MicroVision (MVIS) Q3 2025 Earnings Transcript

Image source: The Motley Fool.

Date

Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025 at 4:30 p.m. ET

Call participants

• Chief Executive Officer — Glen W. DeVos
• Chief Financial Officer — Anubhav Verma
• Vice President, Investor Relations — Jesse Sobelson

Need a quote from a Motley Fool analyst? Email pr@fool.com

Takeaways

• Industrial revenue timing -- Management expects revenue from the Movia L platform to begin in 2026, with Movia S contributing possibly in the latter part of that year and becoming more significant for industrials in 2027.
• Automotive revenue outlook -- Management indicates the most realistic timeline for significant automotive sector revenue is 2029, with limited opportunities in 2028 and greater scale anticipated post-2030.
• Cost structure for lidar sensor -- CFO Verma said, "the $200 is a great number to have and to start with. But our goal, just to be clear, is to drive the cost well below that," emphasizing that their pricing is based on a detailed cost buildup.
• Inventory increased from $6.1 million as of June 30 to a higher level as of September 30, in anticipation of future demand and is expected to translate into revenue next year from Movia L inventory.
• Acquisition and technology portfolio -- The Scantinel acquisition is described as complementary to Maven, targeting longer ranges up to a kilometer for commercial vehicle and automotive applications.
• Technology application focus -- The company is currently not pursuing augmented reality (AR) markets and has no active development or marketing of AR-related technologies as of this call.
• Current market diversification -- CEO DeVos highlighted active development in three core verticals: industrial, defense, and automotive, with the same core technology leveraged across each market.
• Defense revenue outlook -- Management suggests revenue from the defense segment may materialize sooner than in automotive but provides no definitive timing, pending further public demonstrations in the coming year.
• Recent share issuance -- CFO Verma said, "while dilution is painful, but I think it is the necessary tool to put us in a in a spot where we can compete and have a future," directly addressing recent share sales and capital needs.
• OEM customer traction -- The company is engaged in both predevelopment and validation contract phases with OEM and robotics customers but has not closed commercial contracts yet.

Summary

MicroVision (NASDAQ:MVIS) management disclosed that initial revenue from its industrial lidar platforms is projected for 2026, with meaningful automotive segment revenue targeted for 2029 and beyond. The company is actively monitoring competitive disruption among automotive lidar suppliers, which could open new commercial opportunities among OEM customers. Recent inventory buildup is strictly tied to anticipated near-term industrial sales rather than present demand. Management reframed its recent share dilution as part of ensuring long-term operational stability and competitive positioning, particularly as industry participants consolidate. The AR segment is deprioritized with no current plans for meaningful investment or customer outreach.

• Anubhav Verma articulated, "to be able to convert to contract. And that has to be reflecting in backlog, you know, bookings over the course of next year," clarifying near-term priorities.
• Management emphasized that maintaining pricing discipline and managing costs down from their $200 lidar sensor target is central to achieving sustainable margins.
• The defense market may offer expedited revenue opportunities relative to automotive, contingent upon successful demonstrations and customer adoption cycles expected to progress in the next year or two.
• The technology portfolio now intentionally houses both time-of-flight and FMCW lidar approaches, with the Scantinel acquisition aimed at long-range and commercial vehicle applications beyond Maven's reach.

Industry glossary

• FMCW (Frequency-Modulated Continuous Wave) lidar: A lidar technology employing continuous waves with frequency modulation to enable simultaneous measurement of distance and velocity, prized for eye safety and performance under adverse operating conditions.
• Time-of-flight (TOF) lidar: A distance-measurement technology using the travel time of pulsed light to determine object position, particularly effective at shorter ranges with established lower-cost component availability.
• OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer): An industry term for firms that produce final products (e.g., vehicles) into which MicroVision sensors would be integrated.
• Movia L / Movia S: MicroVision branded lidar sensing platforms targeted at industrial and automotive applications, respectively.
• Maven: MicroVision proprietary mid-range lidar platform suited for 50–200 meter detection; distinct and complementary to Scantinel solutions.
• Scantinel: Recently acquired MicroVision business focused on long-range FMCW lidar for distances up to one kilometer, primarily for commercial vehicle and automotive fields.
• LCAS: A customer use case or specific MicroVision sensing platform mentioned as a focus of predevelopment activity with OEM clients.

