Aviat Networks Q4 2026 Earnings Call Transcript

Quartr
Provided by Quartr
August 27, 2026

Key Takeaways

  • Positive Sentiment: Fiscal 2026 ended with solid momentum: fourth-quarter revenue rose 4.8% year over year to $120.9 million, full-year revenue increased 1.2% to $439.7 million, and backlog reached a record $367 million, up 14% year over year.
  • Positive Sentiment: Aviat issued fiscal 2027 guidance for revenue of $455 million to $470 million and adjusted EBITDA of $50 million to $55 million, with growth expected to be weighted toward the second half. Management cited MDU deployments, private networks, BEAD funding, and new international Tier 1 opportunities as potential upside drivers.
  • Positive Sentiment: The company expects a previously announced $25 million-$30 million MDU order to generate revenue in fiscal 2027, primarily beginning in the December quarter. Management said the broader MDU market could approach $100 million annually if subscriber growth and Aviat’s competitive share develop favorably.
  • Negative Sentiment: Fourth-quarter non-GAAP gross margin fell to 30.9% from 34.7% a year earlier, pressured primarily by component shortages and inflation involving memory, PCBs, capacitors, and FPGAs. Aviat plans to pursue price increases and expects improvement beginning in the December quarter, but management characterized a return to mid-30% margins as aspirational.
  • Neutral Sentiment: Aviat said LEO satellite connectivity is currently excluded from fiscal 2027 guidance and views it as complementary to its core business, particularly for redundant backhaul and coverage-gap solutions. The company is conducting customer trials, while BEAD is expected to have only a small contribution in the initial outlook.
AI Generated. May Contain Errors.
Earnings Conference Call
Aviat Networks Q4 2026
00:00 / 00:00

Transcript Sections

Skip to Participants
Operator

Welcome to Aviat Networks' fourth quarter fiscal 2026 earnings conference call. At this time, all participants are on a listen-only mode. A question-and-answer session will follow the formal presentation. Please note this conference is being recorded. I will now turn the conference over to your host, Mr. Andrew Fredrickson, Vice President of Corporate Finance. You may begin.

Andrew Fredrickson
Andrew Fredrickson
VP of Corporate Finance at Aviat Networks

Thank you, and welcome to Aviat Networks' fourth quarter fiscal 2026 results conference call and webcast. You can find our press release and updated investor presentation in the IR section of our website at www.aviatnetworks.com, along with a replay of today's call. With me today are Pete Smith, Aviat's President and CEO, who will begin with the opening remarks on the company's fiscal quarter, followed by Andy Schmidt, CFO, to review financial results for the quarter. Pete will then provide closing remarks on Aviat's strategy and outlook. As a reminder, during today's call and webcast, management may make forward-looking statements regarding Aviat's business, including but not limited to statements relating to fiscal guidance, financial projections, business drivers, new products and expansions, the economic activity in different regions.

Andrew Fredrickson
Andrew Fredrickson
VP of Corporate Finance at Aviat Networks

These and other forward-looking statements reflect the company's opinions only as of the date of this call and webcast, and involve assumptions, risks, and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those statements. Additional information on factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the statements expressed or implied on this call can be found in our most recent filings with the SEC. The company undertakes no obligation to revise or make public any revision of these forward-looking statements in light of new information or future events. Additionally, during today's call and webcast, management will reference both GAAP and non-GAAP financial measures. Please refer to our press release, which is available in the IR section of our website at www.aviatnetworks.com, and financial tables therein, which include a GAAP to non-GAAP reconciliation and other supplemental financial information.

Andrew Fredrickson
Andrew Fredrickson
VP of Corporate Finance at Aviat Networks

At this time, I would like to turn the call over to Aviat's President and CEO, Pete Smith. Pete?

Pete Smith
Pete Smith
President and CEO at Aviat Networks

Thanks, Andrew. Let's review the highlights from the fourth quarter. Quarterly revenues of $121 million, up 4.8% versus the year ago period. Adjusted EBITDA of $11.9 million. Non-GAAP EPS of $0.64. Year-end backlog of $367 million, up 14% versus the end of fiscal year 2025. This marks a strong end to Aviat's fiscal 2026. Full-year revenue was $440 million, up 1.2% versus the prior fiscal year. This represents our sixth consecutive year of revenue growth. Aviat is the only microwave company to achieve this growth during the last six years. I would also like to note that this was the first time in over a decade that Aviat has had all four quarters in the fiscal year with at least $100 million in revenue. This is a tremendous achievement, and I would like to thank all of our customers, supplier partners, and employees in making this possible.

