ChargePoint (CHPT) Q4 2026 Earnings Transcript

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DATE

Wednesday, Mar. 4, 2026 at 4:30 p.m. ET

CALL PARTICIPANTS

• Chief Executive Officer — Rick Wilmer
• Chief Financial Officer — Mansi Khetani

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TAKEAWAYS

• Revenue -- $109 million, at the upper end of guidance, up 3% sequentially and 7% year over year.
• Non-GAAP gross margin -- 33%, a record high, flat sequentially, and up three percentage points year over year.
• Networked charging systems revenue -- $58 million, representing 53% of revenue, up 2% sequentially and 10% year over year.
• Subscription revenue -- $42 million, accounting for 39% of revenue, up 1% sequentially and 11% year over year.
• Other revenue -- $9 million, or 8% of total revenue.
• Geographic revenue mix -- North America contributed 77%; Europe was 23%, its highest share since IPO.
• Non-GAAP operating expenses -- $58 million, essentially flat versus the prior quarter.
• Non-GAAP adjusted EBITDA loss -- $18 million compared with $19 million in the previous quarter and $17 million in the same quarter last year.
• Cash and liquidity -- $142 million in cash after a $40 million debt payment; operational cash usage for the full year totaled $43 million, down from $133 million the prior year.
• Inventory -- $215 million, up modestly from the prior quarter, driven primarily by foreign exchange and overhead capitalization, despite a reduction in physical inventory.
• Active user base -- 1,480,000 monthly active users, reflecting 8% year-over-year growth.
• Installed base -- Approximately 385,000 ports managed globally, including over 41,000 DC fast chargers and 130,000 in Europe.
• Software-only managed ports -- Nearly 130,000, about 30% of all ports managed worldwide.
• Utilization KPI -- Over 100,000 AC ports achieved more than 30% utilization at least one day in January.
• Customer satisfaction -- CSAT scores are at 8.5+ out of 10 for all surveyed groups.
• First-time-right deployments -- Exceeded 95%, attributed to enhanced training and certification programs.
• Station reliability -- Downtime reduced by more than half over the past year, now below 1% as monitored by the Network Operation Center (NOC).
• Fiscal 2026 results (period ending Jan. 31, 2026) -- Annual revenue was $411 million; non-GAAP gross margin 32%; non-GAAP operating expenses $231 million.
• Fiscal Q1 2027 guidance (period ending Apr. 30, 2026) -- Projected revenue between $90 million and $100 million, reflecting typical Q1 seasonality.
• Subscription margin -- Reached a GAAP record of 64%, even higher on a non-GAAP basis, due to scale and support efficiencies.
• Strategic partnerships -- New multi-year agreement with Rod Charging valued at $7.5 million USD; extended projects with Georgia Power; collaborative expansion with Ford Pro for UK and Germany commercial fleets.
• Leadership addition -- Jassar Farooq named Chief Product and Software Officer to strengthen innovation and execution.
• AI implementation -- Management described "measurable impact" from AI tools in reducing costs, increasing productivity, and accelerating product development.
• Product pipeline -- Flex single-port AC product ramping with higher margin profile; next-gen DC hardware with improved cost structure launches in second half of the year.
• New metrics introduced -- Software-only managed ports, monthly active users, and port utilization over 30% cited as KPIs for tracking business health and strategy execution.

RISKS

• Mansi Khetani said, "Q1 tends to use more cash. So typically, Q1, we see the highest usage of cash as compared to the rest of the year because we have a lot of software expenses that we have to pay upfront," highlighting a near-term cash outflow risk.
• Revenue guidance for fiscal Q1 2027 implies a potential year-over-year decline at the midpoint, reflecting both seasonality and management's "prudent approach given the current macro environment."

