Bloom Energy Corporation

Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for standing by and welcome to the Bloom Energy fourth quarter 2020 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 a question during the session, you will need to press star, then one on your telephone. Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded. If you require any further assistance, please press star zero. I would now like to hand the conference over to Suzanne Schmidt with Investor Relations. Thank you. Please go ahead.

Thank you, Operator. Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for joining us on Bloom Energy's fourth quarter 2020 earnings conference call. To supplement this conference call, we have filed our Q4 2020 earnings press release with the SEC and have posted it along with supplemental financial information that we will periodically reference throughout this call to our investor relations website. The matters we will be discussing today include forward-looking statements regarding future events and the future financial performance of the company. These statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that we discuss in detail in our documents filed with the SEC, specifically the most recent reports on forms 10-K and 10-Q which identify important risk factors, including those related to the COVID-19 pandemic that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements. These include statements about the effects of COVID-19 on the company's business results, financial position, liquidity, and outlook. We assume no obligation to revise any forward-looking statements made on today's call. During this call and in our Q4 2020 earnings press release, we refer to GAAP and non-GAAP financial measures. These non-GAAP financial measures are not prepared in accordance with US generally accepted accounting principles and are in addition to and not a substitute for or superior to measures of financial performance prepared in accordance with GAAP. A reconciliation between the GAAP and non-GAAP financial measures is included in our Q4 2020 earnings press release. Joining me on the call today are K.R. Sridhar, Founder, Chairman, and Chief Executive Officer, and Greg Cameron, Chief Financial Officer. K.R. and Greg will review the operating and financial highlights of the quarter, and then we will take questions. I would also like to note that we are all dialed into this call remotely, so we apologize in advance for any audio issues that may occur. I will now turn the call over to KR.

Good day and welcome to Bloom Energy's fourth quarter and fiscal year 2020 earnings call. Thank you for joining us. I'm delighted to report that because of our efforts in 2020, Bloom Energy is financially strong and even more resilient and transformative than ever before. 2020 was our best year yet on so many dimensions. Here are a few highlights. Our fourth quarter and full year revenues are a company record. Our annual non-GAAP gross margin is the highest to date. We improved our financial health by retiring the high interest debt that was coming due. We added four exceptional leaders to our management team with proven records of operational excellence. Our teams in supply chain, manufacturing, installation, and service navigated through the myriad of local and global obstacles to safely manufacture, accept, and service record numbers of Bloom servers, a clear demonstration of dedication and commitment. We announced applications and partnerships that leverage our platform in innovative ways We are advancing the technology for our hydrogen fuel cells and electrolyzers, biogas power generation, and carbon capture. We also forged a partnership to deploy our fuel cells on ship. The Bloom team's community spirit and contribution are also a highlight of 2020. We refurbished ventilators, provided emergency clean power to pop-up hospitals and hurricane victims, and began co-hosting a COVID testing lab for local companies, schools, and underserved community members. We made deliberate and tough decisions to ensure that we emerged out of the crisis as a stronger company and conserved our cash until we had strengthened our balance sheet. We delayed our manufacturing facility expansion in early 2020 We focused instead on increasing the production and reducing the cost of our current product in existing factories. We were able to sell out our manufacturing capacity for 2021 based on sales in our current geographies. This enabled us to defer market expansion related expenses and further manage our cash position. we made sure that we kept our innovation team well-funded. Since securing financing, we have initiated a plan to double our manufacturing output by the end of 2021. The new facility is architected and equipped to build our Gen 7.5 product. We are also making the requisite investment to expand to new states and countries Our product, install, and service cost reduction now enable us to offer our resiliency solutions in states where commercial and industrial customers pay 9 cents per kilowatt hour or more for power. At this price point, we are competitively positioned in a majority of the 50 states, according to the U.S. Department of Energy data. In 2021, we will enter new states by securing orders with both existing and new customers. Outside the US, Bloom's head of international growth, Aziz Mohammed, is actively building a strong team to expand our global business. The maritime market is also a large growth opportunity for Bloom as we discussed during our investor day. I'm happy to report that Tim Schweikart, who was the president and CEO of General Electric Marine Solutions, has joined Bloom as a special advisor. Our collaboration with Samsung Heavy Industries is making good progress. With all these positive developments, we expect robust backlog growth in 2021. That expectation of robust backlog growth is strengthened by several policy and market tailwinds, both nationally and globally. In the U.S., President Biden's energy and climate agenda calls for the extension of existing clean energy incentives, like the federal investment tax credit. increased subsidies for carbon capture and investments in blue and green hydrogen. The president has pledged to deploy billions of dollars to improve infrastructure and improve climate resilience. Bloom is ideally suited to provide the reliable power and clean energy solutions that the administration is looking for. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has pledged to pursue pro-market policies that augur wealth for increased investment in our infrastructure. Energy Secretary nominee Jennifer Granholm has called on American companies to partner in the clean energy transformation and create good-paying jobs. She has emphasized the need for carbon capture and sequestration technology, which enable cleaner natural gas power generation and ensure that the clean energy revolution also benefits gas-producing states. Bloom Energy's technology solutions and its American-made products are well-suited to meet these needs and aspirations. We have seen similar bold moves from leaders in Europe and Asia in recent months. These policy announcements, coupled with market pull, create the potential for robust growth in several new areas. Let me highlight one such market opportunity, powering electric vehicles, which are becoming more prevalent. The federal government has recently pledged to convert its entire fleet into electric vehicles. General Motors aims to produce only zero carbon vehicles by 2035. And many global automakers have set similar goals. Increased adoption of electric vehicles will put a greater strain on the aging electric grid. Toyota's president, Akio Toyoda, recently noted that Japan would run out of electricity in the summer if all cars were running on electric power. Even if the generation capacity were increased, the last mile distribution upgrades in cities like New York, Tokyo, and Mumbai would be cost prohibitive. Additionally, power grids are often disrupted for prolonged periods of time after natural disasters. In a world replete with electric vehicles, resilient power is vital for safety and security, enabling people to evacuate if needed and for essential aid to be delivered. Bloom Energy offers that resilient solution. Our unparalleled, always-on product includes 24-7 baseload power with very high availability, quality, and point of consumption generation. Bloom provides an option for electric utilities to eliminate or mitigate the need to upgrade local distribution or create new generation capacity. This presents an opportunity for Bloom's servers to be part of the infrastructure that powers up vehicles as fleet terminals, or more broadly, at a new network of charging stations. Our 400-volt direct current output is ideally suited for reliably, rapidly, and most efficiently charging EV battery, and offers the flexibility to operate on clean and green fuel. I want to stress the significant progress that Bloom Energy has made since the start of last year. We are a stronger company today than we were a year ago. We have balance sheet strength and flexibility. We have a very compelling value proposition. And our message to policymakers is resonating now more than ever. We are at the forefront of innovation in the energy sector. 20 years ago, we laid out a bold vision for energy transformation. We have been developing and delivering solutions based on that vision. We feel immensely encouraged by the momentum that we are generating and are confident in our ability to execute. With a strong leadership team, new solutions, new markets, and multiple pathways to low and zero carbon energy, Bloom Energy is exceedingly well positioned for this moment. Let me now turn it over to Greg.