Pete Smith
Pete Smith
President and CEO at Aviat Networks

Since FY 2023, we have been expanding outside of our core microwave business with a focus on mission-critical access. In FY 2026, sales of non-microwave, i.e., mission-critical access products grew significantly versus FY 2025 and is the result of Aviat's strategic decisions and execution years prior, allowing us to diversify our business and gain access to larger, faster-growing segments. We are glad to see this strategy coming to fruition. Now, I'd like to talk more about recent developments in our end markets. In the U.S., strong quarterly sales and bookings set the stage for an exciting year ahead. We see several growth vectors aligning for Aviat. First, we believe our multi-dwelling unit, MDU opportunity will deliver meaningful revenues to Aviat this year. We announced an order received from an existing customer in the range of $25 million-$30 million. We expect all of this revenue in fiscal 2027.

Pete Smith
Pete Smith
President and CEO at Aviat Networks

The Aviat team continues to work to win additional markets and adjacent opportunities to increase our capture rate in fiscal 2027 and beyond. Secondly, we see private networks continuing to be a core foundation for Aviat's growth. In state and local public safety networks, Aviat remains the leader and continues to pursue opportunities for more share of demand. According to industry research, city and state government budgets are expected to grow 6.4% and 4.2%, respectively. Video-intensive applications like drones and body cameras, as well as other data-intensive tools, drive increased bandwidth demand within private networks, which necessitates more or upgraded microwave links. As highlighted in our last earnings call, utility private networks are poised for growth. Power infrastructure and grid connectivity are emerging as key bottlenecks to AI infrastructure deployment. This build-out requires secure, highly reliable communication networks to connect and manage grid assets. Aviat participates here.

Pete Smith
Pete Smith
President and CEO at Aviat Networks

Thanks to our portfolio of industry-leading solutions geared towards utilities. Our microwave radio portfolio, Aprisa, SCADA radios, and LTE 5G routers, combined with our network management software and our Health Assurance and Frequency Assurance offerings, provides utilities a one-stop shop for its network connectivity build-out and management needs. With the SpaceX IPO and the announcement of a potential fourth cellular network in the U.S., there is a significant amount of investor interest in low Earth orbit, or LEO networks. We believe that there is a valuable niche to fill in the communication space, specifically around nomadic or very remote locations. Therefore, we see the technology as being complementary and not necessarily competitive with Aviat. We see the following for LEO and Aviat. One, Aviat's core business is largely unthreatened. Two, there is an idea of SpaceX building out a terrestrial network.

Pete Smith
Pete Smith
President and CEO at Aviat Networks

While the architecture of that conceptual network is not fully formed, should this materialize, Aviat is well-positioned if and when the architecture requires terrestrial backhaul. Three, most exciting is the new functionality that LEO brings. LEO offers redundant communications. This is most valued by private network customers, and we are seeing opportunities for Aviat through integration with microwave and cellular router solutions. For microwave networks, satellite provides a low-cost, easy-to-deploy backup path for critical remote sites. For cellular routers in public safety and fleet applications, satellite fills LTE and 5G coverage gaps with automatic failover. In both cases, Aviat's opportunity is to deliver an integrated solution that improves resilience while simplifying deployment, management, and operations for our customers. Aviat's customers are engaged in trials to demonstrate the value proposition of this redundancy.

Pete Smith
Pete Smith
President and CEO at Aviat Networks

Please see slide 11 in our investor presentation to get a picture of the ongoing trials and connectivity solution we bring. Moving on to international. Aviat's business has seen particular traction in the EMEA region, where revenues were up 53% in the fourth quarter and up 33% for all of fiscal 2026. This growth has been driven in part by recent international private network wins, including with defense customers, including blackned, as well as energy firms. As we pursue more such private network business, we see this segment as a growing portion of our international business in the future. Moving on to supply chain. Like others in the technology hardware space, Aviat has not been immune from component shortages and cost inflation. Specifically, we are most focused on securing supply for memory, printed circuit boards or PCBs, capacitors, and FPGAs.

Pete Smith
Pete Smith
President and CEO at Aviat Networks

We will be opening the playbook we used during COVID supply chain crisis to secure favorable placement and allocations among our suppliers. Although Aviat has been able to manage through these current allocations and shortages with our inventory and safety stock, we have also had some headwinds to our gross margins from component cost inflation. We plan to pass along these price increases to our customers to help offset these rising costs. With that, I will now turn the call over to Andy to go through the financial results.