SUMMARY

ChargePoint (NYSE:CHPT) reported fiscal fourth quarter results delivering top-line and gross margin performance at the high end of company guidance while emphasizing reductions in operational cash usage and steady cost control. New KPIs underscore management's focus on expanding recurring software revenue, user engagement, and infrastructure utilization as drivers of long-term value. International operations contributed a record revenue share, driven by robust growth and new product launches in Europe. Recent strategic collaborations with partners such as Rod Charging, Ford Pro, and Eaton are highlighted as critical in extending market reach across segments and geographies.

• The introduction of advanced AI and automation is credited for increases in both operational efficiency and pace of product innovation, producing cost containment and resource allocation benefits.
• A significant inventory balance remains, impacted by foreign exchange and tariff capitalization, with management indicating plans for reduction as legacy commitments are fulfilled.
• Leadership additions, such as the appointment of Jassar Farooq, aim to accelerate innovation and ensure agile responses in a shifting EV market landscape.
• Competitive dynamics include market exits by some peers and increased M&A activity, which management characterizes as favorable for ChargePoint's market share.

INDUSTRY GLOSSARY

• DC fast charger: A charging station capable of rapidly supplying direct current electricity to electric vehicle batteries, significantly reducing charging time compared to alternating current (AC) chargers.
• Network Operation Center (NOC): The operations hub that remotely monitors charging station status, usage, and reliability metrics in real time for diagnostic and support purposes.
• CSAT: Customer Satisfaction score, a survey-based metric quantifying client and end-user satisfaction on a scale up to 10.
• Flex product line: ChargePoint's next-generation single-port AC hardware platform for residential and fleet charging, positioned for improved margins and broader market application.
• Software-only managed port: Non-ChargePoint hardware unit operated through the company's software platform, supporting a recurring revenue business model.

Full Conference Call Transcript

With me on today's call are Rick Wilmer, our Chief Executive Officer, and Mansi Khetani, our Chief Financial Officer. This afternoon, we issued our press release announcing results for the quarter ended 01/31/2026, which can be found on our website. We would like to remind you that during the conference call, management will be making forward-looking statements, including our outlook for 2027. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond our control, and could cause actual results to differ materially from our expectations. These forward-looking statements apply as of today, and we undertake no obligation to update these statements after the call.

For a more detailed description of certain factors that could cause actual results to differ, please refer to our Form 10-Q filed with the SEC on 12/05/2025, and our earnings release posted today on our website and filed with the SEC on Form 8-K. Also, please note that we use certain non-GAAP financial measures on this call, which we reconcile to GAAP in our earnings release and for certain historical periods in the investor presentation posted on the investor section of our website. And finally, we will be posting a transcript of this call to our investor relations website under the quarterly results section. Thank you. I will now turn the call over to our CEO, Rick Wilmer.

Rick Wilmer: Good afternoon, and thank you for joining us. Today, we will provide a comprehensive review of our quarterly performance, share our perspective on current market conditions, discuss the progress we have made toward our three-year strategic plan, and how innovation and execution supported by our partnership with Eaton and key leadership additions position us to build confidently for the future. We delivered a strong finish to fiscal 2026. Revenue for Q4 came in at the high end of our guidance range at $109,000,000, marking another quarter of year-over-year growth and execution above expectations. Our non-GAAP gross margin remained at a record high of 33%. We maintain strict cash discipline, cash utilization from operations was minimal, and much better than planned.

These results are a clear validation of our relentless commitment to operational excellence, and there is still opportunity for further improvement. This performance reinforces our return-to-growth trend, which we expect to accelerate later this year and into next year as our new products ramp into volume. This growth results from investments in product innovation, partnerships, rising market interest, greater utilization, and market consolidation, which have boosted our market share of public ports in North America. Europe experienced robust double-digit growth driven by regulations and new incentives. We expect this trend in Europe to continue, further accelerated by our new products.

