Adcore Inc.

This is Adcor's Q1 2024 earnings call. We have a very exciting update for you today. Today, your host will be myself, Nick Campbell. I'm the head of investor relations here at Adcor. You'll have Omri Brill, CEO and founder, and Amit Comforti, CFO. The agenda for today is we'll begin with some forward-looking statements, followed by the CEO opening remarks, and then the CFO financial highlights, and finally Q&A. If you do have a question that comes up during this call, please feel free to use the submit a question feature in Zoom, and we will answer those at the end. So before we begin, these are the forward-looking statements you should be aware of when listening to this call. Please note these statements that are made today are forward-looking in nature. They may be projections about the business's future performance and plans, but please bear in mind that these statements are inherently uncertain as they are subject to various factors outside the business's control. At this time, I will give you about 30 seconds to a minute to review the statement before we move on. So I'll let you do that now. Okay, and with that, it's time for the call to begin. I will pass the floor to Omri. Omri, the floor is yours.

Thank you so much, Nick, and good morning, everyone. It's my pleasure to discuss today the company results for Q1 2024, and let me start by sharing my presentation. Okay. Okay. So all in all, I don't know if you had a chance to view the results already. We issued the PR and the results are already out there, but I would say that the operational efficiency boost the company gross profit and gross margin for this quarter. And we are all in all very happy with the results we've been able to achieve during Q1, 2024. And just to discuss some key key metrics from today's, from this quarterly report. Top line revenue was 6.9 million, almost 7 million compared to 6.8 million in the previous year. And that's represented 1% increase year on year. Gross profit increased by 17% to 3.1 million compared to 2.7 million in the previous year. Gross margin improves as well to 45% compared to 40% in the previous year. That represents a 13% increase in gross margin as well. This is one, if you recall, this is one of the important, like what we call quality KPIs that we are Monitoring another quality KPI that we are monitoring is revenue coming from North America, which is an important region for us. And we are happy to report a nice increase of 13% year-on-year in this important region. So good results, both in gross margin and in revenue coming from North America region. All in all, just like to recap and summarize some of the quarter highlights, I would say gross profit grew by 13% year on year. We saw a nice increase in gross margin from 40% in the previous year to 45% this year. We saw a strong revenue growth in North America by 30%. We saw a very nice jump in adjusted EBITDA of almost 200%. We had a positive shift in cash flow from a usage of almost $1 million in cash for operation in Q1 2023. We're now flat in Q1 2024, so that means it's a big improvement in net cash flow. in this quarter compared to the previous year as well. And client concentration also improved from 56% that we had in the previous year to 42% this year. So I think like all in all, a lot of very good metrics across, I would say almost across the board. Midline, bottom line, balance sheet, all the metrics look very positive for us in this quarter. If you recall in the previous call that we had to summarize 2024, we discussed what should be the company goals or focus areas that we want to focus in 2024. And we say, A, maintaining a strong balance sheet with focus on increased cash reserve. So we have reported the cash reserve remained almost the same compared to the previous quarter. And if you historically compare Q1 to Q4, usually we see a drop in cash reserve. So the fact that we've been able to preserve cash reserves in Q1 compared to Q4 is actually a very strong indicator for us regarding company ability to preserve cash. We discussed keeping the gross margin within the 40% to the 50% to raise yet again another check with requirements. in this quarter, and as I mentioned, it's a 13% year-on-year improvement. We discussed achieving double-digit growth in revenue, gross profit, and operational profit. Again, revenue remained more or less, so we saw moderate growth, but both gross profit and operational profit adjusted EBITDA, we saw a significant improvement, and that's very solid results for us. And we discuss expanding the company marketing technology and marketing solution offering. And I encourage everybody to visit the company and your website and see all the different, I would say, technology offerings that we have and marketing solutions that we have to see that the company is expanding a lot our offering. So all in all, again, very positive quarter for us. And bear in mind, Q1 historically is the slowest quarter for us in the year, you know, because of seasonality. So the company ability to present a solid quarter in Q1 is a very good indicator for what we believe 2024 can look like. And that's also a good opportunity for us to discuss the company, I would say, for strategic pillar. Again, what we discussed in the previous call as well. Just as a quick recap. So the first pillar is technology and AI is obviously continuing to develop our own proprietary technology. technology and making sure that we are embedded and implementing AI solutions throughout a different technology and application, and obviously using AI in our day-to-day operations as well. The second strategic pillars that we towards enterprise and aggregators. So this is larger type of, let's say, client that represent bigger opportunity for the company to scale. We discussed focusing on low touch, do it yourself type of activity and service offering, again, scale and efficiency. That's, you know, the main reason behind this strategic decision. And last but not least, is focus on synergy. So making sure the company is doing multiple things in multiple areas. We want to make sure that we have synergy between the different efforts the company is doing. And again, every new, let's say, venture that the company is doing, any new developments the company has announced, you need to look whether it's going to end or going in line with these four strategic pillars? If the answer is yes, that means that we are doing something in the right direction. And if the answer is no, then it means something is wrong and maybe we should look again whether we should do it or not. And other things that we discussed in the previous quarter is the, I would say, some improvement in the stock price. If you look at, let's say, from the buttons that we saw in 17 cents to now, we saw almost 40% increase. three months, 30% increase, also almost 30%, sorry, six months as well. And all in all, we see a positive trend in the stock price, but we still believe it's fairly, fairly undervalued. There's still a lot of money to be made in the ethical stock. That's at least the company point of view. At this point of view is also backed up by the comparable table. So we put peer companies, companies that are within the martech, the edtech space like Edcore. And you see if we're talking about gross profit, for example, that you see it represents a very high potential of almost more than 700% compared to the peer, you know, as the potential for the stock to go up. Again, we not only talk about it, we also doing the stuff around it. And the company bought in Q1, 2024, more than 80,000 shares for Constellation. And all in all, in the past two years, we bought more than 4 million shares for Constellation and invested almost 1 million Canadian dollar into it. And we believe that once the market gonna see like a more massive uptick within the small cap indices, that Edco basically can lead this a trend because again we put a lot of effort in order to cancel net of shares and basically that should be able us to grow more aggressively once the market condition will turn better. Last but not least, we discussed it about it in the previous earnings call as well, is the company's social responsibility. There's a lot of actions that we are taking in order to support, you know, evacuated community. Now also soldiers wounded by the war as well. And all of them are, I would say, bike related, end cycle related. And we encourage everyone to visit the company social responsibility page and also obviously keep an eye on the important, I would say, goals. So that concludes my remarks for the quarter. Again, all in all, we believe it's a very strong quarter, a very solid quarter, and a very good start for 2024. And now back to you, Nick, and to Amit.

