Westport Fuel Systems Q3 2024 Earnings Call Transcript

Quartr
Provided by Quartr
November 13, 2024

Key Takeaways

  • Cost cuts: R&D and SG&A expenses were reduced by approximately 40% year-over-year, driving improved gross margins and a smaller adjusted EBITDA loss.
  • Syspira JV operational: The HPDI joint venture generated $16.2 million in Q3 revenue (up $2.7 million YoY), effectively offsetting Westport’s reported consolidated revenue decline.
  • Weichai update: No significant orders have been received under the technology development agreement, and none are anticipated by the end of 2024.
  • Light duty momentum: Euro 6 LPG program deliveries are set to exceed 2024 targets, NERO 7 LPG kits launch mid-late 2025, and the company will supply fuel systems for the new Kia Niro Tri Fuel in Italy.
  • Hydrogen outlook: A slowdown in hydrogen infrastructure development could delay adoption of hydrogen-powered automotive and industrial applications by several years.
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Earnings Conference Call
Westport Fuel Systems Q3 2024
00:00 / 00:00

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Operator

Good day, and thank you for standing by. Welcome to Westport's Q3 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'll need to press star one one on your telephone. You will then hear an automated message advising your hand is raised. To withdraw your question, please press star one one again. Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded. I would now like to hand the conference over to Ashley Nuell, Vice President of Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

Ashley Nuell
Ashley Nuell
VP of Investor Relations at Westport Fuel Systems

Good morning, everyone. Welcome to Westport Fuel Systems' Q3 conference call for 2024. This call is being held to coincide with the press release containing Westport's financial results that was issued yesterday. On today's call, speaking on behalf of Westport is Chief Executive Officer and Director Dan Sceli and Chief Financial Officer Bill Larkin. Attendance on this call is open to the public, but questions will be restricted to the investment community. You're reminded that certain statements made on the conference call and our responses to certain questions may constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the U.S. and applicable Canadian securities laws, and as such, forward-looking statements are made based on our current expectations and involve certain risks and uncertainties. With that, I'll turn the call over to you, Dan.

Dan Sceli
Dan Sceli
CEO at Westport Fuel Systems

All right, thanks. Thanks, Ashley. Good morning, everyone. Today, I will be summarizing Westport's progress and results for the Q3 of 2024, providing updates on our strategic priorities, including an update on the JV with Volvo. Bill will then walk us through our Q3 results and provide some commentary on the ATM offering that we announced in the quarter. Q3 was a steady quarter with wins in key areas. This was the first full quarter with Cespira being operational. That, along with the steps that we have taken with respect to cost cutting, has enabled Westport to lower expenditures in research and development, as well as sales general and administrative expenses by approximately 40% as compared to the same period last year. This has all led to improved gross margins and Adjusted EBITDA.

Dan Sceli
Dan Sceli
CEO at Westport Fuel Systems

Although we reported a decrease in total revenue this quarter, we view our revenue results for the quarter as a win, and I want to provide some clarity as to why. As I mentioned, this is the first full quarter with Cespira being operational. That means we transitioned our HPDI revenue from our heavy-duty OEM segment into the joint venture in the quarter and accounted for it under the equity method of accounting for investments. During the quarter, Cespira generated $16.2 million in revenue, more than offsetting our reported decline in consolidated revenue. With respect to our HPDI joint venture, I want to provide a couple of different updates: the background on its new name, my perspective on its first full quarter of operations, and some insight into the partnership in China.

Dan Sceli
Dan Sceli
CEO at Westport Fuel Systems

First, the JV unveiled its name, Cespira, as part of its participation in the IAA, one of the most important industry events for commercial vehicles, transport, and logistics. The name Cespira, which combines espira, meaning breathe out in Latin, with a C for clean, perfectly embodies the joint venture's mission and vision. Regarding the JV operations, Q3 revenue for Cespira was $16.2 million, a $2.7 million increase from the same quarter last year, which was formerly captured under our heavy-duty OEM segment. Next, I want to touch on our work with Weichai. As you know, we have a technology development and supply agreement which includes an obligation for Weichai to order certain volumes of HPDI fuel system components prior to the end of this year.

Dan Sceli
Dan Sceli
CEO at Westport Fuel Systems

Currently, we have not received any significant orders against this agreement, and we don't currently anticipate orders for any significant additional volume by the end of 2024. Both Westport and as well as Cespira continue to collaborate with Weichai Power on an HPDI fuel system equipped version of the Weichai engine platforms, and we are currently discussing the next stages of this work and the obligations of each party going forward. We continue to do things to right-size the business and cut costs where we can. Many of these changes aren't visible in the financial statements immediately. However, in Q3 2024, we really began to see some of our initiatives materialize. Given this is the Q1 with Cespira operational, some of our expenses, of course, will now be reflected as part of Cespira. Yet, we are also seeing wins in our other business units.