Operational excellence remains a core pillar of our three-year plan, and progress here is tangible. We continue to see benefits from tighter cost controls and improved supply chain execution. Station reliability, the quality of deployments, and customer satisfaction all continue to improve. Stations that are down as monitored by our Network Operation Center, or NOC, have been reduced by over half in the last year and are now below 1%. Over 80% of owner support cases are proactively created by our NOC or driver reports as opposed to a customer having to call us to report a problem. Other initiatives like picture-to-resolution, cut-resistant cables, and our Safeguard Care service are all contributing to high reliability.

First-time-right deployments have improved to above 95%, driven by our training and certification program. Customer satisfaction, as measured by results from our CSAT survey responses for driver, owner, and home support, is now at 8.5 or higher on a 10 scale. All of these improvements are driving customer loyalty, which in turn drives expansion business.

Our continued deployment of AI is yielding tangible benefits, which we expect to increase substantially as we move through this year as the tools and capabilities continue to advance rapidly. With our headquarters in Silicon Valley, we are at the epicenter of AI innovation, and we view this as a competitive advantage. We are striving to be at the forefront of AI adoption, and the benefits we are anticipating are not just incremental improvements, but truly disruptive. We expect to deliver AI-driven innovation in our products and services to make them more differentiated, valuable, and useful. AI for code generation and testing will allow us to deliver innovation faster and more cost effectively.

We believe AI will also drive overall operational efficiency where every job in the company that is done on a screen will be performed more effectively. All of this is evidence that our model works. It gives us speed, flexibility, resilience, and the ability to invest where we see the greatest long-term returns.

Turning to the broader EV market, while headlines often focus on short-term volatility, the underlying fundamentals remain compelling. Multiple independent sources point to sustained global EV adoption, particularly strong growth in Europe, and continued long-term confidence from automakers and consumers alike. Global EV sales grew meaningfully year over year in 2025, with Europe posting strong double-digit growth supported by regulatory tailwinds and renewed consumer incentives. Even in North America, where growth moderated, interest in EVs remains resilient, and satisfaction among EV owners continues to be exceptionally high. OEMs still view EVs as the long-term destination, but the path is proving longer and less linear, with hybrids and plug-in hybrids serving as bridges.

The next leg of adoption depends less on mandates and more on economics and customer experience. A wave of sub-$35,000 EVs arriving in 2026 is designed to hit the true mass market where price parity matters most.

Despite the headlines about the NAV slowdown, U.S. fast charging tells a different story. Infrastructure expanded rapidly in 2025. Usage grew in lockstep. Utilization remains stable, and reliability improved. Approximately 18,000 new public DC fast charging ports were added, largely driven by private investment rather than government stimulus. This indicates the charging ecosystem is maturing, not overbuilding speculatively. As vehicle affordability improves and adoption reaccelerates, the charging foundation is being put in place to support it. This market environment favors companies that can execute, scale efficiently, and deliver a seamless experience across hardware, software, and services. This is where ChargePoint Holdings, Inc. is uniquely positioned, as evidenced by some notable customer wins.

We have partnered with Ford Pro so that Ford's commercial fleet customers in the UK and Germany now have integrated access to ChargePoint Holdings, Inc. solutions across home, fleet, and workplace EV charging, providing these businesses with the most innovative and reliable charging solutions. Not only can Ford Pro customers benefit from our hardware and software, they also have access to ChargePoint Holdings, Inc.'s expertise for charger installation, site planning, and related services. We also consummated the next phase of our strategic partnership with Rod Charging, one of the UK's leading charge point operators. The new multiyear agreement comes with an initial commitment valued at $7.5 million USD.

This collaboration strengthens Ra Charging's Connecting Amazing Places campaign, which is focused on normalizing EV charging destinations rather than solely en route. Also, we extended our work with Georgia Power to new locations, including the prominent Grady Health System in Atlanta.

