Wallbox (WBX) Q1 2026 Earnings Transcript

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DATE

Wednesday, May 6, 2026 at 8 a.m. ET

CALL PARTICIPANTS

• Chief Executive Officer — Enric Asuncion
• Chief Financial Officer — Isabel Lopez Trujillo

TAKEAWAYS

• Revenue -- €29.7 million, down 12% sequentially and below company guidance, with softness attributed primarily to DC sales declines and refinancing uncertainty.
• Gross Margin -- 37.3%, in line with last quarter but below the 38%-40% guided range, mainly due to weaker DC sales affecting product mix.
• Adjusted EBITDA Loss -- €6 million, outside guided range but improved by 18% quarter over quarter and 23% year over year, primarily from operating cost reductions.
• Labor Cost and Operating Expenses -- €17.1 million, a 22% improvement sequentially and 31% better year over year, reflecting operational streamlining.
• DC Segment Revenue -- €2.5 million, a 28% sequential decline, with management citing "the refinancing process has had the largest impact" on demand.
• AC Segment Revenue -- €21.1 million, comprising 71% of consolidated sales and down 8% sequentially; Pulsar Max remains the bestselling product.
• Software, Services, and Others Revenue -- €6.1 million, representing 21% of sales and declining 16% sequentially, led by a 19% drop in installation and service activity, partially offset by software growth.
• EMEA Revenue -- €22.6 million, constituting 76% of total sales, down 8% sequentially, tracking closely with a 9% European market contraction.
• North America Revenue -- €6.7 million, or 23% of total sales, decreasing 41% year over year; notable sequential growth in Canada reported.
• APAC and LatAm Revenue -- €387,000, roughly 1% of group sales, with activity "almost negligible" in APAC as resources were intentionally reallocated.
• Units Delivered -- Over 30,000 AC units and 79 DC units shipped in the quarter.
• Inventory -- €40.3 million, down 15% sequentially and 37% year over year, with management highlighting "one of the most successful financial metrics."
• Cash Position -- €7.6 million at quarter end, exclusive of €11 million interim financing received at the start of Q2.
• Loans and Borrowings -- €168 million, up 2% sequentially, with €44 million classified as long-term and €124 million as short-term debt pending reclassification upon refinancing finalization.
• CapEx -- €0.3 million, with €0.1 million dedicated to property, plant, and equipment; this represents a 55% reduction year over year.
• Refinancing Plan -- Recently signed, secured €11 million in interim funding, and includes support from HSBC and Citibank, with final court approval pending.
• Q2 2026 Guidance -- Revenue target of €33 million to €36 million, gross margin of 38%-40%, and adjusted EBITDA loss between €5 million and €3 million.

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RISKS

• Softer revenue and margin underperformance explicitly linked by management to order delays and demand uncertainty during the refinancing process, especially in the DC segment.
• Management stated that the main reason for missing guidance was an unexpected slowdown in orders for both DC and AC segments related to the pending refinancing.
• Shortfall in North American revenue (-41% year over year) associated with EV market weakness and loss of incentives, according to management commentary.
• Inventory reduction was positive, but ongoing liquidity needs remain dependent on successful receipt of additional refinancing proceeds and carbon credits.

SUMMARY

Wallbox (NYSE:WBX) presented quarter-over-quarter declines in revenue and key operating segments, attributing the shortfall directly to delays and disruptions caused by uncertainty surrounding the company's refinancing process. Management reported the successful signing of the refinancing plan, immediate interim funding, and engagement of new major banking partners as a strategic turning point, with expectations for a return to revenue growth pending full plan approval. The company demonstrated measurable progress in operational efficiency, with sharply reduced labor and operating expenses, ongoing inventory normalization, and CapEx discipline, positioning itself for improved profitability once topline recovers. Cash position at quarter end excludes new refinancing inflows, while significant reclassification of debt maturities is anticipated following court approval of the restructuring plan.