Full Conference Call Transcript

Anubhav Verma: Kind of picked a little bit up on that in last questions that we had. Ultimately, and I have been doing this myself for twenty-five years now competing with Chinese suppliers across all areas of certainly, the automotive space. And you know, how do you compete with them as you cannot just simply compete on price and hardware. That is very difficult. You have to compete through other innovation channels. And one of those is, like I talked about, the open software framework where we can provide a sensor that is highly flexible and fully transparent to what the perception system integrator developer wants to do. They can put their software on it.

We can provide greater levels of innovation through how we use our software. So there are levers that we have that we can use to position our product to be competitive with the Chinese, either adding more value or more price competitive. And that is just the reality of the automotive market and the industrial market. Today is you have to become, you know, if you are not competitive, you are not going to win the business. We feel that with our approach, we have a competitive offering against really all of the participants in this space.

Jesse Sobelson: Thank you, Glenn. Next question. We are concerned that the $200 price tag could be unprofitable and or unsustainable customer deals. The type of deals that led to Luminar losing money on every unit being sold to Vogtle. How are we going to be different?

Anubhav Verma: Yeah. So that is a great question. You cannot get yourself into a position where volume production is upside down on margins. That is just simply not an acceptable outcome. You do all that work to develop, win a business, develop a product, and then every product is costing you money to ship it. And we are not in a position to do that, and we do not have to. Relative to that $200 price point, the reason we are confident in stating that is because that was based on a detailed buildup of costs from the ground up. And looking at what is it going to cost us, produce the product that can provide that kind of performance?

And looking through all of those cost elements and as well as manufacturing. And the capital it takes to support production. So we are confident in the cost model associated with that. That is what then guides our design and development direction for that part. And then I can tell you, and this is just my experience, certainly with automotive, over these years. You just have to be maniacal about those costs. You can never you have to watch them at every step, constantly be working them down. And I am confident that our team can do that. So for me, it is, you know, the $200 is a great number to have and to start with.

But our goal, just to be clear, is to drive the cost well below that.

Jesse Sobelson: Thanks, Len. Glenn, you indicated in public comments that IAA in Munich that MicroVision, Inc. has been working with a couple customers on what I would call predevelopment contracts to validate our system. We expect those products to be sold very quickly. Can you clarify those comments as a predevelopment because a predevelopment would indicate that we are in early stages of engagement, but prior comments by indicated that the company was much further along in testing and validation. With those customers. And where do we stand with these customers today and the timing for sales?

Anubhav Verma: Great question. And so for me, predevelopment is that whole phase before really launching that you know, the production platform. And so when we when I was talking about predevelopment here, what I am referring to is where we have sensors where we are still you know, the customers still evaluating and looking at how that feature would work on their system. An example of that is the bolt on LCAP system that we talked about based on the movie l. Where they are just doing exploratory work and looking at, okay. How does how do we feel about this? How does this work? How would we integrate it?

So the customer really has not kicked off any formal development activity on that. We are also doing as you just mentioned, we are also in what you would call qualification phases. Where the customer has our product on their vehicle or on their robot and is actively qualifying or validating the technology to make sure can get the KPIs they think they need to hit. To move forward with a lidar solution and MicroVision, Inc. as the provider of that lidar. So we are doing both. And, really, the feedback, you know, the feedback we are getting has been very positive. Ultimately, we have to get it over the line to a commercial contract. But both activities are occurring.

A lot of uptick in that predevelopment area. With, you know, interest in LCAS as well as in MovieSK. And my expectation is, you know, that will move fairly quickly. But, ultimately, you know, we work at the pace of our customers. But based on, you know, it is kind of how they are looking at it, how they have the feedback we are getting on it. I am excited about you know, I think my belief is that we will be successful there.

Jesse Sobelson: Thanks, Glenn. Next question. How does the recent upheaval at Luminar affect our opportunity to make inroads at Volvo Automotive and Volvo Trucks?

Anubhav Verma: Yeah. I may not speak to the specifics, involved in the whole situation, but would tell you, you know, historically, when if there is a supplier that has issues providing to with an OEM, whatever those might be, then typically, that provides the opportunity for those for those programs to be reopened. And for those OEMs to look at alternate sources. And so we need to be mindful of that and take advantage of those opportunities as they develop. You know, that is just a you know, this certainly would not be the first time that this kind of thing has happened in the industry.

And the OEMs, you know, they are very active in terms of their risk management, and we will look for alternate sources or how to protect their vehicle bills. You know, that said, it also just puts that much more importance on your credibility as a supplier that you have a product that is mature, that is proven, you have a product that you can produce at volume, you know, supply security. And resilience that, you know, that you are going to be there for the long haul. And, essentially, that you do not pose a risk to them. You know? And you do not you will never jeopardize their production.