Innovation remains the engine of our strategy. In the coming months, we will release a major update to our mobile app. This new experience is designed to do more than just help drivers find charge. It equips them with the ability to choose an experience while they charge. By guiding drivers towards available, reliable, amenity-rich, and well-priced charging locations, we believe this capability will drive increased utilization, improve economics for station owners, and strengthen the value of our network. We believe we are in a position to influence where drivers choose to charge, which is a powerful example of how software and data can benefit both drivers and site hosts.

With the largest community of drivers in North America on our platform, we have the scale to drive incremental value for ChargePoint Holdings, Inc.

When we look ahead, our confidence is rooted in four elements coming together: execution, market opportunity, innovation delivery, and partnerships. Our partnership with Eaton continues to expand our reach and accelerate adoption of next-generation AC and DC solutions. Combined with our improving execution in a market that increasingly demands reliable, scalable charging, we believe we are building a durable platform for long-term growth. In this context, I also want to highlight the importance of Jassar Farooq joining our leadership team as our Chief Product and Software Officer. Josser brings a wealth of experience in electrified transportation, energy, and the scaling of global operations.

Josser's leadership enhances ChargePoint Holdings, Inc.'s ability to develop an innovative product roadmap that encompasses both software and hardware, but is also agile in response to the rapidly evolving environment, especially as artificial intelligence creates opportunities in our industry. His approach is anchored in what we believe is the inevitable transition to electrified transportation, ensuring ChargePoint Holdings, Inc. remains at the forefront of innovation while maintaining operational excellence.

This quarter, we are introducing new key performance indicators. We are sharing these metrics to strengthen the alignment between our strategy and the market's understanding of our performance. Let me briefly explain why each matters. Software-only managed ports are non-ChargePoint Holdings, Inc. hardware ports managed by our software and reflect our software-first strategy. Managing non-ChargePoint Holdings, Inc. hardware expands our addressable market and supports a business model centered on recurring software revenue and sticky long-term customer relationships. Globally, we have nearly 130,000 software-only managed ports, representing approximately 30% of all ports under management. Share of ports exceeding 30% utilization at least one day in a month, we believe is an important leading indicator for expansion demand.

Utilization above roughly 30% is typically when site hosts begin evaluating the addition of chargers to maintain a good driver experience. More than 100,000 AC ports recorded time utilization above 30% at least one day in January 2026, indicating over seven hours of continuous use per day across workplace, retail, and other locations. Monthly active users, defined as drivers utilizing a ChargePoint Holdings, Inc. account, is the equivalent of our user community. Monthly active users is a core measure of the network effect. Growing driver engagement increases utilization and delivers greater value to site hosts and customers, reinforcing why our software and network are central to their long-term charging strategy.

At the end of FY 2026, we had 1,480,000 active users, representing 8% year-over-year growth.

In terms of KPIs we have historically reported, ChargePoint Holdings, Inc. now manages approximately 385,000 ports, including more than 41,000 DC fast chargers and more than 130,000 ports located in Europe. Globally, ChargePoint Holdings, Inc. drivers have access to over 1,370,000 public and private charging ports. Together, these KPIs are intended to provide more insight into how our business is performing, our differentiation, and how long-term durable value is being created across our ecosystem.

To close, fiscal year 2026 marked an inflection point for ChargePoint Holdings, Inc. We returned to quarterly growth, managed our cash with discipline, strengthened our operational foundation, and continued to deliver innovation that matters. Disciplined execution and a constructive market outlook, accelerating innovation, and strong partnerships, we believe ChargePoint Holdings, Inc. is well positioned to build for future opportunities. Thank you to our employees, partners, and shareholders for your continued support. I will now turn the call over to our CFO, Mansi Khetani.

Mansi Khetani: Thanks, Rick. As a reminder, please see our earnings press release where we reconcile our non-GAAP results to GAAP. Our principal exclusions are stock-based compensation, amortization of intangible assets, and certain costs related to restructuring, settlements, and nonrecurring legal expenses. Revenue for the fourth quarter was $109,000,000, coming in at the high end of our guidance range, up 3% sequentially and up 7% year on year. Networked charging systems at $58,000,000 accounted for 53% of fourth quarter revenue, up 2% sequentially and up 10% year on year. Subscription revenue at $42,000,000 was 39% of total revenue, up 1% sequentially and up 11% year on year as our total installed base continues to grow.