• Management acknowledged market headwinds, specifically in North America, citing removal of tax incentives as a driver of weaker demand for EV charging infrastructure.
• Comments included, "We continue to execute our plan towards profitability based on, one, continuous operational efficiency improvements; two, implementations of the restructured balance sheet for long-term financial visibility; and three, reestablishing our growth by leveraging our product portfolio."
• Geographical reallocation of resources prioritized EMEA at the expense of APAC and LatAm, aiming for return on investment in core markets while limiting exposure in smaller or less profitable regions.
• Customer feedback indicated that slower DC sales were not a product issue but related to short-term transparency concerns addressed by the refinancing process, now resolved according to management statements.
• Immediate post-refinancing period showed signs of order resumption in both DC and AC segments, suggesting pent-up demand could emerge in the subsequent quarter.

INDUSTRY GLOSSARY

• DC (Direct Current) Sales: Sales of electric vehicle chargers providing rapid charging via direct current, typically at higher power and margin compared to AC units.
• AC (Alternating Current) Sales: Sales of chargers delivering alternating current, usually for home or business use with slower charging speeds than DC units.
• Pulsar Max: The flagship home smart charger, identified as the company's best-selling AC product.
• Quasar 2: The bi-directional DC charger, cited as a commercial opportunity in specific geographies.
• CTEP Certification: California Type Evaluation Program certification; necessary for EV chargers to meet commercial requirements in California.

Full Conference Call Transcript

Enric Asuncion, Wallbox CEO; and Isabel Lopez Trujillo, Wallbox's CFO. Earlier today, we issued our press release announcing results from the first quarter ended March 31, 2026, which can also be found on our website. Before we begin, I would like to remind everyone that certain statements made on today's call are forward-looking that may be subject to risks and uncertainties relating to the future events and/or the future financial performance of the company. Actual results could differ materially from those anticipated.

The risk factors that may affect results are detailed in the company's most recent public filings with the SEC, including the annual report on Form 20-F for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2025, filed on April 9, 2026. We will be presenting unaudited financial statements in IFRS format that reflect management's best assessment of actual results. Also, please note that we use certain non-IFRS financial measures on this call and reconciliations of these measures are included in the presentation posted on the Investors section of our website. Also, a copy of these prepared remarks can be obtained from the Investor Relations website under the Quarterly Results section, so you can more easily follow along with us today.

So with that out of the way, I'll turn it over to Enric.

Enric Asuncion: Thank you, Michael, and thanks, everyone, for joining us today. We will start today's call with an overview of our first quarter 2026 results, provide our perspective on the EV market and spend time discussing our operational improvement. Isabel will offer a closer look at our financial results, key financial metrics and our current financial position, including updates on the recently signed refinancing. After, I will close the conversation to highlight what we are focused on for the upcoming quarters. Q1 revenue was softer than expected. But overall, we had a solid first quarter as adjusted EBITDA improved sequentially due to continuous operational efficiency improvements.

Total revenue landed at EUR 29.7 million, below guidance and down 12% compared to the previous quarter. The primary driver of the decline is DC sales, which are down 28% quarter-over-quarter. Although this is a disappointing result, customer feedback shows this is not product related, but rather the requirement to have clarity on Wallbox refinancing process. With the signing of the refinancing plan, we immediately secured EUR 11 million in interim financing and are now able to provide better long-term financial visibility to our customers, vendors and shareholders. The other business activities, AC sales and software, service and others also experienced a slowdown compared to last quarter related to the refinancing, but with a less significant impact.

From a geographical perspective, the North American market due to a significant decline in EV sales, APAC and South America due to the shifting resources and priorities, all have been down sequentially. In total, during the first quarter, we delivered over 30,000 AC units and 79 DC units. It is important to note that although revenue declined quarter-over-quarter, the ratio of revenue to labor cost and operating expenses improved significantly compared to the same period last year. Gross margin was 37.3% in the first quarter, in line with the previous quarter, but landing below the 38% to 40% guided range.

The main reason for the guidance miss relates to the lower-than-expected DC sales, resulting in a negative impact from the product mix. However, we have achieved another quarter with inventory improvement, which provides bill of materials cost improvement opportunities for the long term. Labor cost and operating expenses landed at EUR 17.1 million, improving 22% quarter-over-quarter and 31% compared to the same period last year. This is the result of the continuous efficiency efforts of the last quarters. It only reflects cost improvements, but also shift in resources and investment in sales and services. With optimized cost base, we believe there is opportunity to grow the top line while continuing to work on operational improvements in processes and systems.