And so you know, it just is another, you know, point to emphasize that as a supplier to the OEMs, you have to have that credibility. You have to have those pieces put together, which I am confident the MicroVision, Inc. team has. But, again, you know, those are opportunities that we will watch very carefully. And see what kind of opportunity they truly present for us.

Jesse Sobelson: Thanks, Len. Next question. Are the industrial deals still in play? How should investors think about the timing when the efforts in the sector start to show revenue? And perhaps the same question for defense and automotive.

Anubhav Verma: Yeah. So for the first point, yeah, industrials are still in play. With Movio L, we are now expanding those with Movia s. We would expect revenue really in 2026 more on the MovieL platform. With MoveAisle launching in, you know, 2026, maybe a little bit of revenue in the tail end of the year, from that platform. '27 will really be about Movia s for industrial. And, either as a standalone product or integrated as part of a NelCast solution. For auto, you know, the timelines we are talking about with auto, whether it is robotaxis or it is traditional pass car, tend to be in my opinion, the '29 time frame. Some still show a '28.

We are going to be here in '26, you know, in two months. That would be highly aggressive, I think. '28, you know, could be some, but I think it would be fairly minor. '29 really strikes me as more of a viable launch year automotive revenue. Again, starting and then building out more in 3031. As it relates to defense, a little bit too early to predict at this time. I think you can see you know, there is a lot of activity there. Over the course of you know, the next year or two. You know, as we come into it, I think our timing is very good to catch that wave.

You know, we will be able to demonstrate and go public essentially with our product offerings here going into next year. And I think at that time, you know, we will generate a lot of interest, and we will be able to give a much better feeling for what we think the revenue projections and when that market would develop for us. Near term, it will probably be more on the kind of the nonrecurring engineering piece of it, you know, the development cost ring. Getting paid to develop. But, obviously, longer term, we want it to be more on the product sales side.

And with defense, given what, you know, drone technology is now in terms of the platform itself was fairly ubiquitous. And commoditized. You have got what we are developing in going to be very mature coming into next year. This could have a shorter time to market if you will, than auto. So kinda fits in between industrial and auto.

The other comment I would make about this question, I think it highlights something important, is we do get the question about you know, why these three markets and I just want to point out for all three of these markets, it is the same core technology that we are providing in terms of the you know, the imaging hardware, the sensor itself, the image processing software, and then the perception, you know, whether it is mapping, localization, you know, navigation, or it is LCAT. It is all under all of it is the same technology that underlines each of those end markets. So that means we have, you know, really nice revenue diversity across our business.

So these are not all these markets do not move in the same cycle. That auto or industrial does. It is a nice revenue diversity, which is very, very attractive for a business to have in terms of top line resilience. So I would you know, again, put defense kind of in between auto and, and industrial. We will know more about that coming into next year.

Jesse Sobelson: And actually, perhaps a related question for me. This question is, had $6,100,000 inventory on 06/30. This number has gone up on the 09/30 balance sheet. Where are these sensors? What happened to them? And what is the plan, and why is this stockpile? Without sales? So let me answer that question, because I think this just adds context to what, you just described. We have built this inventory for Movia L, from the ZF automotive grade quality product line in France. And I think this was in anticipation of the demand. From the industrial customers which was ultimately fueling our visibility of the $30 to $50 million pipeline.

We still think that while, you know, there are some delays, but as the opportunities open up for LCAS and some of the attractive price points. Because I think the single most important price point that I think we are very excited about at the price at which you can sell these sensors to the customers because we are significantly lower than the nearest competitor. And I think as we sort of build up our commercial organization, and bring on quality people and build out the sales team, we do expect to see traction on the revenue side from this inventory that is being built up to translate into revenue.

Next year, just from Movia And, obviously, Movia s is, expected to be started up next year. But this is in anticipation of the sales that we can, get to next year. From the commercial traction that we have gotten since Len has come on board.

Glen W. DeVos: Next question.

Jesse Sobelson: Does the Scantinel acquisition replace Maven, or is it complimentary? And is FMCW technology better than TOF? How does the scantinol product compare with AIVA? Which is the nearest FMCW product in the market?