Dan Sceli
Dan Sceli
CEO at Westport Fuel Systems

During the quarter, we decreased the company's SG&A expenses by almost 40% as compared to Q3 of last year, a decrease of $6.6 million, of which only $2.3 million relates to expenses that now sit in Cespira. This is a major accomplishment that I'd like to highlight. Further, our R&D expenses also decreased by over 40% compared to the same quarter of last year, a $2.5 million difference in expenses, mostly attributable to Cespira. We will continue to remain diligent when it comes to cost cutting and decreasing expenses, ensuring that the business runs more efficiently and effectively over time. We are pleased with our progress so far, but acknowledge that there is still much work ahead of us on this front. We remain confident in the role that alternative fuels will play in driving sustainability in the future of transportation and industrial application spaces.

Dan Sceli
Dan Sceli
CEO at Westport Fuel Systems

We do see a slowdown in hydrogen infrastructure development, which is leading to a slower adoption of automotive and industrial applications powered by hydrogen. We believe that it could be a multi-year delay when it comes to the availability of low-cost, low-carbon hydrogen and hydrogen refueling infrastructure. However, we remain confident on the role that hydrogen will play in driving sustainability in the future of transportation and industrial application spaces and in the future of Westport. While hydrogen is key to the future decarbonization of transport, our components and solutions are already powering emission-reducing innovation today across a range of alternative fuels, including natural gas, renewable natural gas, propane, and hydrogen. With decades of experience, market-leading brands, and unmatched engineering expertise, we are a leader in the market.

Dan Sceli
Dan Sceli
CEO at Westport Fuel Systems

Our light-duty segment has been performing well. We continue to focus on innovation, creating and deploying fuel system solutions that allow our customers to benefit from the cost advantage of alternative fuels. As you know, we started production earlier this year for the Euro 6 LPG program for a leading global OEM. Although we got off to a slow start earlier in the year, this business is performing well, and we are expecting to exceed our delivery expectations for 2024, driven by an increased customer demand. Euro 7 LPG fuel system deliveries for the same global OEM customer are anticipated to begin mid to late 2025. We are also excited to be part of the new Kia Niro Tri-Fuel in Italy, inspired by innovation and efficiency. Born from a partnership with Kia Italy, this is the first-ever OEM hybrid vehicle powered by HEV and LPG technologies.

Dan Sceli
Dan Sceli
CEO at Westport Fuel Systems

This car can travel over 1,600 kilometers or almost 1,000 miles on full tanks, all while delivering reduced emissions and uncompromised performance. Finally, our Prins brand has globally released an LPG fuel system for the Ram 1500 Hurricane 3.0 DI twin turbo engine that is enabling customers to benefit from lower fuel costs and lower emissions. Lastly, as we have shared before, one of our key delayed OEM customers paused orders as they worked through a buildup of inventory on their end. Orders from this customer have seen an uptick over the last month, and we continue to work closely with their team. With that, I'll turn it over to Bill to discuss our Q3 2024 financial results in more detail.

Bill Larkin
Bill Larkin
CFO at Westport Fuel Systems

Good morning, and thank you, Dan. Moving to our Q3 results, this is the first full quarter with Cespira being operational. And as Dan mentioned, we're accounting for Cespira under the equity method of accounting for investments. Therefore, our Q3 P&L only includes our 55% interest for the net loss of Cespira. In the Q3 of 2024, we generated $66.2 million in revenue, which was a 14% decrease compared to the prior year period. This decline in revenue was primarily driven by the heavy-duty OEM business, which is now conducted in Cespira. Cespira generated a revenue of $16.2 million in the quarter. This is up from $13.5 million in the same quarter as last year. Gross margin increased to $14.5 million, or 22% of revenue in the Q3 of 2024. This is up from $13.2 million, or 17% of revenue in Q3 of 2023.

Bill Larkin
Bill Larkin
CFO at Westport Fuel Systems

This improvement was largely driven by an increase in sales volumes in our light-duty business, along with the change in sales mix with an increase in sales to European customers, in addition to seeing the initial improvements from our cost-cutting initiatives. These were partially offset by a reduction in sales to developing regions. We continue to demonstrate improvement in our adjusted EBITDA. This quarter, we recorded an adjusted EBITDA loss of $800,000, which was a significant improvement over the $3 million adjusted EBITDA loss recorded in the prior year period. Light-duty revenue for Q3 2024 was $61.5 million, as compared to $60.2 million for Q3 of 2023. This increase was primarily driven by an increase in sales in our light-duty OEM and independent aftermarket businesses, partially offset by a decrease in our sales in our fuel storage, DOEM, and electronics businesses.