Other revenue at $9,000,000 was 8% of total revenue. Turning to verticals, which we report from a billings perspective, fourth quarter billings percentages were commercial 78%, residential 6%, fleet 9%, and other 7%. In terms of geography, North America made up 77% of revenue, and Europe was 23%. Europe was particularly strong this quarter, delivering its highest share of revenue since we became a public company.

Non-GAAP gross margin continued to remain at a record high of 33%, flat sequentially and up three percentage points year on year. Hardware gross margin was flat sequentially. Subscription margin continued its upward trajectory, reaching a new GAAP record of 64% and coming in even higher on a non-GAAP basis, supported by economies of scale and sustained efficiencies in support-related costs. Non-GAAP operating expenses were $58,000,000, essentially flat to the prior quarter. We remain committed to prudent expense management, maintaining a disciplined approach that balances current constraints and selective investments in R&D intended to support announced product launches that we believe will position us for long-term growth and margin expansion. Non-GAAP adjusted EBITDA loss was $18,000,000.

This compares with a loss of $19,000,000 in the prior quarter and a loss of $17,000,000 in the fourth quarter of last year. Stock-based compensation was $13,000,000, down from $15,000,000 both in the prior quarter and in the fourth quarter of last year.

Our inventory balance was $215,000,000, a slight increase from the prior quarter. Although physical inventory levels were modestly lower versus the prior quarter, the overall balance ticked up slightly primarily due to foreign exchange fluctuations and overhead capitalization. Turning to cash. This quarter, we made a $40,000,000 payment related to the debt transaction we announced in November. After that payment, we ended the quarter with $142,000,000 in cash. Excluding that payment, full-year fiscal 2026 net cash usage was just $43,000,000, a significant improvement from the $133,000,000 used in the prior fiscal year. We have made substantial progress in reducing cash usage from normal operations over the past year, and this will remain an important area of focus going forward.

The debt exchange announced in November is now in our financials. Because the transaction included a significant discount, the accounting treatment requires us to record future interest payments as short-term and long-term liabilities on the balance sheet. As we pay down the capitalized interest, the corresponding debt balance will come down and there will be no related interest expense flowing through the P&L.

With respect to full fiscal year 2026 results, revenue was $411,000,000, non-GAAP gross margin was 32%, and non-GAAP operating expenses were $231,000,000. From a geographic perspective, North America was 83% of full-year revenue and Europe was 17%. For additional full-year fiscal 2026 results, see the press release issued earlier today.

After a strong fourth quarter, we expect first quarter revenue to be in the range of $90,000,000 to $100,000,000, reflecting the typical seasonality we see in Q1. In summary, this quarter, we continued to deliver both sequential and year-over-year revenue growth, achieved yet another record quarter for subscription gross margin, and continued to make steady progress towards profitability. We also delivered against our annual objectives around disciplined cash management, reducing operating expenses, and significantly lowering cash usage throughout the year. Looking ahead, we will continue to remain focused on disciplined execution and operating expense management, and we are committed to building on the progress we have made in the quarters ahead.

Operator: We will now open for questions. Thank you. We will now begin the question and answer session. If you have dialed in and would like to ask a question, please press. We ask that you please limit yourself to one question and one follow-up to allow everyone an opportunity to ask a question. We will go first to Colin Rusch at Oppenheimer.

Colin Rusch: Thanks so much, guys. You know, you talked about the eVTOL opportunity in the past, and so I would be curious just on the update there as people are making progress. But certainly, as we look across some of the emerging form factors around the robotic space and physical AI, I am just curious about how much opportunity there is now and kind of initial interest for what you guys have both from just a pure charging perspective as well as the software platform that optimizes a lot of that network.