Anubhav Verma: So three questions. So it does not replace Maven. Those are complimentary, not in conflict. And where Maven really shines is, you know, kind of that 50 to 200 meter range. Whereas Skantinol's tech shines is in nearly more than 50 to up to a kilometer. And so but for commercial vehicle applications, we really look more at 400 meters or and those kind of numbers. So they are very complementary technologies, not just you know, a replacement or overlapping. In terms of FMCW and, you know, kinda what have to think not so much where it is better than time of flight or one is better than the other.

It is more about what is each one really good at. And time of flight has certainly some advantages for our shorter range detection. Works very well. We can use, in many cases, off the shelf components, and so we can get to a lower cost point sooner. FMCW, on the other hand, has as we have talked earlier tonight, has some really attractive performance with eye safety, inclement weather, range, as well as transmission through the glass. And then the inherent measurement of velocity with the waveform. So at the end of the day, you know, they offer different pros and cons, but that is why having all three Maven and or Movio Maven and Nelscanthano.

Is really, is really an advantage for us. And then, ultimately, you know, our goal has to be how do we then bring down, you know, that cost of the FMCW technology. So that it can ultimately get on to pass cars and not just on CV or higher cost applications. In terms of how compares with AIVA, I am going to hold off on that particularly for the short term as we kinda finish our plans. We will come out later this year with a much more detailed description of what our scantinel with the MicroVision, Inc. Scantinil product will look like. Outperforms, and be able to compare it head to head.

But I can say that the thing that impressed me about the scant with the scantinal team had done was the work they had done to get it into a single basically, a single photonic IC. And, again, getting the wafer level packaging for really, the whole imaging head unit or the imaging part of the system. So I think that is the part that is exciting. We will talk a lot more about that in the future. But you know, that is the work the team is doing right now, pulling those pulling those plans together.

Jesse Sobelson: Thanks, Len. Next question. So it is about the AR vertical. Does the company have any plans to update investors on the status of the vertical? And is the technology being actively marketed to potential customers? And there has been talks of HoloLens three launching in 2026. Is MicroVision, Inc. tech in HoloLens three?

Anubhav Verma: Yeah. I will maybe start with the last question first. Not to our knowledge, so and that is consistent with the fact that we are really not actively pursuing AR related markets at this time. We have the IT. We have capability. We will kinda monitor those. But right now, if you think about our resources and where we are allocating our capital, it is really in the three verticals that we have talked about. With the industrial, defense, and automotive. And, you know, AR is always an interesting topic. At this point, we are just watching to see, you know, does that can that be interesting for us?

There is no active development or pursuits in that space as of today.

Jesse Sobelson: Thanks, Len. Next question. Each MicroVision, Inc. CEO can be seen as failing. CEO. The promise of the MicroVision, Inc. technology was not realized by any. Will Glenn carry us to the promised land and how? How does Glenn propose to succeed where all others have failed and by what measure should you be held accountable, and within what time frame?

Anubhav Verma: So great question. I would kinda put this in the context not necessarily of just MicroVision, Inc. I would kinda broaden the context to the whole industry. You know, you look across the industry, and it has, you know, if you think back to that exciting time that I talked about in 02/2017. You know, kind of the late teens. Where there was a lot of optimism and very great expectations around where Lidar would go. And in reality, the reality is it had you know, we have not realized those expectations so far. And as I mentioned in my remarks, the issue has been caused.

It is just an expensive system, at the end of the day, if you cannot afford to put it on your product, you figure some other way to do it. You know? Like I said, vision or radar, ultrasonics, or something else. You know, but I am confident. And, again, this is why taking on the role of CEO of MicroVision, Inc. was so interesting for me. I am confident that when I look at what we did with radar and I look at what we do with vision systems and early ADAS systems, we can do the same thing with Lightheart. There is really no reason not to. LiDAR is a brilliant sensor technology.

And it works just perfectly with radar and vision. It is that tri modal package gives you highest performing perception system. Now it is up to us, though, to drive the cost down such that it can fit into the budget of the vehicles or platforms that want to use it. And that is what we are doing. Now we are not going to take twenty-five years to do it like radar did. You know, radar first radar I was involved was back in 2000. And, yeah, twenty-five years later, yeah, 140 million. Well, we did not we are not going to take that long. We need to do it now.

And really, in know, achieve that market penetration, maybe not to a 140 million by you know, 2033 or '4. But really get on that growth curve where we are accelerating the adoption and we are on the path to mass adoption, for on the path to mass adoption for the technology. And as I look at the team we have with MicroVision, Inc. and the IP and the technologies we have, I am very confident this team can deliver that. And so, you know, what measures are there for me as CEO? Well, it starts with are we hitting the product? Milestones that we talked about? We talked about a launch of Movias and Q4.