Bill Larkin
Bill Larkin
CFO at Westport Fuel Systems

Gross margin in our light-duty business increased in the quarter to $13.9 million, or 23% of revenue. Now, this is compared to $12 million or 20% of revenue in Q3 of 2023. This was primarily driven by a change in sales mix with an increase in sales to European customers and a reduction in sales to developing regions. As Dan mentioned, our light-duty segment continues to evolve, our LPG fuel system solution providing more customers with cost-competitive alternatives. This, along with the success we are seeing following the start of our planned Euro 6 deliveries, this has enabled light-duty OEM to drive revenue and margin growth in the quarter. High-pressure gas controls revenue for Q3 of 2024 was $1.6 million. This is a decrease as compared to $3.7 million for Q3 of 2023. This is primarily driven by a general slowdown we're seeing in the hydrogen markets.

Bill Larkin
Bill Larkin
CFO at Westport Fuel Systems

Gross margin decreased in the quarter to $400,000, or 25% of revenue, as compared to $1 million or 27% of revenue in Q3 of 2023. Heavy-duty OEM revenue for the Q3 of 2024 is $3.1 million. This is down $10.4 million compared to the same quarter last year. The revenue decrease was a result of the transfer and continuation of the heavy-duty business in Cespira. Revenue earned in the Q3 of 2024 relates to our transitional services agreement with Cespira, which is expected to be in place until early to mid-2025. Gross margin in our heavy-duty OEM business in the Q3 of 2024 was flat compared to Q3 of 2023. It was up as a percentage of revenue from 1% in the prior year period compared to 6% in Q3 of 2024.

Bill Larkin
Bill Larkin
CFO at Westport Fuel Systems

Regarding liquidity, our cash and cash equivalents at September 30th, 2024, was $33.3 million, a decrease of $8.2 million as compared to the end of Q2 of 2024. Net cash used by operating activities was $9.9 million. This change was primarily related to net cash outflows for inventory and timing of payments for accounts payable and accrued liabilities compared to the end of the Q2, which were partially offset by a reduction in accounts receivable. Specifically to inventory, inventory increased in the Q3 by $9.9 million as compared to the end of the Q2. Inventory was primarily impacted by the ramp-up to support expected deliveries of Euro 6 kits in Q4 and the heavy-duty business under the transitional services agreements. However, we were targeting an inventory reduction back to more normal levels by the end of 2024.

Bill Larkin
Bill Larkin
CFO at Westport Fuel Systems

Net cash provided by investing activities was $7.5 million in the quarter. Net cash used in financing activities was $7 million. This is primarily related to debt repayments, including fully repaying and terminating a revolving credit facility. I want to provide an update on our ATM offering. The ATM was set up with the intention of providing added optionality and flexibility to opportunistically raise capital. Since we put the program in place in mid-September, we have not sold any shares under the ATM program. We will continue to do what is necessary to ensure we are adequately and fully capitalized to remain focused on solidifying our balance sheets. We've been actively implementing cost-saving initiatives, which is reflected in the quarterly results we shared with you today. Thank you. And with that, I'll turn it back over to Dan.

Dan Sceli
Dan Sceli
CEO at Westport Fuel Systems

Thank you, Bill. Before we wrap up this quarter's earnings call, I wanted to close with a few comments. Although I'm incredibly proud of the work we have done to date, we acknowledge that considerable work lies ahead. As we look forward, Westport is motivated by the possibilities that the future holds, and is resolute in its pursuit of innovation and sustainability. To reiterate regarding the global hydrogen market, we acknowledge the slowdown in infrastructure development that will likely lead to a slower adoption of automotive and industrial applications powered by hydrogen. We are steadfast in our belief that hydrogen as a fuel, although gradual as opposed to immediate, will prevail and become the clean fuel source for the transport industry that is adopted worldwide.

Dan Sceli
Dan Sceli
CEO at Westport Fuel Systems

We are committed to providing solutions that enable our customers to take advantage of lower emissions and lower costs, often provided by alternative fuels like LPG, CNG, LNG, and in the future, hydrogen. We have many of these solutions in the market today and are committed to continuing to advance decarbonization across the mobility sector. I want to thank everyone for being here. And with that, I'll turn it over to the operator to open the call for questions.

Operator

As a reminder, if you'd like to ask a question at this time, please press star one one on your telephone and wait for your name to be announced. To withdraw your question, please press star one one again. Please stand by while we compile the Q&A roster. Our first question comes from Colin Rusch with Oppenheimer.

Operator

Hey, this is Andrew on for Colin. Just a couple of questions from us. You guys continue to make incremental progress on GM improvement. Could you guys speak to the contributions of pricing, supply chain optimization, and mix that are driving some of these improvements?

