Montana Technologies Q1 2025 Earnings Call Transcript

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May 13, 2025

There are 8 speakers on the call.

Operator

Greetings. Welcome to the Air Juul Technologies First Quarter twenty twenty five Earnings Call. At this time, all participants are in a listen only mode. A question and answer session will follow the formal presentation. Please note this conference is being recorded.

Operator

It is now my pleasure to turn the conference over to your host, Tom Devine, Vice President of Investor Relations and Finance. Thank you. You may begin.

Speaker 1

Thank you, and good morning. With me today for our first quarter earnings call are Matt Dror, Chief Executive Officer Pat Eilers, Executive Chairman Brian Barton, Chief Commercialization Officer and Stephen Peng, Chief Financial Officer. During this call, we'll be referring to a presentation, which is available on the webcast platform and on the Investors section of our website. I would like to point out that many of the comments made during the prepared remarks and during the Q and A section are forward looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties that could affect our actual results and plans. Many of these risks are beyond our control and are discussed in more detail in the Risk Factors and the Forward Looking Statements sections of our filings with the SEC.

Speaker 1

Although we believe the expectations expressed are based on reasonable assumptions, they are not guarantees of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially. And now, I'll turn it over to Matt Joar.

Speaker 2

Thanks, Tom, and thanks everyone for joining us this morning. We have some very exciting developments to share in addition to our first quarter financial results. Before we get into that, I'd like to take a moment to reflect on the topic of water security, which we believe is one of the defining challenges of our time. Around the globe, communities, industries and governments are grappling with growing water scarcity, driven by population growth, climate change and increasing industrial demand. Nowhere is this more evident than in sectors like advanced manufacturing and data centers, which together account for a significant and rising share of global water consumption.

Speaker 2

Data centers alone consume millions of gallons of water per day to keep their operations cool, adding pressure on local water resources that are already under strain. At the same time, the world is generating an enormous and largely untapped resource, waste heat. From industrial processes to server racks in data centers, vast amounts of low grade waste heat are being expelled into the environment every second. This represents a staggering opportunity. By harnessing that waste heat, we cannot only reduce thermal pollution, but also turn it into something of lasting value, pure distilled water harvested directly from the air.

Speaker 2

Our transformational AirJuul system sits at the intersection of these global imperatives. By using waste heat as an energy source to produce distilled water, we are redefining what's possible in both water generation and sustainability. The size of the waste heat resource worldwide is immense and we see this as a tremendous opportunity. With AirJewel, we aim to transform that wasted energy into a secure and reliable water supply that supports critical infrastructure, reduces environmental impact and strengthens resilience for the future. With that backdrop, we're excited by the progress we've made so far this year.

Speaker 2

We recently announced the sale of an AirJewel system to Arizona State University, which is home to the world's foremost research facility devoted to atmospheric water harvesting. We expect to deploy this system in the third quarter and it will be operating in the field in Arizona and proving validation of performance. As we mentioned on our last call, we also have an AirDuel system deployed and operating in Dubai at a government research facility. We are continuing to make progress on our preproduction system that we plan to deploy for multiple pilot projects at industrial operations, including data centers in the second half of this year. Our customers are eager to get their hands on an AirJewel and see its operational capabilities in field deployments.

Speaker 2

Some customers are excited about the ability to generate on-site water for their operations and others are intrigued by the idea of using their heat byproduct, which would otherwise be wasted to produce something as valuable as distilled water. We're learning from our customers that there's a huge market for distilled water and even water as a service could be another possible application for AirDuel systems down the road. On the engineering front, we are refining and optimizing the design of our commercial AirDuel product, which we expect to begin delivering to customers in 2026. We've also further expanded our Newark, Delaware facility to better support our manufacturing operations. GE Vernova and Carrier continue to be great collaborators on the engineering and development side.

Speaker 2

We work with engineers and researchers at the GE Vernova Advanced Research Center on a weekly basis, as well as with Carrier in the realm of data center cooling, which is one of their fastest growing markets. In April, we strengthened our balance sheet and expanded our shareholder base by completing a $15,000,000 common equity pipe, which was anchored by GE Vernova. Now, I'd like to turn it over to our Executive Chairman, Pat Eilers to talk about GE Vernova's recent decision to double their investment into our AirJewel joint venture.