By centralizing certain activities and reducing the operational complexity, we are leaner and more flexible in responding to the volatile EV market, both to scale up in EV markets where there are opportunities and scale down in EV markets which experienced headwinds. Adjusted EBITDA loss for the first quarter of 2026 was EUR 6 million, missing our guided range, but improving 18% quarter-over-quarter. Compared to the same period last year, adjusted EBITDA loss improved by 23%. Softer-than-expected sales due to the refinancing process were the main reason for missing guidance this quarter. But considering this revenue level, the bottom line improvement is impressive.

We continue to execute our plan towards profitability based on, one, continuous operational efficiency improvements; two, implementations of the restructured balance sheet for long-term financial visibility; and three, reestablishing our growth by leveraging our product portfolio with more sales and service capacity. The implementation of the refinancing is almost completed. We have made solid progress on the operational efficiency improvements and expect to see the results of our investment in sales and service soon. We have a more optimized organization with a stronger financial position and believe that operational profitability is within reach, assuming revenue improvement. For the first quarter of 2026, Europe or EMEA contributed EUR 22.6 million of consolidated revenue or 76% of total top line.

This reflects an 8% decrease compared to the last quarter, which is in line with the market in the first quarter, which was down 9% in Europe after several strong quarters. In parallel, we continue to focus on recapturing market share by improving our capacity in the sales and service teams to better support our distribution partners and our end customers. We have started to see the initial effects but require more ramp-up time before we see the full impact of revenue. North America contributed EUR 6.7 million or 23% of the total revenue, reflecting a decrease of 41% compared to the same period last year.

The drop can be attributed to a softer North American EV market, which was down 27% year-over-year and limited DC sales. However, we recorded a strong result in Canada, reflecting solid growth compared to last quarter. Looking ahead, we see opportunities to grow sales with Quasar 2, which is already commercially available and the CTEP certified Pulsar, which will be available soon for commercial applications. APAC and LatAm currently remain small region for Wallbox, consistent with the last quarter as attention and resources have been shifted to key markets. APAC sales were almost negligible this quarter and LatAm sales landed EUR 387,000 or approximately 1%.

The shifting of resources is a conscious decision and part of our [indiscernible] improvement efforts towards profitability. We continue to sell through distribution partners, allowing us to potentially accelerate growth in this market in the future. AC sales of EUR 21.1 million, including ABL and Quasar, represented approximately 71% of our global consolidated revenue and down 8% compared to last quarter. Pulsar Max continues to be the best sold product with the Pulsar Max ABL, growing the fastest as we continue to support cross-selling. Other products, including Quasar 2 show a smaller contribution to our results than last quarter.

In general, AC sales also experienced impact from the noise around the refinancing process as distributors and commercial partners stock up or less inventory that is typical. We aim to reverse this trend now we have the refinancing in place, assuming we receive required court approval and as we ramp up our efforts to complement then the strong value proposition of our products with improved sell-out support and service coverage. DC sales landed at EUR 2.5 million or 8% of sales and was down 28% compared to last quarter. In the case of DC, the refinancing process has had the largest impact as customers require long-term financial visibility and support from their suppliers.

With the signing of the refinancing agreement at the beginning of April, Wallbox can now provide the required clarity and this resulted immediately in new orders. We have a strong [ DC ] charging product portfolio, which provides customers with a wide range of different and scalable charging configurations, including battery storage options. With the introduction of the Supernova PowerRing, we expand the product portfolio with a charger that can go up to 400 kilowatts per outlet. Our reliable and user-centric chargers proved to be a competitive option for charge point operators, and we believe we can establish growth in this category.