Bill Larkin
Bill Larkin
CFO at Westport Fuel Systems

It's, first of all, a little bit of improvements related to the supply chain. It's just across the board, and we're looking at our entire cost structure from the supply chain to labor to our manufacturing footprint, so from a supply chain standpoint, it was just a small piece of the overall cost reduction.

Bill Larkin
Bill Larkin
CFO at Westport Fuel Systems

Great. Thanks so much for that. And just following up on that, can you guys speak to the evolution and maturation of non-transportation hydrogen applications and the opportunity for Westport, particularly in Europe?

Dan Sceli
Dan Sceli
CEO at Westport Fuel Systems

So you're talking about infrastructure?

Dan Sceli
Dan Sceli
CEO at Westport Fuel Systems

Yeah, particularly.

Dan Sceli
Dan Sceli
CEO at Westport Fuel Systems

Yeah. So in the infrastructure segments, our high-pressure controls and systems business unit is where we play. And with all of our pressure relief valves, tank valves, etc., we do see some opportunities for some of our cryogenic pump products. But those markets are developing. We continue to play in those markets, not just in Europe. It's a global requirement for these types of components, whether it be in China or Europe. And so we're going to continue to push that business unit's technology. In fact, with our GFI brand, we've become the leader in the market in terms of performance.

Dan Sceli
Dan Sceli
CEO at Westport Fuel Systems

Thanks so much for that. If I can sneak one last one in. As you guys look at the balance sheet, can you speak to what your medium-term working capital and operational cash needs are and how you sort of expect to meet those needs?

Bill Larkin
Bill Larkin
CFO at Westport Fuel Systems

Yeah. So from a working capital standpoint, we did have an increase in our working capital. It was mostly driven by our inventory. That was a big chunk of it. And we were just building inventory to meet the expected demand for Euro 6 kits in the Q4, as well as for the heavy-duty OEM business. We expect the inventory levels to come down significantly in the Q4. And it's going to continue on into 2025. We believe there's a lot of opportunities to reduce our inventory and improve our inventory turns going forward, which will reduce our working capital. Other areas, just because of the reduction in revenues, because it is seasonal. Typically, our Q3 is the lowest quarter when it comes to revenues. We did see that decline in AR.

Bill Larkin
Bill Larkin
CFO at Westport Fuel Systems

We think there's some opportunities there to try to further reduce our DSOs and improve collections on our AR, reducing our working capital. And on the flip side, just with the timing of our accounts payable, that drove up our working capital as well. So we're going to try to better improve our payment management. So it's going to be a combination of those to try to actually - we want to reduce our working capital next year.

Bill Larkin
Bill Larkin
CFO at Westport Fuel Systems

Great. Thank you so much. That's all from us.

Operator

Our next question comes from Amit Dayal with H.C. Wainwright.

Amit Dayal
Amit Dayal
Managing Director of Equity Research at H.C. Wainwright

Thank you. Good morning, everyone. Dan, congrats on a strong quarter.

Dan Sceli
Dan Sceli
CEO at Westport Fuel Systems

Thank you.

Amit Dayal
Amit Dayal
Managing Director of Equity Research at H.C. Wainwright

Just with respect to Cespira, do we have a sense of how much sort of break-even or gross margin positive level revenues will be? I know this was very early, Q1, but do we need to be at 20-plus million or 25-plus million per quarter to hit positive gross margins for that business?

Dan Sceli
Dan Sceli
CEO at Westport Fuel Systems

Yeah, it depends on the mix. It's hard to peg a specific number because there's a split between final product assembly parts versus aftermarket parts, i.e., the service of the trucks. And so that mix changes a lot, and it affects the numbers we would need. But we're still working through the setup of that business, and getting it operational takes some time. We obviously started about five months ago. And so I don't think we can give an exact number to that right now.

Amit Dayal
Amit Dayal
Managing Director of Equity Research at H.C. Wainwright

Okay. Understood and with respect to Weichai, I know it hasn't really contributed much the last few years. How should we think about contribution from Weichai going forward? Looks like you are still sort of maintaining a relationship with them, but should we factor anything from China or Weichai as a part of our future projections?

Dan Sceli
Dan Sceli
CEO at Westport Fuel Systems

At this point, I would say no. We have no orders on that contract. But the engagement continues. They are working with us on the technology, HPDI technology for the Chinese market. They're working through their engine development programs and doing their trials. And so we're still engaged, but we have no orders at this point.

Amit Dayal
Amit Dayal
Managing Director of Equity Research at H.C. Wainwright

Okay. Understood. And then from a tariff perspective, right, after this election, what is our exposure potentially to developments on that side, especially for, say, the U.S. market or business we do in the U.S.? How are we sort of positioning for any headwinds that may emerge from that front?