Speaker 3

Thanks, Matt. It's great to be here this morning to update our shareholders on the progress we've made so far this year. As Matt mentioned, we recently raised $15,000,000 of gross proceeds through a PIPE transaction that was anchored by GE Veranova, who owns 50% of our AirJewel joint venture. As many people know, I've been involved with AirJewel Technologies for several years and I led the SPAC that merged the company and took it public just over a year ago. As part of that process, we had the opportunity to get to know the folks at GE Vernova both in their ventures group and at the Advanced Research Center.

Speaker 3

In March of twenty twenty three, I was with Matt in Ronan, Montana when the team from GE Vernova led by Doctor. David Moore, the head of their air to water project in their carbon capture research group came out to see the Air Juul system produce water from air with their very own eyes. When they witnessed firsthand AirJewel's ability to produce pure distilled water in dehumidified air, they recognized the synergies that we could achieve by collaborating on this transformational technology through a joint venture. Over the last year, it's been a tremendous experience to work together with GE Vernova to establish the AirJewel joint venture and put in place a strong foundation to commercialize the AirJewel technology. The more we work together with GE Vernova, the more opportunities we identify for collaborating.

Speaker 3

GE Vernova is a global leader in energy technologies with deep expertise spanning power generation, electrification and industrial decarbonization. Consider gas turbines, which are used in power plants around the world to generate electricity. They also release massive amounts of low grade heat. We have a vision in which in excited about continue energy are excited infrastructure invest in advancing sustainability in industrial operations. It's a great vote of confidence that GE Vernova has chosen to increase their investment in the AirJewel joint venture, and we're excited to be collaborating with them on this transformational technology.

Speaker 3

As we were thinking about GE Vernova's investment, we were fielding additional inquiries from existing investors who wanted to increase their investment in AirJewel Technologies. We've also been spending a lot of time and effort to engage new institutional investors and educate them on AirJewel's massive market opportunity. That effort bore fruit, as evidenced by our ability to bring several institutional investors into the shareholder base as part of this raise. As Stephen will talk about later, this capital raise strengthens our balance sheet and fully funds our operations. Now, I'll turn it over to Brian Barton, Chief Commercialization Officer and President of the Air Juul joint venture for a commercial and operations update.

Speaker 4

Thanks, Pat. Because we gave our last commercial update on our prior earnings call at the March, I won't spend too much time on this subject, but I did want to talk about the collaboration that we recently announced with Arizona State University in which they'll be purchasing one of our AirDuel A250 systems for research and evaluation purposes. Arizona State University is home to the Global Center for Water Technology, whose mission is to address water concerns in Arizona. One of their four primary activities is operating demonstration sites in Arizona that enable evaluation of cutting edge solutions in the field. While we're certainly excited that this represents the beginning of our AirDuel sales revenue, we're even more excited about the independent testing and validation that the researchers at ASU will perform with AirDuel.

Speaker 4

Duel. The climate in Arizona is a challenging one for atmospheric water harvesting because of the low relative humidity. Most conventional technologies that rely on refrigerant systems don't work very well in those conditions, But we're eager to demonstrate AirDuel's capabilities. We view this as a major step forward improving that AirDuel can be a solution to water scarcity in arid environments around the world. In regard to timing, we expect to deliver this aerogel product to ASU in the fall of this year, and we look forward to providing more updates once it is operational.

Speaker 4

We continue to make progress on developing our larger A1000 preproduction system. We've successfully scaled to a larger chamber with a new design, which holds more sorbent and produces more water. We're also continuing to improve our energetics as we do this, below the 160 watt hours per liter that we announced on our last earnings call.

Speaker 2

The A250 system that we'll be delivering to Arizona State University is the core module of the

Speaker 4

A1000 system that we've been discussing over the last few quarters. When thinking about our demonstrations, in some cases, it will make more sense to deploy A250s, which can be manufactured faster and are optimal for demonstrating the technological capabilities of AirTool. The full A1000 could be deployed in cases where customers are eager to assess the full scaled up operation of AirDuel. We are on track to deliver up to three AirDuel pilot projects in the second half of twenty twenty five. From a supply chain perspective, we're working to finalize the design for our commercial system with a focus on DFM or design for manufacturing.

Speaker 4

DFM is the process of designing a cost effective and reliable product. Our focus is to design an aerodule product that is profitable and yields an attractive levelized cost of water for our customers. We've also expanded our Newark manufacturing facility, which includes manufacturing and assembly areas along with our environmental test chambers, which can operate various aerogel configurations in different environmental conditions as well as integrate waste heat. We also completed our coating line where we can now coat our own sorbent coated contactors that are being used in the A250 and A1000 systems. In conjunction with productization, we're working through various certification processes, including, for example, achieving a potable water standards with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality for data center applications.