Andy Schmidt
Andy Schmidt
CFO at Aviat Networks

Thanks, Pete. I will review some of the key fiscal year 2026 and fourth quarter results. Please note that our detailed financials can be found in our press release, and all comparisons discussed are between fourth quarter fiscal year 2026 and fourth quarter fiscal year 2025, unless otherwise noted. For the fourth quarter, we reported total revenue of $120.9 million as compared to $115.3 million for the same period last year, an increase of 4.8%. Revenues for the 12-month period were $439.7 million versus $434.6 million the year ago 12-month period. North America, which comprised 56.5% of our total revenues for the quarter, was $68.3 million. This was up $10.3 million or 17.8% versus the year ago period. These results were complemented by a limited set of deployments for a North American-based MDU project in the quarter.

Andy Schmidt
Andy Schmidt
CFO at Aviat Networks

International revenues, which made up 43.5% of total revenues, were $52.6 million for the quarter. For fiscal 2026, North American revenues were $220 million, up 6% versus fiscal year 2025. International revenues were $219.6 million in fiscal 2026, compared to $227 million in fiscal 2025. EMEA showed solid results for fiscal 2026 while APAC stabilized. We feel our international business overall is poised for growth in fiscal 2027. Gross margins in the fourth quarter were 30.8% on a GAAP basis and 30.9% on a non-GAAP basis. This compares to 34.2% GAAP and 34.7% non-GAAP in the prior year. The year-over-year change in gross margin is typically due to volumes, regional and product mix, and so on. That said, as Pete Smith noted earlier, our current period gross margin was negatively affected by component shortages and associated price inflation.

Andy Schmidt
Andy Schmidt
CFO at Aviat Networks

For fiscal 2026, gross margins were 31.5% on a GAAP basis and 31.8% on a non-GAAP basis. This compares to 32.1% GAAP and 32.8% non-GAAP in fiscal 2025. Fourth quarter GAAP operating expenses were $31.4 million. Non-GAAP operating expenses, which exclude the impact of restructuring charges, share-based compensation, and other costs, were $27.3 million. For fiscal 2026, GAAP operating expenses were $119.1 million, and non-GAAP operating expenses were $109.2 million. This is versus $128.9 million GAAP and $113.5 million non-GAAP in fiscal 2025, a decrease of $9.8 million and $4.3 million, respectively. This is the result of the entire management team diligently managing costs, continuously reviewing corporate needs, and driving process efficiency efforts. Fourth quarter operating income was $5.8 million on a GAAP basis and $10 million on a non-GAAP basis. This compares to $8.9 million GAAP and $12.9 million non-GAAP in the year-ago period.

Andy Schmidt
Andy Schmidt
CFO at Aviat Networks

For fiscal 2026, GAAP operating income was $19.2 million, up $8.7 million versus the last fiscal year. Fiscal 2026 non-GAAP operating income was $30.6 million, up $1.5 million or 5.2% versus the last fiscal year. The fourth quarter non-GAAP tax benefit was $0.5 million. As a reminder, as of fiscal 2026 year-end, the company has over $420 million of net operating losses, or NOLs, that will continue to generate shareholder value via minimal cash tax payments for the foreseeable future. Fourth quarter GAAP net loss was $1.3 million, and non-GAAP net income was a positive $8.3 million, which excludes restructuring charges, depreciation and amortization, share-based compensation, interest and other income, other non-recurring expenses, and the non-cash tax provision. Fourth quarter GAAP loss per share was $0.10 on a fully diluted basis, and non-GAAP earnings per share came in at a positive $0.64 on a fully diluted basis.

Andy Schmidt
Andy Schmidt
CFO at Aviat Networks

Adjusted EBITDA for the fourth quarter was at $11.9 million, or 9.8% of revenues. For the fiscal year, Adjusted EBITDA was $36.7 million. Moving on to the balance sheet. Our cash and marketable securities at the end of the fourth quarter were $72.8 million. Our outstanding debt was $97 million, bringing the net debt position to $24.2 million. Aviat Networks made continued improvements in its balance sheet. Unbilled receivables were lower for the third consecutive quarter. The fourth quarter balance was $3.1 million lower compared to the fiscal 2026 third quarter ending balance. This brings our total unbilled receivables balance to $82.1 million. Inventories were also lower sequentially by $3.6 million, bringing our inventory balance to $69 million. For the full fiscal year, Aviat Networks generated cash from operations of $13.6 million. Combined with the other balance sheet improvements, this is good progress for shareholders. Other points to make.