Dan Sceli
Dan Sceli
CEO at Westport Fuel Systems

Yeah. I actually look at it the other way. I see that I think the runway for natural gas products, primarily in North America and the U.S., on CNG. But we see an opportunity that we would like to take advantage of for a longer runway and bigger volumes on natural gas. So we're actually optimistic from this election outcome in that regard.

Amit Dayal
Amit Dayal
Managing Director of Equity Research at H.C. Wainwright

Understood. No, that's interesting. Yeah, that's all I have, Dan. I will take my other questions offline. Thank you.

Dan Sceli
Dan Sceli
CEO at Westport Fuel Systems

Okay. Thank you.

Operator

Our next question comes from Eric Stine with Craig-Hallum.

Eric Stine
Eric Stine
Senior Research Analyst at Craig-Hallum

Good morning, everyone.

Dan Sceli
Dan Sceli
CEO at Westport Fuel Systems

Good morning. How are you, Eric?

Eric Stine
Eric Stine
Senior Research Analyst at Craig-Hallum

Hey, doing well. Thanks. So just talking about hydrogen and that the infrastructure is in a bit of a transition period, just curious, behind the scenes for HPDI and the joint venture, are you seeing any change to the activity of OEMs related to hydrogen? And I guess you're fine if it's hydrogen or LNG or both. But is there a change for OEMs related to hydrogen? Is that driving people more to LNG, or what are you seeing at this point?

Dan Sceli
Dan Sceli
CEO at Westport Fuel Systems

Yeah. I'd suggest, Eric, that we haven't actually felt any change on the development side, right? Because obviously, these development cycles take a number of years, and the OEMs are still working forward on these plans. I think all the OEMs in the heavy market see the multiple propulsion systems they're going to need, and they're going to continue to develop them. The pace of development, we haven't felt a change yet, but I suspect that we're going to see some slowdowns in the development of hydrogen work.

Dan Sceli
Dan Sceli
CEO at Westport Fuel Systems

But as you say, we've got the LNG solution that we're actually feeling volume increases already. And it's a good balance to have. And that's one of the, we think one of the strengths of Westport is that we can, in our multiple business units, we can run all the alternative fuels. We have solutions today. Whether hydrogen's five years or 10 years away, it doesn't matter to us.

Eric Stine
Eric Stine
Senior Research Analyst at Craig-Hallum

No, absolutely. Okay. And you just mentioned, in response to a previous question, just a nice runway for natural gas products in the U.S. I'm curious. I know that in the past, there's been some talk of HPDI interest in North America. I know that one of the objectives of both Westport and Volvo was a second OEM in the joint venture. So just wondering if you can speak to those topics.

Dan Sceli
Dan Sceli
CEO at Westport Fuel Systems

Yeah. We continue to work with a second OEM to bring them on board. That work is going to continue throughout the rest of the year here. And I can't tell you definitively when that will be complete, however much I would like to. But we will bring on a second OEM. That is our mission. It's the mandate of the joint venture to have multiple OEMs. That was one of the key structures of the deal with Volvo, was to ensure that we had an independent business that could attract other OEMs. And we're finding the strategy of the OEMs wanting multiple propulsion systems because the segment is going to be needing different solutions. It's going to play right into our hands. So it is going to. It's not coming as fast as we want, but it's coming.

Eric Stine
Eric Stine
Senior Research Analyst at Craig-Hallum

Got it. And then, I mean, I would assume then that that interest, and I know you're talking about a second one, but more broadly, it would potentially include something in the U.S. at some point, maybe a CNG version. I think you've mentioned that in the past.

Dan Sceli
Dan Sceli
CEO at Westport Fuel Systems

Yeah. We're working that angle as well pretty hard. And we absolutely believe there's a place for it in North America. And I think the question I got earlier about the U.S. election and the impact on these segments, I think it's going to work well for us to give us some pressure on the market to deliver a CNG solution. And we are talking to multiple OEMs in North America, and we'll continue to position ourselves to be a solution for them.

Eric Stine
Eric Stine
Senior Research Analyst at Craig-Hallum

All right. Thanks, Dan.

Dan Sceli
Dan Sceli
CEO at Westport Fuel Systems

Okay. Take care.

Operator

Our next question comes from Rob Brown with Lake Street Capital Markets.

Rob Brown
Senior Research Analyst at Lake Street Capital Markets

Good morning.

Dan Sceli
Dan Sceli
CEO at Westport Fuel Systems

Good morning, Rob.

Rob Brown
Senior Research Analyst at Lake Street Capital Markets

Just wanted to get a sense on your thoughts on the gross margin. The gross margin you can get to as you take costs out, you had good improvement this quarter. But what's the sense of how much improvement you think you can get there?

