 gig has been a technology that stays within rooms. A real problem for Wi-Fi is in apartment complexes, overlapping networks. I mean, you can literally have 100 overlapping networks. So what better way to solve that problem than with the technology that actually stays in a room? So I think that's one benefit. The other is just AR, VR. I mean, VR just demands a lot of bandwidth, but not just bandwidth, uninterrupted bandwidth. And again, this whole concept of interference is really coming in place, certainly in the fixed wireless market, but also certainly in the VR market. And that is just, again, this concept of overlapping networks causes interference. Of course, the other benefit of millimeter wave technology, certainly what we do, is beamforming and narrow beams that really, again, give you a much more secure link for applications such as VR.
spk01: Fantastic. And I don't want to take up too much time here. I just had a couple of other quick ones. Jim, maybe to you real quick on the cash burn. You had some collections this quarter. It sounds like you've got some nice cost savings coming in. As I kind of run that through the model, it turns out quite nicely in terms of that profitability or reaching neutral or breakeven. How do you think about the momentum in terms of those cost reductions and how that plays throughout this year? And then as we kind of think about what level our OPEX should be kind of for this year, can you kind of give us a level set there to help out on the modeling side?
spk08: Yeah, you know, obviously on the cash burn, we're, you know, in the fourth quarter, collected the tax credits, you know, closed the financing, had an initial collection from that lead customer, albeit the majority of the collections have come here in the first quarter, which you know, greatly helps our, you know, our cash position. You know, we made, you know, really kind of started with reductions in the fourth quarter on expense wise, fourth quarter of 2022, because we do use a number of consultants, obviously, to provide, you know, flexibility and projects, et cetera. And we started, you know, kind of weaning back to use. We did eliminate some employee positions, you know, in, you know, kind of mid-February. you know, it takes a little time with severance payments to get the benefits, you know, benefits of that, you know, but, you know, we're obviously looking to, you know, drive the cash burn, you know, much lower than it was in the, you know, in 2022 to a combination of those expense reductions, revenue growth, you know, improved margin on the, particularly on the millimeter wave projects, you know, and also looking at some NRE transactions, NRE license transactions, um, you know, where we can kind of monetize use of our technology and, you know, ideally develop new product customers out of that, you know, from a, you know, kind of non, you know, talking about non gap OPEX on a, you know, on a quarterly basis, you know, we have some, you know, kind of swings related to, um, you know, any, any tape out related activity, you know, but we're looking to, you know, hopefully keep that in a kind of four, $4.7 million a quarter range. Okay.
spk01: Very helpful. And then just on the gross margin, it was up nicely on a sequential basis. And just wondering, was that driven more by just the revenue and the scale there, or is there anything structural there that should be a little stickier?
spk08: You know, the gross margin was really driven by the memory products for the fourth quarter and the year. You know, I want to say on the you know, on the quarter memory was, you know, over 50% of the revenue, um, which was, uh, obviously a driver of the, um, you know, the margin, um, as well as on the, on the year memory was over 50%. Uh, so that was a big, you know, big mover, you know, on the millimeter wave on the antenna product solutions, you know, we just started shipping those kind of second half of 2021 and, you know, obviously started to get into some volume in 2022. You know, just it takes kind of more shipping, more volume to get our efficiencies. We bought some equipment, you know, et cetera, to kind of improve our processes, you know, constantly cutting test times around the products. So, you know, that's kind of a key focus point for 2022.
spk01: Fantastic, gentlemen. Thanks so much for the help and best of luck on the quarter.
spk02: Thank you.
spk01: Thank you, David.
spk08: Appreciate it.
spk02: Okay, the next question is coming from Kevin Lu with K. Lu and Company. Kevin, please proceed.
spk03: Hey, good afternoon, guys, and congrats on getting back on track here with your large customer. Great, thanks, Kevin. I wanted to ask, you know, now that they're kind of back on track in terms of payments and collections, I'm curious on the outlook for growth with them as well as your other large customers. Would you expect them to contribute meaningfully at the start of the year, or is that something that takes time to ramp back up in terms of that relationship?
spk08: I'll go first, or you want to go ahead, Ron?
spk04: No, no, go ahead, Jim.
spk08: Yeah, I'll go first, and then you can provide some color. You know, in my model, I basically don't have them starting to turn back on until the second half of the year. just because of the uncertainty, you know, and I kind of put the, you know, put the model in place, you know, a plan for the year, you know, whatever a month or so ago. Obviously we're very pleased to have the, you know, have the payments in and, and, you know, back on track. And there's a lot of, a lot of discussions and they're certainly very interested in one of our, our new products. But, you know, right now the number I gave for the, for the second quarter really doesn't, or I'm sorry for the March quarter, I'm already looking ahead of quarter. does not include anything from them. So I'm looking at it more towards the second half. And certainly we'll be, you know, quite pleased that they can start ordering sooner. But, you know, that was our position based on what we know at this time.