Thank you for your comments, Omri. We'll now move to the CFO financial highlights. Amit, the floor is yours.

Thank you, Nick, and good morning, everyone. Just one moment. Okay. Before beginning the financial overview, I would like to remind you that the following discussion will include GAAP financial measures as well as non-GAAP results. All amounts will be presented in Canadian dollars. In the first quarter of 2024, we achieved 45% gross margin and have kept on generating positive cash flows, showing our financial resilience and operational strength. Now let's review in more detail. For the three months ended March 31, 2024, we delivered revenues of $6.9 million compared to $6.8 million in the same period of 2023, an increase of $0.1 million or 1%. Gross profit was $3.1 million compared to $2.7 million, an increase of $0.4 million or 13%. Gross margins for the three months ended March 31, 2024 were 45% compared to 40% in the same period last year. As for operational expenses, R&D expenses for the quarter were 0.6 million compared to 0.4 million in the prior year. The main reason for this increase is we started amortizing additional intangible assets in the three months ended March 31st, 2024. SG&A expenses for the quarter were 2.7 million compared to 2.6 million in the prior year. Operating loss for the three months ended March 31, 2024 was $0.2 million compared to $0.3 million in the same period last year, a decrease of $0.1 million or 31%. Net loss for the three months ended March 31, 2024 was $0.4 million compared to $0.6 million in the same period last year, a decrease of $0.2 million or 39%. Moving on to total revenues and gross profit. As you can see on the left side of the slide, in Q1 there was a moderate increase in revenues. However, we see a significant 13% increase in gross profit accompanied by a significant rise in gross margins from 40% to 45%. As for geographical revenue breakdown for Q1 2024, we see a significant growth of 30% year-over-year in North America, which is mainly due to acquiring new clients. APAC revenue saw an 8% year-over-year increase, which is similarly driven by acquiring of new clients. EMEA revenue experienced an 18% decrease mainly because one client significantly reducing its activity. Despite this setback, we were able to increase revenue levels and even enhance gross profitability. Now let's discuss about net cash flow from operating activities. In the three months ended March 31, 2024, we kept on generating cash from operating activity in the amount of $13,000. This is a significant improvement from over $1 million used for operational activity in the same period in 2023. This improvement in cash flow is mainly caused by improved profits and improved collection from clients. In terms of financial position, we had cash and cash equivalents of 8 million as of March 31st, 2024, compared to 8.1 million at December 31st, 2023. Total working capital amounted to 7.5 million compared to 7.6 million at December 31st, 2023, a decrease of 0.1 million or 1%. As for the liability side of the financial position, we can see that the company is still debt-free. Regarding adjusted EBITDA, The quarterly non-GAAP results reflect adjustments for the following items, depreciation and amortization, and share-based payment. For the three months ended March 31, 2024, adjusted EBITDA was 201,000 compared to 68,000 for the same period in 2023, showing a significant increase of 133,000, or 196%. With that, I will turn the call back to Nick.