Bill Larkin
Bill Larkin
CFO at Westport Fuel Systems

I think for the quarter, we were really happy on where we landed on the gross margin. I don't think we're in a position to provide guidance looking forward. However, the process is not over. I think there's still a lot more work to do across all the input costs, whether it's material costs, direct labor, fixed manufacturing. We are continuing to review, look at the entire cost structure and cost to deliver our products, kits, systems, components to our end customers. I'll leave it at that, but we're still looking at it, Rob.

Dan Sceli
Dan Sceli
CEO at Westport Fuel Systems

Yeah. Rob, one of the important things is we're not just - we're not just content with improving our gross margins today. One of the things we're doing is putting in place operational processes to ensure that we can hold on to them. As we all know that in the industrial space, the cost structures are quite sometimes volatile, whether it's on the raw materials or energy, etc. Our goal is to not just fix this foundation, but put in place a business process that can hold it and maintain it.

Rob Brown
Senior Research Analyst at Lake Street Capital Markets

Okay. Got it. Thank you. And then I guess on the-I think you talked about a Euro 7 shift happening in 2025. What's sort of your opportunity there? And do you see sort of any transition kind of timing slowdown, or is this incremental to where you're at today?

Bill Larkin
Bill Larkin
CFO at Westport Fuel Systems

No. I think, are you referring to the light-duty business, Rob? So if you're referring to the light-duty business, yeah, we expect we'll start transitioning to delivering Euro 7 kits. I expect it'll be a very seamless transition from Euro 6 to Euro 7. We're already producing those components, going through the final certification processes and delivering the components. So we're prepared to start delivering those components next year. And so there's really no disruption from a production standpoint switching from Euro 6 to Euro 7.

Rob Brown
Senior Research Analyst at Lake Street Capital Markets

Got it. Okay. Thank you. And then last question on the heavy-duty business. Do you see kind of the pipeline increasing there? We've heard indications that that's happening. Are you seeing kind of an uptick in overall demand in that market kind of in the next year?

Dan Sceli
Dan Sceli
CEO at Westport Fuel Systems

Yes. We're seeing it now. Our volumes are increasing, and we're working hard to meet all the volume increases that we're being asked to meet. And we're actually quite excited about that.

Rob Brown
Senior Research Analyst at Lake Street Capital Markets

Okay. Great. Thank you. I'll turn it over to you.

Dan Sceli
Dan Sceli
CEO at Westport Fuel Systems

Okay. Thank you, Rob.

Operator

Our next question comes from MacMurray Whale with Cormark Securities.

MacMurray Whale
MacMurray Whale
Strategist of Environmental Sustainability at Cormark Securities

Hi. Good morning. With cost-cutting efforts, is the plan to get to EBITDA break-even sustainably on a quarterly basis?

Dan Sceli
Dan Sceli
CEO at Westport Fuel Systems

Well, yeah, of course.

Bill Larkin
Bill Larkin
CFO at Westport Fuel Systems

That's a long-term thing.

Dan Sceli
Dan Sceli
CEO at Westport Fuel Systems

Yeah. That's where we're targeting. Absolutely. We want to get there. And then, of course, maintain it. Just like my comment to Rob, getting things where we want them is step one. Maintaining them with some good business practices is just as important.

MacMurray Whale
MacMurray Whale
Strategist of Environmental Sustainability at Cormark Securities

Digging into that a little bit, are you confident that's an operational set of changes, or are there still parts of the business that need to be restructured or sold outright? I mean, where are you on that process of restructuring or sort of right-sizing the organization?

Dan Sceli
Dan Sceli
CEO at Westport Fuel Systems

There's still work to do there, absolutely, for us to get this business in a position that we can be sustainably improving earnings. So yes, more work to do on the restructuring and reorganizing of the business. I think you know we talked about this before. It's not like a light switch. This is going to take some time. Especially doing business in Europe, things don't happen as fast as I would like them, but they're happening. We're getting momentum. That's the thing that I'm excited about, is the momentum that we've got going now in fixing the business and building a strong future.

MacMurray Whale
MacMurray Whale
Strategist of Environmental Sustainability at Cormark Securities

So just trying to put together sort of an outlook, is that a process that takes, is it a question of a few quarters, or is it a year?

Dan Sceli
Dan Sceli
CEO at Westport Fuel Systems

Oh, it's not quarters. Yeah. Unfortunately, it's not quarters. And it is going to take another year at least to get everything completed. But we're committed to it. That's the thing. We see clearly what we can be down the road. And we're working hard to execute and achieve those targets.

MacMurray Whale
MacMurray Whale
Strategist of Environmental Sustainability at Cormark Securities

Okay. At Cespira, is all the interaction with Weichai through the JV?

Dan Sceli
Dan Sceli
CEO at Westport Fuel Systems

Yes.

MacMurray Whale
MacMurray Whale
Strategist of Environmental Sustainability at Cormark Securities

When you talk about bringing in a second OEM, presumably that's not Weichai?