spk03: Thanks. That's helpful. I know, Jim, you mentioned there was kind of north of 50% of revenue in Q4 coming from memory products. How do you expect that mix shift to evolve kind of moving throughout 23 here? And then maybe more specifically just Should we expect a pretty steady improvement in the gross margin here, or are there going to be some puts and takes depending on kind of the Epson flows on memory as well as kind of the timing of new customer ramp-ups on the millimeter wave side?
spk08: Sure. So, you know, a couple of points. As I said on the call, we're still kind of targeting a non-gap gross margin in the, you know, in the 50% range. And right now, you know, when you look back at 2020, You know, 2022, we had $14.2 million of product revenue and, you know, just under $700K or so of, you know, royalty, NRE, other. So kind of looking at it on the product side, because obviously NRE transactions are, you know, are hard to predict. We know we'll continue to collect the, you know, the amount, you know, $500K, $400K, $500K royalties from our memory licenses. It keeps kind of rolling in until one day it doesn't. The NRE deals are always, you know, can improve, should be a big improvement to margin if there's a license component, et cetera. But, you know, to your question, I think the first quarter will start to see a shift towards, you know, a higher percentage of millimeter wave, particularly with the revenue recognition from that customer and our other business. Possibly they'll be about even, but I think starting with the second quarter, we expect millimeter wave to be a larger percentage of the quarterly revenue.
spk03: Understood. And maybe this is for Ron, but you talked about a number of opportunities here, whether it's with the leading list, maybe the carrier 5G opportunity towards year end. What do you think is kind of the most significant potential revenue contributor over the course of fiscal 23 here? if you had to kind of rank some of these applications that are coming online?
spk04: Oh, definitely the wireless ISPs. I mean, it's just, you know, basically, how can I say it? I mean, that market is vibrant and shipping and, you know, it's starting to, I mean, really, like every month, shipping more and more millimeter wave and getting more recognition. So our focus, frankly, is on that market. in terms of, and when we talk about short-term ROI, that's where we see the real growth for 2023. You know, on the 5G side of things, we've got a very, very strong product. We've got partnerships, but you know, the market is, I would say just less certain in terms of predictability. So we're really predicting very little revenue from, from 5G in 2023, because, you know, from a, from a carrier perspective, You know, we haven't seen that transition yet, whereas in the wireless ISP market, we're really starting to see that heavy transition. So I think to answer your question, for 2023, the wireless ISPs is going to be a major source of revenue for us.
spk03: Understood. That's helpful. And then last one for me, just in terms of the $5 million in annualized cost reductions you guys talked about. I wanted to clarify, Q4 expenses already looked like they were coming down sequentially from Q3. So, was any of this $5 million in cost savings already starting to be realized in the fourth quarter, or are all of these kind of incremental to where we saw you exit the year and headed into this year?
spk08: There was some benefit in the fourth quarter. I think, as I mentioned in responding to David, you know, we um, you know, on the millimeter wave side had, uh, judiciously been using consultants to provide flexibility, um, because obviously they're, you know, when the project's done or you can turn them on, turn them off easier than, you know, having, um, you know, uh, full-time equivalent employees. Uh, so we had begun some of those reductions and kind of tightening the belts in the fourth quarter. Um, but we really continued it kind of into the first and then made some, uh, employee reductions kind of in February, but there was some, you know, some contribution. And, you know, I expect that, you know, obviously the, you know, the first quarter we'll have some, you know, we should be, you know, kind of, kind of obviously down versus fourth quarter, you know, subject to the mix of timing, you get, you know, some things like the audit, you know, those fees hit in the first quarter, employment taxes in the U S turned back on. et cetera, but, you know, certainly looking to be flat to down quarter over quarter, you know, non-GAAP basis.
spk03: All right. That's all for the time being. I really appreciate you taking the questions and good lecture in 23.
spk06: Thanks a lot, Kevin. Thank you, Kevin.
spk02: We have reached the end of the question and answer session, and I will now turn the call over to management for closing remarks.
spk07: I think that's about it for today.
spk04: Thank you, everyone, for joining.
spk08: We appreciate your time. Thank you. Goodbye. Thank you. Bye-bye.
spk02: This concludes today's conference, and you may disconnect your lines at this time. Thank you for your participation.
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