Software, services and others generated EUR 6.1 million for the fourth quarter or 21% of the total revenue declined 16% quarter-over-quarter. The largest driver of the decrease was installation and service activities, which were down 19% compared to last quarter. This was compensated by a 6% quarter-over-quarter increase in software compared to the same period last year. Software, which includes the Electromaps Solutions, grew 91%. Looking forward, we expect this category to continue contributing in Italy, especially with a strong growth in software. In our addressable market, which we refinance all regions except China, 2.1 million EVs were sold during the first quarter.

While this represents a 23% increase year-over-year, the market slowed down on a sequential basis, declining 2% compared to last quarter. Turning in our key markets, which are North America and Europe, we see conservative trends. In North America, the EV market remained soft due to the removal of incentive and tax credits discussed during the last quarter. Compared to the same period last year, the sales in the region decreased with 27%, but only 3% quarter-over-quarter, potentially indicating we reached a plateau.

While we anticipate the North American EV market will remain challenging through the year, we are optimistic about the opportunities presented by our Quasar 2 and, particularly in states like California where vehicle electrification is continuing to grow. Growth persists within the European EV market, this quarter up by 27% compared to the same period last year. However, growth has slowed down sequentially and declined with 9%. The same trend where there is a year-over-year growth, but quarter-over-quarter slowdown was visible in almost every European country, except Ireland, Italy and the U.K., where growth remains strong across the board.

The momentum in the region is expected to pick up for the remainder of the year as across the region, many countries continue to incentivize electrification and new affordable EV models are becoming available. The growth in the rest of the world, which includes APAC and LatAm was the strongest of the regions considered in our addressable market. EV sales in the region increased 79% compared to the same period last year. Considering our shifting resources to focus on our path to profitability instead of servicing all our addressable regions in the same way, we did not capture the market growth. However, we keep working with a wide range of distribution partners and key accounts.

This will allow us to keep our footprint in the region and ramp up sales efforts in the future. Overall, EV transition continues to progress, but at the same time, volatility remains. The recent geopolitical tension and subsequent price spikes in oil shows again the importance, especially in Europe for energy independence and decreased reliance on fossil fuels. This provides an opportunity for Wallbox as a provider of smart charging products and energy management solutions. The future is electric. But in the meantime, it is important as an organization to remain flexible. We have made progress in creating a more lean organizational structure, which is better suited to respond to market volatility as we move towards profitability.

Isabel, over to you.

Isabel Trujillo: Thank you, Enric. Good morning and good afternoon to everyone. The first quarter revenue was softer than expected and landed at EUR 29.7 million, outside our guided range and down 12% sequentially. However, relative to our cost base, revenue grew both compared to last quarter and the same period last year. The main reason we missed our guidance was an unexpected slowdown in orders for both DC and AC related to the pending refinancing. We anticipated an impact on sales as we were in the process to finalizing the refinancing agreement and customers require long-term financial clarity.

Although we can't provide this clarity now as the agreement recently has been signed, the impact in Q1 was larger than initially expected as DC customers postponed their orders and AC distribution partners decreased the size of their orders. We are confident that we can reverse this trend now and have already received additional DC and AC orders directly after the announcement of the signing. Gross margin for the first quarter was 37.3%. This was lower than anticipated and has a strong correlation with the slower DC sales. As our DC fast charger products have a higher gross margin, lower sales in this category results in a negative impact from the product mix.

Shortly, I will comment in more detail on our continuous inventory reduction, but we have a positive impact on bill of materials costs in the long run as we rotate our existing components. Q1 labor costs and operating expenses totaled EUR 17.1 million, reflecting a 31% improvement compared to the same period last year and a 22% sequential improvement. This is a positive result and is a strong proof point that we can continue to improve our operating leverage. Also, in the upcoming quarters, we plan to continue streamlining the organization with additional efficiency measures, strategic capital allocation and introduction of the right processes.

If you compare the historical development of our cost base compared to our revenue development, we believe we are on the right path to find the correct equilibrium between sales and cost. On top of that, with the shift of resources and investment in sales and service, we believe the cost base we are working towards allows for additional revenue growth, further enhancing the efficiency of the company. Consolidated adjusted EBITDA loss for the quarter was EUR 6 million, outside the guided range, but still a solid improvement considering the lower-than-expected top line result. Compared to the same period last year, the adjusted EBITDA loss improved 23% and sequentially improved with 18%.