Thank you, Amit, for those comments. We will now move on to the Q&A session. We have had a number of questions submitted, so let me just see here. We'll begin with the first one. This question is from Ryan. He says, cost of revenue has dropped year over year on the same amount of revenue. What is driving the cost savings?

It's a good question. As I mentioned before, the company is starting to on operational efficiency and cost of revenue like other type of costs are still costs. So the company ability to save on costs or be lean on costs is across the board and cost of revenue are no exception in that regard.

Thank you, Omri. Another one from Ryan here is the North American region has shown strong growth this quarter. Is this expected to continue?

Yes. The short answer is yes. We put a lot of emphasis on this important market. We recently put another salesperson within this market that come with a lot of experience. So literally the sales force in this specific region grew by 100%. And we continue to put a focus and emphasis on this market. And yeah, we have high expectation of what we can achieve. And we believe we still didn't even really get started yet in this market. So there's still far more potential for the company than what we see right now.

And conversely, another question from Ryan. He says, EMA revenue decreased by about 20%. What's the reason for that? And is it expected to continue?

So Amit actually has a note regarding this decrease in his remarks. It's mainly still a slowdown in one of the top client activity in this specific region. So we might see some challenges all in all, we don't see any, I would say, red flag regarding email or any other region. At the end of the day, even if we have some fluctuation that can be seasonality or maybe some large client, you know, shifting some of the activity at the end of the day, I would say, EMEA is positive for us as well as obviously the rest of the region as well. And we had a similar incident in APAC, if you remember, in 2022, and we saw a nice rebound in 2023. So the company is resilient enough and we know, you know, like even if one client, let's say, is scaling down, obviously there are other clients or new clients that can scale up as well.

Very good. A question from Robert. What are the steps AdCorp is taking to attract institutional investors?

It's a very good question. I would say we recently onboard Nick as a full-time IR manager for the company. The company is obviously looking at investor relationship as the focus area for us in 2024. And one of Nick's goals is obviously Introducing the ethical story for more of this institutional investor as well. Obviously, it's going to be conducted by an in-person meeting as well as a conference that the company can attend. And then they're relevant for this type of audience and other means as well. But I would say, yeah, investor relationship in general is a focus area for the company in 2024 because we believe the market condition actually turning better. And now it's time to be a bit more aggressive again. And obviously, institutional investors are critical for us as well. And we understand that.

Very good. Another question from Robert. What is Adcord doing specifically to increase value for investors? And is a $1 billion market cap still a realistic goal for the company?

It's a good question. I would say these multiple efforts that the company is doing on a daily basis, obviously, to increase the company attractiveness, I would say. I can count some of them. Obviously, we discussed about the operational efficiency and being able to present positive cash flow, positive operation profit as well. This is something that we believe we've been able to achieve in the previous quarter, this quarter as well. area for the company as well. We are entering into introducing a lot of new initiative as well. We mentioned some of them in the previous polls as well. We are now becoming more and more aggressive in terms of sales capabilities and marketing capabilities. Obviously, that will take time to see the full effect. but we literally almost double up our sales force, you know, not only in North America, but across the globe. And obviously marketing is still yet another focus area for us. And we mentioned IR, you know, only focus on IR as part of the ethical team as well. Like I mentioned before, there's multiple efforts the company is doing. With regard to 1 billion market cap, I know it may sound a bit out of context right now, is 200, 250 million market cap. I would say three years ago when we were not as near as good companies that we are today. So there's still a potential and once the market position is going to turn better and obviously we can have a new access to capital, then you can see the company can scale up quite fast. And that's the important thing, I guess.