Speaker 4

GE Vernova and Carrier have been working closely with us through this process. With GE Vernova, we recently announced a strategic project to further explore Herodule integration into GE Vernova's products. At the April, several members from one of GE Vernova's business units came to Newark to discuss AirJUEL and share best practices. With Carrier, data center cooling is one of their fastest growing markets, and we're working directly with our engineering team to optimize the AirJUEL system design for data center cooling applications. The cross pollination with the teams at GE Vernova and Carrier has been very productive, and it should help with our commercialization efforts and expand our market opportunities.

Speaker 4

As you can see, we're at a very exciting stage and there are many developments on all fronts. Stephen, I'll let you take it from here for the financial update.

Speaker 5

Thank you, Brian. We can turn to Slide eight of the presentation to see our financial results for the first quarter. As a reminder, Aerogel Technologies accounts for its 50% ownership in the joint venture using the equity method. These numbers in the table are only for Aerogel Technologies. The results from the joint venture are reflected in the loss from investment in Aerogel JV line, which was $2,200,000 for the first quarter.

Speaker 5

During the first quarter, Aerogel's net operating expenses were $3,200,000 This is inclusive of the approximately $500,000 administrative and engineering expenses reimbursed to us by the joint venture under a statement of work. Our net income for the first quarter was $14,900,000 which was driven by certain noncash gains associated with the change in the fair value of our earn out liabilities and subject vesting shares that relate to the specific provisions from our business combination agreement last year. These items only impact our net income, but are non cash in nature. During the quarter, we also made a capital contribution of $5,000,000 to the AirDuel JV to support the ongoing commercialization efforts. We ended the quarter with approximately $24,000,000 of cash sitting on the balance sheet of the two entities.

Speaker 5

Subsequent to the end of the quarter, we raised $15,000,000 through the PIPE investment, which increases our Q1 ending cash balance to $38,000,000 on a pro form a basis. As mentioned, the PIPE was anchored by GE Vernova, which chose to match the $5,000,000 capital contribution we recently contributed into the JV. And this matching capital contribution was structured as an equity investment into AirDrew Technologies, which mirrors their initial $5,000,000 capital contribution when the joint venture was formed in March of twenty twenty four. We also gave our existing investors the opportunity to invest alongside of GEV and we brought in additional new institutional investors to further expand our shareholder base. Looking ahead, we have sufficient cash and liquidity to support both our operations and those of the joint venture to fully commercialize this technology.

Speaker 5

On the last call, I indicated that the JV budget for 2025 was approximately 13,000,000 to $15,000,000 With the incremental capital that we were able to raise here, we expect to be at the high end of that range, which could increase modestly to further accelerate the product development of our initial AirDrill systems. With our current balance sheet position, we're well positioned with our business plan in 2025 and 2026 fully funded to support the anticipated customer deployments in the coming quarters ahead. Now I'll pass it back for the Q and A portion of the call.

Operator

Thank you. We will now be conducting a question and answer session. Our first question comes from the line of Jeffrey Campbell with Seaport Research Partners. Congratulations

Speaker 6

for the strong progression of the business. I really just have one question from today's discussion. Highlighted ASU as research source. I just wonder, is there any expectation that the data from ASU might differ from that being collected by GE or if there's a similar data collection in Dubai? Or maybe to put it another way, do you see some particular value in data collected from academic versus a commercial source?

Speaker 2

Brian?

Speaker 4

Yes. Thanks, Jeff. It's a great question. Really, I think we want to see several strategic deployments of our technology globally for not only data at different environmental humidities and temperatures, but really just getting more operational hours of systems in different locations with different people running them. So there's a variety of benefits to having multiple systems.

Speaker 4

Regarding your specific question around academic labs versus maybe an institutional government deployment or partnership. We anticipate that an academic lab may be able to further do more detailed water testing, for example, or more types of ways that they run the system. But really, the ASU deployment is going to be that as well as the validation of AirDuel performance and conduits to the regional customers in The U. S. Southwest, which are interested in water scarcity as well as improving their operations.

Speaker 6

Okay. No, that makes sense. And I guess I will ask one other, a little bit wonky one. You talked about how the A250 might be appropriate for certain customers and the A1000 has more throughput. Can you just elaborate a little bit about what's the difference in the cost, the specific cost if you had disclosed that and also the time to build one system or another, which I think you referred to this morning?