Andy Schmidt
Andy Schmidt
CFO at Aviat Networks

Aviat used $2.2 million to repurchase approximately 131,000 shares in the quarter at an average price of $16.55 per share. Finally, we are pleased to share that in the context of our control environment, we have fully remediated our past five material weaknesses. Rest assured, Aviat's core value of continuous improvement is still in play, and we will continue to work to further strengthen our foundation. With that, I'll turn it back to Pete Smith for some final comments.

Pete Smith
Pete Smith
President and CEO at Aviat Networks

Thanks, Andy. Regarding our fiscal 2027 guidance, we are establishing our outlook as follows. Full-year revenues to be in the range of $455 million-$470 million. Full-year Adjusted EBITDA to be in the range of $50 million-$55 million. Note that our guidance is full fiscal year. Some additional color on seasonality. Based on our backlog and current outlook, the first quarter will be the foundation on which Aviat's revenue builds throughout fiscal 2027. Additionally, we expect the second half of that fiscal 2027 to have higher overall revenues versus the first half of fiscal 2027. See slide 23 in the investor presentation for a view of the seasonality Aviat has typically experienced and for use in your models. With that, operator, let's open up for questions.

Operator

Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, to ask a question at this time, you will need to press star one one on your touchtone telephone and wait for your name to be announced. To withdraw your question, simply press star one one again. Please stand by while we compile the Q&A roster. Our first question coming from the line of Scott Searle with ROTH Capital. Your line is now open.

Scott Searle
Scott Searle
Analyst at ROTH Capital

Hey, good morning. Thanks for taking the questions. Nice job on the quarter. Also nice to see the balance sheet improvements and the cleanup of the material weaknesses. Hey, maybe just to dive in, I wonder if you could give us an idea of the breakdown in North America between carrier contribution and private networks. Then specifically looking into the September quarter and how we ramp up from an MDU contribution standpoint. Pete, how is that shaping up just in terms of the context of how we should think about the flow of that into the course of fiscal 2027?

Pete Smith
Pete Smith
President and CEO at Aviat Networks

We ended the year with record backlog up 14%. A lot of that was work throughout the year that landed in the May, June timeframe. There is this pervasive component availability. When we said in the script that the Q1 is going to be a foundation, we think, given the timing of our wins and given the supply chain ramp up, we think if you put a revenue profile together, Q1 will be the lowest. Q2 and Q4 will be peaks, and Q3 should be higher than Q1. Then, with respect to the overall, I do not have the U.S. breakdown in front of me, but we are about 45% private networks, 55% service providers or mobile network operators. I think that I will give a qualitative statement. I would say the U.S. has more private networks than the overall Aviat.

Pete Smith
Pete Smith
President and CEO at Aviat Networks

I think that gives you a vector on that, Scott.

Scott Searle
Scott Searle
Analyst at ROTH Capital

Okay. Thank you. Pete, just to clarify, though, on the MDU front, do you expect contribution in the September quarter, or is there a lot of pre-deployment activity ongoing, more engineering and otherwise, and we should expect to ramp up into the second half of the year or second quarter?

Pete Smith
Pete Smith
President and CEO at Aviat Networks

Yeah. We think the ramp-up is going to occur in the second quarter. There is a chance that we get some in the September quarter. Let me just give a little more color on this. We completed more proof of concepts in a variety of markets, and we believe that the customer has moved us ahead in the supplier pecking order where we think we are established as the preferred vendor. So, what we really need to do is get that site readiness over the hump in the September quarter, get all of our components on order, and enjoy the win in the December quarter.

Scott Searle
Scott Searle
Analyst at ROTH Capital

Great. Thank you. Two other quick ones, if I could, just on the satellite LEO opportunity. I am wondering if you are actually starting to see interesting contribution today. It seems like there is a lot of activity, but I am wondering what you are factoring into that fiscal 2027 guidance at this point in time. Second, gross margins, some component headwinds on that front. I am wondering how you are thinking about that in terms of fiscal 2027. Broadly speaking, is there some expansion in gross margin opportunities given some incremental scale and product mix, or are you still seeing some headwinds on the component front? Thanks.