Very good. A question from Ahmed. Top line revenue was relatively flat this quarter. Can you give information as to the reason for the lack of growth?

Yeah. So I would say the following. A, if I need to choose between, let's say, almost flat top-line revenue and a nice increase in gross profit, like we saw in this quarter and vice versa, let's say, nice increase in top-line revenue, but let's say gross profit will remain flat, then I would choose the first option any given day. Bear in mind that media companies like Edcore, you know, some of the revenue are media buying associates, and basically, so gross profit is a more... 2024 so i think like some of the i would say top line revenues that were were cut off are part of the let's say cost of revenue as well so there are media related the revenue and the fact that we don't have them it's not i would say a big deal for the company again in a deal i would say quarter we would like to see double digit growth across the board you know but again if you need to choose then this scenario is far better than the other scenario i was mentioned

Question from David is with ad cores operating cash flow positive or close to it, the need for a large cash reserve on the balance sheet is less critical. What is the plan for the cash that ad core has?

It's a good question. I would say the following. A, we achieve, let's say, this type of operational efficiency in the last two quarters. before we can become more aggressive. Also, you know, it's very much depend on the market condition as well. Once we see the market is reopened and we can have better access to capital if needed, obviously stock price need to be much higher, then the company can say, okay, maybe it's time, you know, to drop the defensive more than become a bit more aggressive. But I think like we need to wait a bit before we say, okay, it's spring already and we can, you know, and we can enjoy the sun.

Very good. A question from Kieran, industry related here. Can you comment on the potential TikTok ban in the United States and if or how this could impact Adcore and more broadly the advertising market?

That's an interesting question, I would say. to, you know, we still need to see the future before it's happened. But I would say, I would say the following. It's not necessarily a bad thing for Adcore, A, because we might have some of our existing partners, you know, that are part of, let's say, the new US TikTok group. So this is one. So we can utilize existing, let's say, existing relationships that we have under the new group. This is one. And B, I guess it will make the entire market a bit more competitive. And competitive market between the different channels is actually good news for a company like Adcore that sits in the middle and can enjoy this type of competition.

Very good. A question from Natalie is some of the leading players in the industry, such as Double Verify, Shopify, have really tempered their expectations for the remainder of the year. Is this the same for Adcore?

Not necessarily. We don't see any indicators today that say that 2024, we need to be a bit more cautious about it. Obviously, 2023 was very positive for us. If you look at, let's say, the numbers we've been able to present, and currently, let's say, especially after the strong start of Q1 2024, we are still optimistic about what we can achieve in 2024. Having said that, we still have a good three quarters into the year, so it's still a bit too early to determine, but I would say we can, let's say, copy the results that we achieved in 2023, then that would be us.

Very good. Another one from Natalie is, CTV is becoming a dominant trend in the digital advertising space. How is Adcore establishing themselves in this area?

Actually, that's a very good question. We recently announced an all-new division within Edco, which we call Brand Awareness Division. And under this division, we're going to offer CTV, we're going to offer programmatic advertising, we're going to offer digital outdoor advertising as well. So all So at core, we already have, let's say, established relationship with leading players within this industry. Some of them can be, let's say, Microsoft Invents, that's all the entire inventory of, let's say, CTV for Netflix, for example. Other can be players like DV360 owned by Google. So we understand the importance of this, let's say, segment within online advertising. We understand the potential. making sure that we are going to be a big player in this, let's say, fast-growing segment of online advertising.

Very good. Just one final question here is, what marketing initiatives are you taking in North America to help with new client acquisition?

Yeah, so that's a good question, and we discussed it a bit. We discussed, you know, onboarding a new salesperson within the North America markets that come with a lot of experience, you know, Canada in specific, but also I would say North America in a broader view. And so that's one initiative the companies took. And another initiative is double down on marketing efforts that are related to this specific region in order, you know, to quarterback and help, you know, the sales initiatives that we are taking. So marketing, let's say, lead the way or quarterbacking, you know, the salesperson and then obviously the salesperson, you know, take it from there.

Very good. Thank you, Omri. That concludes the questions we had for today. If you do have any questions, please feel free to send an email to investors at Adcor. We thank you for your time and joining the call today. Have a great day and thank you.

Thank you, guys.

Thank you.