Dan Sceli
Dan Sceli
CEO at Westport Fuel Systems

Correct.

MacMurray Whale
MacMurray Whale
Strategist of Environmental Sustainability at Cormark Securities

Is the second OEM preference North America? There's nothing precluding another one in Europe, is there?

Dan Sceli
Dan Sceli
CEO at Westport Fuel Systems

No. It's not.

MacMurray Whale
MacMurray Whale
Strategist of Environmental Sustainability at Cormark Securities

Okay. And then just lastly, you talked somewhat already about the hydrogen infrastructure, but I'm just taking a big step backward. When you look at your experience in gaseous carbon fuels, where are we in that process on the infrastructure side? Is it 10 years ago, 15 years ago, or is it like five years? I'm just trying to get a handle on, even if you see continued work on the engine side, it's the infrastructure that's really an issue. So any comments on where you would sort of benchmark us in terms of that comparing?

Dan Sceli
Dan Sceli
CEO at Westport Fuel Systems

Yeah. I think we've got a couple of things happening here. I think we've got an industry that needs to get to critical mass in the production of and the infrastructure to supply and deliver hydrogen and other gaseous fuels. I think that we are well established on the LNG and CNG side, CNG in North America, LNG in Europe. For hydrogen, critical mass is probably further out. I mean, everything I'm reading tells me that it's further out than I would like. It could be seven, eight years out before we start getting some critical mass. At the end of the day, total cost of ownership is going to drive the market, and the cost of hydrogen today is still far too high to make a lot of sense, and it's not any different than battery electric or any other system. It's all about critical mass.

Dan Sceli
Dan Sceli
CEO at Westport Fuel Systems

Once it's achieved, I think we're going to be fine. It's a matter of how quickly we can get there. Each country's got its own plans for investments in that. The markets have their plans. I wish I had a crystal ball, but we still believe in it. I think the markets still believe in it. It's just a timing issue.

MacMurray Whale
MacMurray Whale
Strategist of Environmental Sustainability at Cormark Securities

Okay. And sorry, last one, if I can just jump one more time. Given the differences in the countries and given how important it is for the JV, is getting a second OEM in North America aligned with that?

Dan Sceli
Dan Sceli
CEO at Westport Fuel Systems

So I think we want a, I'll call it a third OEM in North America, not a second. I mean, second is critical. We've got to get the third. I think we're going to see the markets develop differently. Today, legislation in Europe is working in our favor, whereas in the U.S., there's work to be done on the legislative front to make these solutions acceptable. And I think we're going to see with the recent election, I think we're going to see some wiggle room coming on that side in the U.S. And then you've got China. China is still the largest market. I think there's 150,000 trucks sold this year on LNG in China. It's a massive market. And while we're frustrated about the Weichai situation today, it's still a market that demands attention.

MacMurray Whale
MacMurray Whale
Strategist of Environmental Sustainability at Cormark Securities

Okay. Great. That's all my questions. Thanks, guys.

Dan Sceli
Dan Sceli
CEO at Westport Fuel Systems

Great. Thanks, Mac.

Operator

Our next question comes from Jeff Osborne with TD Cowen.

Dan Sceli
Dan Sceli
CEO at Westport Fuel Systems

Good morning, Jeff.

Bill Larkin
Bill Larkin
CFO at Westport Fuel Systems

Hey. Good morning.

Jeff Osborne
Jeff Osborne
Managing Director of Sustainability & Energy at TD Cowen

Good morning. Just a couple of quick ones on my side. You mentioned a pickup in the delayed OEM customer there in Italy. Can you just characterize that? Are we half of where we were at normalized run rate before the inventory build, or any perspective on the improvement?

Dan Sceli
Dan Sceli
CEO at Westport Fuel Systems

Yeah. I'm trying to think of exactly how to answer that. I think what you're asking me is the volume picking up from the delay we had at the beginning of the year due to the inventory buildup?

Rob Brown
Senior Research Analyst at Lake Street Capital Markets

Yeah. Exactly. If they were running 100 cars a quarter in the past or 100 a week, and did it go down to 20, and you're back up to 50? I'm just trying to get a sense of the inflection for that customer, given it was a quarter and a half.

Dan Sceli
Dan Sceli
CEO at Westport Fuel Systems

Yeah. I don't have that exact number off the tip of my tongue, but I think we're more than halfway back.

Bill Larkin
Bill Larkin
CFO at Westport Fuel Systems

Yeah. Yeah. I think we've substantially recovered since I called the first half of the year. And I would say we're more at a normal run rate for that customer in delivering kits.

Jeff Osborne
Jeff Osborne
Managing Director of Sustainability & Energy at TD Cowen

Got it, and maybe just to follow up on a prior answer you gave about the recovery in the light-duty market, can you be more specific as to which countries you're seeing that? Is that in Italy itself where you have a strong presence, or Eastern Europe, or South America? Any perspective there would be helpful.