We talked about Lcast in Q2. With Movio L. We have talked to, you know, the Scaffino plans. And we have to deliver on those. We have to hit those dates with the right content, with the right product, and the right technologies at the right cost be able to move the market. The other part is we have to be able to convert from showing great technology to commercial contracts. And that is why we are strengthening the commercial team with Fraser and his guys he will be adding to his team to make sure we have the right sales motion to be able to convert to contract.

And that has to be reflecting in backlog, you know, bookings over the course of next year. Into '27 and any robust and a really resilient backlog. Volume that does not go away. And so, you know, that is what my board, all my bosses will be looking at. Ultimately, you know, our goal is always hey. We have to be able to drive shareholder value by delivering and driving customer value. And I am convinced we have the team to do it. We have the dates in place when we have to do what and now it is a matter of execution. And so that is as CEO, that is what I have to focus on.

And then share progress with this group, the shareholders, the analysts along the way to give you confidence that we are on track. So I think we have a good plan. We have a good team. Now it is about executing.

Jesse Sobelson: Thanks, Len. We are over time, but maybe I will take one last question. And it is a tough one, so maybe I will that is why I want to answer this question. Why did the company sell so many shares and cause dilution in the last six months? And how do we plan to sustain the company? The reason why I call this a tough question is because I do get a lot of you know, emails and concerning emails from investors.

And while I realized that because I myself am a shareholder in the company, but I think what I would like to take the credit on behalf of MicroVision, Inc. management and the board is the reason why we are here talking to you guys and you have seen the others, the mighty have fallen, it just sort of represents the ethos of what the company has been all about. We have been very disciplined. We have been able to fund the company and we have been fortunate enough to attract people like Glenn.

I mean, you know, having somebody like Glenn and the senior executive he is bringing to the table, it is kind of never happened in this company's history. And, to have people like Glenn leading us through this time is sort of a statement which I think I can be we can, as a company, be proud of because no other company has an experienced professional or a resume and experience like Glenn. And that is why I am very confident more than ever of what the future looks like because we have the priorities right. To not make the best product, but to make the most efficient product for customers at the price point that will drive the volumes.

And part of, you know, the tough part is you have to, you know, incur delusion the initial phases to have that runway, to have that stability, to attract, you know, talent. And also, keep in mind, this is a game of about customer stability because I have been here four years. And in my four years, the number of LIDAR companies which are now I can call competitors. I can literally count them on my single hand. Before I joined four years ago. There were so many companies. And I think this will continue to change.

And I think the I continue to iterate this is a game of, you know, the survivor of the fittest and, know, the guy who will survive this game. And I think our financial position puts us in a very good position of standing and also our, you know, continued partners who the high trail guys who have continue to help us as well. To get to this point. So I am very confident, and we can perhaps see the increasing, positions in our institutional investor holdings which is also a representation of the fact that we are here to stay. We are here for the long run. Which is why I am very excited.

And maybe last comment I will make is, you know, the recent financing for AIVA, the debt commit the debt funding actually, is a very positive sign for the entire industry. That actually tells you that the quality of credit investors and the quality of credit is actually increasing with more significantly large institutions coming to play. In the LiDAR sector, which just means that the business and the sector itself is gradually becoming or moving up the chain. From equity financing up convertible to, you know, someday in future debt flow finance, then we would be having revenue growth and cash flow.

So all in all, you know, while dilution is painful, but I think it is the necessary tool to put us in a in a spot where we can compete and have a future, which is truly, truly bright. With that, I would like to thank everybody. I know we went over the hour mark, but we look forward to chatting with you with at our year end call early next year. Thank you, everybody.

Operator: Thank you. This concludes today's conference. All parties may disconnect, and have a great day.

This article is a transcript of this conference call produced for The Motley Fool. While we strive for our Foolish Best, there may be errors, omissions, or inaccuracies in this transcript. Parts of this article were created using Large Language Models (LLMs) based on The Motley Fool's insights and investing approach. It has been reviewed by our AI quality control systems. Since LLMs cannot (currently) own stocks, it has no positions in any of the stocks mentioned. As with all our articles, The Motley Fool does not assume any responsibility for your use of this content, and we strongly encourage you to do your own research, including listening to the call yourself and reading the company's SEC filings. Please see our Terms and Conditions for additional details, including our Obligatory Capitalized Disclaimers of Liability.

The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.