Andy Schmidt
Andy Schmidt
CFO at Aviat Networks

Sure, Scott. This is Andy. Great to hear from you. Yeah, in terms of gross margins, as Pete commented on revenue, Q1 is going to be our building block, and we go up from there. So it is, let us call it the foundation or lowest part of the year. It is going to be affected by lower volume, of course. Pete did talk to, in his prepared remarks, strategies that we are deploying to offset the component inflation, if you will. Those are going to be more realized in Q2 and going forward, not in Q1. But again, we do have plans, and we expect Q2, 3, and 4 to have more upward pressure on gross margin.

Pete Smith
Pete Smith
President and CEO at Aviat Networks

There is no LEO in the guide.

Operator

Thank you. Our next question in queue coming from the line of Christian Schwab with Craig-Hallum. Your line is now open.

Christian Schwab
Christian Schwab
Analyst at Craig-Hallum

Great. Congrats on the solid quarter. I am wondering if you could give us an update on your large European competitor who is exiting their microwave business, we believe by the end of this calendar year. Are you seeing any business benefit from that currently? Would you anticipate or see an increased dialogue that you think will benefit you in your next fiscal year?

Pete Smith
Pete Smith
President and CEO at Aviat Networks

Yeah. A competitor of our European competitor has communicated that their pipeline of opportunities is improving. I would suggest that the same thing is transpiring with us. To convert a microwave network, it is a 6-18-month proposition. The good news for us was the announcement was made November of 2025, and immediately after that, I think Aviat and all of our non-for-sale competitors created a pipeline and are pursuing that. I would say we have had normal course of business wins. I would say that our competitors have probably had that as well, where networks get exchanged at a low level. I think the possibility for this to improve is probably in the March and June quarters for Aviat as well as the competitors that have been working over what will be a period of a year and a half, to convert the uncertainty to wins.

Christian Schwab
Christian Schwab
Analyst at Craig-Hallum

Perfect. Thank you. As it relates to BEAD, there has been a lot of fluctuations of people tied to that. I am just wondering what is your current thoughts. I think before we thought maybe some things would start in FY 2027, but really had more of a multi-year outlook. I am just wondering if there is any update on your current thoughts there.

Pete Smith
Pete Smith
President and CEO at Aviat Networks

Yeah. In front of me, we have got quotes out to our customers. We are working to turn those quotes into business. So it is becoming tactical rather than theoretical. I would also say that we still believe it to be a three-year impact. Our estimate is in the December quarter, it should have the first real impact to our revenue.

Christian Schwab
Christian Schwab
Analyst at Craig-Hallum

Okay, fantastic. Then lastly, regarding your belief that you are the preferred vendor, and showing proof of concepts of different applications on the MDU ramp. Appreciate the $25 million-$30 million significant order in hand. Should we anticipate that there could be more significant orders as we go through fiscal year 2027, or is that yet too early?

Pete Smith
Pete Smith
President and CEO at Aviat Networks

I do not want you to anticipate, but there could be. How about that? Trying to split the middle there. But it is a fair question, and we are hopeful. Let us not put it in the model, but that is what we are working towards.

Christian Schwab
Christian Schwab
Analyst at Craig-Hallum

Fantastic. No other questions.

Operator

Thank you. Our next question in queue, coming from the line of Jaeson Schmidt with Lake Street. Your line is now open.

Jaeson Schmidt
Jaeson Schmidt
Analyst at Lake Street

Thanks, guys. Appreciate you taking my questions. Following up on Christian Schwab's last question on the MDU opportunity and potential for more orders. Can you help us size the potential of follow-on orders or how are you looking at this opportunity in the intermediate term here?

Pete Smith
Pete Smith
President and CEO at Aviat Networks

Yeah. I think what's really critical to driving the size of the opportunity is subscriber growth. We're in the early innings of the subscriber growth. The more subscribers that come online for this tier 1, the bigger the opportunity. The last time we talked, we sized this as an eight-figure opportunity, and we put that in our 8-K during our quiet period. We would say that we think it's going to get bigger. The next question is: does it cross the barrier for nine figures? I don't know. I think the total annual opportunity is in the $100 million neighborhood. That's predicated on, one, the customer achieving their subscriber growth metrics, and two, our share versus the competitive share. If you want to look at this as what could it be? What could it all be?