Also top line revenue growth is important to reach profitability, the Q1 result reflects the outcome of our plan to shift the focus from only growth to focusing on profitability as our core objective. We have worked hard on the disciplined transformation of the organization to improve operating efficiency. And now our focus can return to reacceleration of growth, but with the same discipline on cost. With the investment in sales and services, I believe we can improve our sales in the upcoming quarters, following our path to profitability. Now moving to key financial items. We have completed one of the most important milestones with the signing of the refinancing plan.

The plan is submitted with the court for final approval. Additional large institutions such as HSBC and Citibank have now joined the plan, and we received EUR 11 million in interim financing. It has been great to be able to bring together all the stakeholders and align on a strong capital structure solution to provide financial stability for Wallbox and clarity for the upcoming years. We would like to thank our banking partners and shareholders for their continued support and recognition of the strategies ahead. Turning now to the results of the first quarter. We ended the quarter with approximately EUR 7.6 million in cash, cash equivalents and financial instruments.

This is excluding the EUR 11 million of interim financing just mentioned as it was received at the beginning of Q2. Based on the operational improvements discussed, the execution of the refinancing plan and our ongoing actions to manage capital expenditures and working capital, we believe our current cash position is sufficient for our near-term needs. This assessment assumes the timely receipt of additional liquidity in upcoming quarters, including proceeds from the refinancing plan and anticipated carbon credit payments. Loans and borrowings totaled EUR 168 million, reflecting a slight increase of 2% sequentially, consisting of EUR 44 million in long-term debt and EUR 124 million in short-term debt.

The increase in the debt position is related to use of working capital lines and accrued interest liabilities related to the refinancing process. Following the implementation of the renewed capital structure, long-term and short-term debt will be reclassified as a majority of the debt maturities will be pushed to 2030. CapEx was light again this quarter and landed at EUR 0.3 million, of which EUR 0.1 million was related to investments in property, plant and equipment. Consistent with the last quarters, we are limiting spending on CapEx and are focused on leveraging our existing assets.

A clear example is the effort to simplify our existing product portfolio and further innovate this portfolio to continue to provide the latest technology and comply with the customer requirements in an evolving industry. Compared to the same period last year, CapEx investment decreased 55% Inventory landed at EUR 40.3 million, a reduction of 15% to last quarter and down 37% compared to the same period last year. This is consistently one of the most successful financial metrics and allows us to continue to release cash from inventories supporting the overall operations.

In addition, we remain focused on our overall cash management related to working capital to better align ourselves with our suppliers and ensure our supply chain is organized efficiently. Wallbox's financial position has improved following the execution of the refinancing plan. In addition, we have made progress on operational initiatives that have contributed to a reduction in cash burn, including actions to optimize working capital and capital expenditures. Enric, I turn it back to you to provide some closing commentary.

Enric Asuncion: Thank you, Isabel. Although the refinancing process impacted top line results in the first quarter of the year, we continue to execute our plan and take steps towards our objective to achieve profitability. Adjusted EBITDA result continues to improve. We have reduced our cash burn significantly, have clarity on our new capital structure and unlock significant operational efficiencies. If we look at the objective we need to complete as part of the plan for our new Wallbox, we achieved, one, the continuous operational efficiency improvements; and two, completed the refinancing plan. Now we need to move from disciplined transformation to reaccelerating growth again. We expect to see the results of our investment in sales and service in the coming quarters.

It is crucial to improve Wallbox as a customer-centric organization and better support our commercial partners. If we can execute the third pillar of our plan well, there is significant growth opportunity as the new market continues to develop. With that, I would like to discuss next quarter guidance. For the second quarter of 2026, we have the following expectations: revenue in the EUR 33 million to EUR 36 million range, gross margin between 38% and 40% and negative adjusted EBITDA between EUR 5 million and EUR 3 million. Thank you for your time.

Operator: Thank you, everyone. There are no questions in queue. We will be closing the call. This does conclude today's conference call. You may disconnect your phone lines at this time, and have a wonderful day. Thank you for your participation.

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