Speaker 4

Yes. We haven't disclosed the specific costs of the A250 versus the A1000. The A250 is the core module of the A1000. So it has two of our water harvesting kind of chambers or the chambers that run the system, whereas the A1000 will have eight. And so a lot of times, it makes more sense to deploy smaller form factor to a given site to collect the critical data because the data is effectively the same.

Speaker 4

It's just with an A1000, you would have a larger operational system.

Speaker 6

Do you I mean, things evolve, do you believe that the two fifty is kind of go the way of the dodo after enough data has been selected because there's better economics with the $1,000 Or is there going to be a place for

Speaker 4

there might be some places for them to coexist. That's not my expectation. I expect the A1000 will become the better product from a levelized cost of water perspective, more suitable from the CapEx side of how much water is produced. But there may be some examples where someone wants an A250 for whatever reason, but A1000, I think, is going to be the more economical product.

Speaker 3

Yes. I would only add two quick comments. One is on ASU. It is an independent scientific analysis that will be utilized by all our customers to point to. GE and Carrier are both investors and great partners,

Speaker 6

but they're

Speaker 3

not independent. So our hope is that ASU will produce peer reviewed, published independent research that will be able to be utilized by all our potential customers as an example of why it's delivering what it's delivering with high scientific integrity is one point. And then just the only other thing I'd add between the A250 and the A1000, obviously, the end market usage, there may be customers that just don't need as much production as the A1000 can produce. And despite it probably delivering a better TCO, they may just not need it and the A250 is more fit for purpose. Thank you.

Speaker 6

Right. And I appreciate that follow-up on the independent science organization because that was kind of where I was going. So I appreciate that. Thanks.

Speaker 2

Hey, Jeff. This is Matt. I can tell you this. Please be sure that our presentation is about the proof of concept that the ASU team will be delivering data for out to the world, but we in no way mean to minimize the opportunity for water. As we've learned over the course of the last six to nine months, they some project that water scarcity will be a larger problem than even cooling.

Speaker 2

And we address both. And I think in this presentation, we're trying to update you and everyone else on the huge water opportunity that is in front of us. And so these proof points and these data center deployments that we discussed in this presentation are simply that. They are the stepping stone to a massive market in water. And the other thing that we're trying to convey here is waste heat.

Speaker 2

70% of the energy produced on this planet is lost to waste heat. So we have a because we can use this low grade waste heat, which eliminates the need for our important compressor that we talked about in our last calls, that compressor is on its way by the way. But the nice thing about waste heat is we eliminate the compressors, so the reliability goes up and the harvesting of pure distilled water has a huge value. That's why we're kind of emphasizing it. So we just want to make sure that along the way, we get those points of validation that Pat talked about.

Speaker 2

Our friends at Carrier and our friends at GE Vernova understand the big picture. So we hope that the message is coming across that in the long run, this is a massive opportunity for not just cooling, but for addressing water scarcity.

Speaker 6

Yes. I think that message is coming through loud and clear.

Speaker 2

Good. Yes.

Speaker 2

with And to answer your sorry, Jeff.

Speaker 6

No, I just said, and I agree with you that it's an important issue. There's no question that water scarcity is a growing global problem.

Speaker 2

Yes. And the A1000 versus the A250, in the long run, it's going to be A100000s and A100000s in modular form. That's how you we're going to you got to scale and that's what our long term goal is. Thank you. Thank you.

Operator

Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Shneur Joshi with H. C. Wainwright. Please proceed.

Speaker 7

Hey, good morning and thanks for taking my questions. The investment that the $15,000,000 investment that is going to accelerate your commercialization efforts, will it mostly be used for sort of advancing the technology to get to lower than 160 watt hour per liter or even sub-one hundred watt hour per liter level? Or is it going to be mostly used for expanding the demonstration and evaluation efforts?

Speaker 2

Brian, if you have a

Speaker 4

Samir, yes, I can sure. Thank you, Samir. The it's largely used to accelerate the engineering of the actual product. We talked about design for manufacturing and kind of going through all the certifications that are required for an official product launch. So we're trying to speed up those efforts and at the same time, right, deploy systems that can demonstrate the performance.

Speaker 4

Along the way, we will continue to make progress on the energetics and the productivity of the core product. But those three kind of pillars are really where the use of funds will be directed.

Speaker 7

Understood. So should we look at the AS Dubai demonstration also as a evaluation? Are there other third parties that are coming in taking a look at how the Dubai demonstration or showcase is performing, which can help you in those markets? Or should we not look at it as a sort of ASU in The Middle East?