Pete Smith
Pete Smith
President and CEO at Aviat Networks

I would say we hit the $100 million figure. The market opportunity hits the $100 million level. How that parses out between Aviat and the competition is looking more favorable, but I don't see any situation where we'd be sole source. What's probably more important is how many subscribers come on to those MDU units.

Jaeson Schmidt
Jaeson Schmidt
Analyst at Lake Street

Okay. That's really helpful. Just as a follow-up, can you update us on the Aprisa router funnel and what you're seeing in expectations for fiscal 2027?

Pete Smith
Pete Smith
President and CEO at Aviat Networks

We're not going to break out guidance specifically for Aprisa. The Aprisa business on the utility front, which is why we bought in, continue to enjoy it, is performing well. We've talked in the past about the LTE router and basically putting this router into public safety or police cars. What I can say is that we have initial orders in the U.S., Europe, and Latin America. It's still relatively small, and there's a long lead site, a long kind of runway to get government agencies into the purchasing funnel. I would also say that our performance in the mobile cellular router sector is we're going against Cradlepoint, and the reason we have those initial orders and significant engagements is because we have a compelling value proposition that customers like, and it's just going to take time, but we believe that it will happen.

Jaeson Schmidt
Jaeson Schmidt
Analyst at Lake Street

Got you. Thanks a lot, guys.

Pete Smith
Pete Smith
President and CEO at Aviat Networks

Thank you.

Operator

Thank you. As a reminder, to ask a question, please press star one one. Our next question coming from the line of Dave Kang with B. Riley. Your line is now open.

Dave Kang
Dave Kang
Analyst at B. Riley

Good morning. Thank you. First question is, just wondering how much regarding that Middle East projects that were delayed last quarter, how much of that was captured in the fourth quarter?

Pete Smith
Pete Smith
President and CEO at Aviat Networks

Yeah, I think most of it, Dave, most of it was recaptured.

Dave Kang
Dave Kang
Analyst at B. Riley

Got it. Did that mix also played into that gross margin? I know you talked about supply chain headwind, but also the mix.

Andy Schmidt
Andy Schmidt
CFO at Aviat Networks

Primarily, the component inflation has affected this quarter. Mix is pretty much representative. As said in prepared remarks, Americas were about 56.5%, which is fairly typical.

Pete Smith
Pete Smith
President and CEO at Aviat Networks

Yeah. Just to add to that, Dave, the nature of the inflation in the component environment is sometimes there's spot markets, sometimes it's prices go up even after you make the order. In the next few weeks, we're going to go out to our customers for more price. Unfortunately, the nature of the inflation is it's a little more abrupt than typical. We got impacted by that abruptness, and we're going to work to offset that inflation. I think we should get some improvement in the December quarter, and then the back half, it should be better still.

Dave Kang
Dave Kang
Analyst at B. Riley

By second half, can we expect mid-30s in terms of gross margin expectations?

Andy Schmidt
Andy Schmidt
CFO at Aviat Networks

That would be aspirational. A lot of the growth, again, is coming out of MDU, as we've talked to in these other markets, and that has pretty much what we call more of a middle of our product strategy profile. Again, we ended the year at about 32%. That's a safe harbor in terms of how we operate, just looking at historical. Again, as Pete Smith talked to these different strategies, we expect some upward pressure, so that's good. But I wouldn't necessarily go as high as what you're suggesting as we speak today.

Dave Kang
Dave Kang
Analyst at B. Riley

Got it. My last question is regarding your fiscal 2027 revenue outlook. Just wondering if any BEAD factored into that outlook.

Pete Smith
Pete Smith
President and CEO at Aviat Networks

A small amount, Dave. Relatively conservative. If BEAD kicks in, we will revisit the guidance.

Dave Kang
Dave Kang
Analyst at B. Riley

Got it. Thank you.

Operator

Thank you. Our next question coming from the line of Theodore O'Neill with Litchfield Hills Research. Your line is now open.

Theodore O'Neill
Theodore O'Neill
Analyst at Litchfield Hills Research

Thank you, and congratulations on the good quarter. I want to also follow up on the MDU opportunity. Can you tell us, I am sure you cannot mention them by name, but can you tell us about the type of customers that are driving the MDU opportunity?

Pete Smith
Pete Smith
President and CEO at Aviat Networks

Well, we've disclosed in a lot of industry folks, we've disclosed that it's a U.S. tier 1 that has access to 39 GHz spectrum, so that narrows it down. The field installers have leaked this, but it's not for us to disclose. Their customers are apartment dwellers that typically the profile is they skew younger, lots of remote work from home that require bandwidth beyond what's economically delivered today.