Bill Larkin
Bill Larkin
CFO at Westport Fuel Systems

I think a lot of it's in Europe for principally the LPG markets. That's where we're seeing a lot of the pickup. When you look at, let's say, more of the emerging markets, it's a lot more choppy because a lot of the emerging markets are driven by tenders, and so that can swing a quarter or a year by several million dollars, depending on the timing of those tenders, but when you look at this quarter, a lot of it is just the sale of LPG systems within Europe, mostly in Italy and Eastern Europe.

Jeff Osborne
Jeff Osborne
Managing Director of Sustainability & Energy at TD Cowen

Got it. And then just two other quick ones here on Cespira. Double-clicking out beyond the second or third customer, is there anything operationally or sales integration-wise that you would say will characterize as the two biggest objectives over the next six months or so?

Dan Sceli
Dan Sceli
CEO at Westport Fuel Systems

You know what? We're actually structured with enough capacity on both the supply and assembly side that we can bring on a second and third OEM right now. And so any addition so we bring on a second OEM, let's say, tomorrow, theoretically. What we're kicking off is an engine development program, and the revenues won't come in for a few years, right? It's not an instantaneous thing. We have to tune the system to their engine. And so as a business, it's structured and ready to take on additional volume, whether it's with the current customer or additional customers. So there's no roadblocks or speed bumps to get in the way of that. But we've got to get the development work done first.

Jeff Osborne
Jeff Osborne
Managing Director of Sustainability & Energy at TD Cowen

Makes sense. And my last one maybe for Bill is just the cash needs going forward. Is there a way you can quantify? I think you said it was Euro 6 for the inventory. There's sort of multiple pieces here at play. You're five months into a JV. There's still some restructuring left to do over the next year, it sounds like. Plus, you had the one-time inventory build. But at the current run rate revenue, is there a way to think about what normalized cash burn would be and then how that can improve going forward?

Bill Larkin
Bill Larkin
CFO at Westport Fuel Systems

Yeah. We're trying to turn the tide on that. And we're hitting it on all fronts in terms of cost reductions, trying to enhance our margins, trying to implement operational efficiencies, which also include inventory management, accounts receivable. As I mentioned, the Q4, we expect our working capital, the inventory to come back down to more normalized levels. That'll help free up some cash during the quarter. And it's about continuing to improve upon that and sustainability of trying to reduce our working capital, really to kind of operate more efficiently and to fund our operations. So as of right now, that's what we're focused on, trying to eliminate the cash burn.

Jeff Osborne
Jeff Osborne
Managing Director of Sustainability & Energy at TD Cowen

To that point, I mean, you had pretty sizable cash burn in the quarter relative to our expectations, but you chose not to use the ATM. Was that more a function of the stock price or just an expected or anticipated improvement in Q4?

Bill Larkin
Bill Larkin
CFO at Westport Fuel Systems

Yeah. It's just the ATM, it just takes the, I think, the ATM we probably should have put in place when we put the original shelf, when we filed the original shelf. And however, it's there. It's just to have if there's an opportunity to shore up the balance sheet, we will leverage that. But as of right now, we have not issued any shares under the ATM.

Jeff Osborne
Jeff Osborne
Managing Director of Sustainability & Energy at TD Cowen

Got it. That's all I have. Thank you.

Bill Larkin
Bill Larkin
CFO at Westport Fuel Systems

Thank you.

Operator

That concludes today's question and answer session. I'd like to turn the call back to Dan Sceli for closing remarks.

Dan Sceli
Dan Sceli
CEO at Westport Fuel Systems

Thank you very much, everybody, for your participation. As you could tell from our call today, we're very excited about the momentum and the progress we're making in right-sizing and stabilizing this business. We're excited about the future of our technology and its place in the alternative fuels. We're going to continue to work very hard to ensure that we put in place the business processes to maintain the gains that we're getting. Thank you very much.

Operator

This concludes today's conference call. Thank you for participating. You may now disconnect.

Executives
    • Dan Sceli
      Dan Sceli
      CEO
    • Ashley Nuell
      Ashley Nuell
      VP of Investor Relations
    • Bill Larkin
      Bill Larkin
      CFO
Analysts
    • Amit Dayal
      Managing Director of Equity Research at H.C. Wainwright
    • Eric Stine
      Senior Research Analyst at Craig-Hallum
    • Rob Brown
      Senior Research Analyst at Lake Street Capital Markets
    • MacMurray Whale
      Strategist of Environmental Sustainability at Cormark Securities
    • Jeff Osborne
      Managing Director of Sustainability & Energy at TD Cowen
    • Analyst at Oppenheimer
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