Speaker 4

Yes, absolutely. That is the primary purpose of all of our deployments is to demonstrate the technology and to share with as many that we can on, you know, how how the system works and how it can deliver value to the specific customers. Right? So there's a number of different, lenses that our customers have with respect to how they see value and how it can play into their operations. And both the main deployment in Dubai as well as the one at ASU are conduits for that conversation as well as collecting data and showing the performance and operability.

Speaker 2

Sameer, this is Matt. I'll add that the location of that particular unit is in a very strategic location. There are many, many executives who come through that particular spot. We haven't disclosed exactly where that is, but there is an amazing amount of traffic from VIPs around the region. So we have a great exposure for the technology there.

Speaker 7

Understood. Got it. And sort of in the same vein about demonstration and proving certification. You mentioned something happening in Texas and I didn't catch it completely or at least did not grasp what it entails. Will you elaborate that a little bit?

Speaker 4

Yes. Unlike a lot of locations in The United States, in particular, some regions of Texas do not have a very well established water infrastructure network. And so there's real examples in Texas where water scarcity you know, rearing its ugly head. Right? The Ogallala Reservoir is basically going to depletion and a lot of operations and, you know, even new constructions that are being considered in Texas need to, build new infrastructure for water when there's no groundwater, right?

Speaker 4

So you have to maybe consider trucking it in from a long distance away or piping it in from a long distance away. And so in this type of environment, Aerogel can actually provide really meaningful levelized cost of water, really attractive water solution at scale. And so a lot of the comments that was made there was around our pursuit for water certification with the Texas Environmental Agency there to achieve portable water certification.

Speaker 7

And then one maybe last one. The investment that came in, I think just wanted to understand, was the $5,000,000 investment sent to the JV, which came from GE Vernouma? Or does it sit on your balance sheet while GE Vernouma retains their equitable ownership of the JV?

Speaker 4

Yes. This is Steven.

Speaker 5

I can take that, Sameer. The investment came in upstairs at the AirDuel Technologies corporate level, but similar to how the initial capital contribution was treated as a match to the joint venture, which was completed at the time of the JV's formation last year, we treated that $5,000,000 investment the same here. So up there investment, but obviously some of the capital is going downstairs from an operating expense standpoint and funding for that. And that $5,000,000 will mirror our initial contribution here that was made this year.

Speaker 7

Understood. So from an equity contribution point of view, the proportion stays the same pre and post this transaction?

Speaker 2

Yes.

Speaker 5

I would just remind you just from an economic interest standpoint, it's fifty-fifty. Yes. But there will be a capital charge incurred at the joint venture level to the extent that future capital contributions are matched by GE Vernova.

Speaker 7

Got it. Understood. Thanks for that clarification and thanks for taking my questions.

Operator

You.

Speaker 2

Thanks Sameer.

Operator

There are no further questions at this time. I'd like to pass the call back over to Matt for any closing remarks.

Speaker 2

Thanks everyone for tuning in today. I want to thank our employees, partners and shareholders for their continued commitment and support. Our mission is very clear. The world has cooling and water challenges and we are addressing both with our transformational AirJewel technology and our world class partners and world class team. We appreciate your ongoing confidence and look forward to keeping you updated in the quarters to come.

Operator

This concludes today's teleconference. You may disconnect your lines at this time. Thank you for your participation.

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Key Takeaways

  • The AirJuel system harnesses low-grade waste heat to generate pure distilled water from air, targeting critical needs in advanced manufacturing, data centers, and regions facing water scarcity.
  • AirJuel secured its first commercial sale to Arizona State University for an A250 system to be deployed in Q3 2025 in Arizona, joins the existing Dubai research facility, and plans up to three pilot projects at industrial sites in H2 2025.
  • A joint venture with GE Vernova now enjoys a doubled investment, with GE Vernova anchoring a $15,000,000 PIPE transaction and contributing $5 million to match AirJuel’s capital infusion, strengthening the balance sheet.
  • Engineering and manufacturing efforts are advancing the commercial AirDuel product—full design for manufacturing in Newark, Delaware, environmental testing, and potable water certification for data center applications, with customer deliveries slated for 2026.
  • In Q1 2025, AirJuel reported a net income of $14.9 million (driven by noncash gains), a $2.2 million equity loss from the JV, ended with $24 million cash, and, pro forma for the PIPE, holds $38 million to fully fund operations through 2026.
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Earnings Conference Call
Montana Technologies Q1 2025
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