Theodore O'Neill
Theodore O'Neill
Analyst at Litchfield Hills Research

Okay. Pete, last quarter, you talked about war-induced pushouts of about $9 million, and you already said that part of that had come into Q4. Did that at all make in, or are you still experiencing some kind of war-induced issues out there?

Pete Smith
Pete Smith
President and CEO at Aviat Networks

Actually, the customer was not Urdu, but that was in the Middle East, war-induced issue. We would say that they're steady state, that that problem has reversed. I would say our demand in that customer base and our supply is at steady state.

Theodore O'Neill
Theodore O'Neill
Analyst at Litchfield Hills Research

Okay. Finally, on the range of revenue guidance, there's a range of $15 million. Can you talk about what would make it at the high end or the low end of that? Sort of the give and take in that?

Pete Smith
Pete Smith
President and CEO at Aviat Networks

Yeah. I would like to talk about how to make it to get to the higher end, more MDU and how does that, one, there is more subscriber growth to share gain versus the competition. Two is, our de minimis modeling of BEAD. If BEAD kicks in the way we have wished it would have kicked in over the last five years, then we will revisit guidance. Three would be private networks. Christian Schwab asked a question about the competitive dynamics in private networks. We think we are well-positioned if some of those convert or if private networks, the Aprisa LTE router opportunity is in there. If either of those two things happen, that will pop up our private network. Lastly, given the competitive dynamics globally, we have more tier 1 interest than normal, new tier 1.

Pete Smith
Pete Smith
President and CEO at Aviat Networks

That would be the fourth potential lever to move us from, let us say, the midpoint to the high end.

Theodore O'Neill
Theodore O'Neill
Analyst at Litchfield Hills Research

Okay, thanks.

Pete Smith
Pete Smith
President and CEO at Aviat Networks

We have four possibilities there. Yep. Thank you, Theo.

Theodore O'Neill
Theodore O'Neill
Analyst at Litchfield Hills Research

Okay. Thanks, Pete.

Operator

Thank you. Our next question coming from the line of Rustam Kanga with Citizens Bank. Your line is now open.

Rustam Kanga
Analyst at Citizens Bank

Great. Thank you for taking my question. Hey, Andy and Pete, nice close to the year. Regarding the historical revenue pattern, at 48%-52% for the back half of the year for your guidance for next year, are you looking at something more towards the range of 40/60, or could it be more pronounced than that?

Andrew Fredrickson
Andrew Fredrickson
VP of Corporate Finance at Aviat Networks

Hey, Rus, this is Andrew Fredrickson. We mentioned that the second half of the year would be a little bit more back-half weighted. I would think you could think about it incrementally more than maybe where it's been historically. So maybe it's something closer to 45/55. But we'll certainly continue to keep you updated as we advance through the year. But if you look at the investor slide number 23 in our investor presentation, we have historical numbers over the last couple of fiscal years. I would say at a minimum, that's a good kind of guidance level from a seasonality perspective. But again, maybe you have a couple more percentage points in the back half.

Pete Smith
Pete Smith
President and CEO at Aviat Networks

Yeah. Slide 23 is the model that we are signing up to.

Rustam Kanga
Analyst at Citizens Bank

Sounds good. Regarding the MDU opportunity, I understand that it is hinging on the subscriber growth there. Just curious if the number of markets that you are operating there has grown or sustained from what you have talked about in the previous quarter.

Pete Smith
Pete Smith
President and CEO at Aviat Networks

I think we are slated or are in 25 markets, and if we roll back the clock, we were one, seven, 11-13. So now I think we are approaching the 25 market level.

Rustam Kanga
Analyst at Citizens Bank

That is great. Thanks.

Operator

Thank you. I am showing no further questions in the Q&A queue at this time. I will now turn the call back over to Mr. Pete Smith with any closing remarks.

Pete Smith
Pete Smith
President and CEO at Aviat Networks

It is an exciting time for Aviat. Thanks everyone for joining. We look forward to, again, updating you in November. Thanks.

Operator

This concludes today's conference call. Thank you for your participation, and you may now disconnect.

Executives
    • Andrew Fredrickson
      Andrew Fredrickson
      VP of Corporate Finance
    • Pete Smith
      Pete Smith
      President and CEO
    • Andy Schmidt
      Andy Schmidt
      CFO
Analysts
Powered by Quartr