Rick Wilmer: Yeah. Colin, if it was eDetails, I think that is what you mentioned. We have not focused much on that space yet. But with respect to physical automation, I think the bigger near term that we are very focused on is autonomous vehicles. We are now investing quite a bit of time in understanding, you know, what, if any, unique charging requirements are required by that market such that we can leverage the success we have had already and expand that and become the default, you know, charging solution of choice for autonomous vehicle fleets.

Colin Rusch: Excellent. And then from a cost perspective, you guys are making steady progress. I am curious about opportunities for continuing to drive those costs out from a hardware perspective or even start driving a little bit of price increase, and pushing that through to help support margins. I am not sure how realistic that is, but just want to get a sense of how you are expecting to play out here over the balance of the year, knowing that you are only guiding for a quarter?

Rick Wilmer: Yeah. Thus far, we have not pushed any price increases into the market, and I do not think we anticipate doing so. The opportunity for gross margin improvement on hardware and therefore cost reductions, assuming we do not increase prices, is really hinged on a lot of the new hardware platforms we will be introducing in the market as we move through the year. We announced our Flex product line last year, which is our single-port AC product for both home and fleet, and that product is ramping now. It has got a better margin profile than our historical single-port AC products.

And then we have got our next-gen DC product, which has substantially better margin profile than our current DC architecture, and that will be ramping into production in the second half of this year, and we are very optimistic about the prospects for that product. The market interest right now is very high in that product because not only is it more cost effective than our current DC solutions, it has also got some innovation in it that really reduces overall cost for a customer beyond just the initial capital expenditure related to both OpEx and construction and build-out costs.

Colin Rusch: Excellent. And just a follow-up one that I want to sneak in here is around inventory reduction. You guys have obviously gone through the product transition, but just curious about when you can start working that inventory balance down a little bit more aggressively.

Mansi Khetani: Yeah. I can take that one, Colin. Mix of products sold during the quarter impacts inventory. In general, like I mentioned, even in Q4, while we did see a little bit of a decline in physical inventory, the dollar value that you see on the books went up a little bit because of the impact of foreign exchange on our inventory that is stored in Europe, and there was some impact of cost capitalization which included some tariffs as well, which resulted in a net increase of inventory in the books. As you know, we are managing inventory very carefully.

And as we get to the tail end of our prior commitments to our contract manufacturers, we should start seeing a gradual reduction throughout this year.

Colin Rusch: Okay. Excellent. Thanks so much, guys.

Operator: We will move next to Mark Delaney at Goldman Sachs.

Mark Delaney: Yes. Good afternoon. Thank you very much for taking my questions. The company had a press release out in mid-February highlighting a 34% growth in charging sessions and also that it was putting upward pressure on utilization. You saw more on that today, highlighting a growing number of users and also the increase in utilization rates. At the same time, guidance for the first quarter implies revenue will be down a little bit year on year at the midpoint. So can you help us reconcile some of the progress you are seeing in terms of the user count and utilization rates with the outlook for revenue to be slightly lower year on year at the midpoint in 1Q?

Mansi Khetani: Yes. So the utilization rates are growing as we have mentioned before, and that definitely leads to, you know, sales cycle kind of kicking off. In terms of the guidance specifically, after coming off of a strong Q4, we are guiding to Q1 based on typical seasonality, where we have historically seen about a 5% to 15%-ish reduction in Q1 revenue versus Q4 because of the seasonal and winter months, etcetera. And this is what we reflected in our Q1 guidance. Besides that, we are taking a prudent approach given the current macro environment. However, you notice that our range does encompass a growth scenario year over year.

Mark Delaney: Understood. Thanks. And my other question was around NEVI. There has been some talk of a change in how much domestic content might be needed to qualify. I think last quarter, the company spoke about more states getting ready to move forward with those, but I am hoping you can update us on what you are seeing given what could be some changes in the requirement for domestic content and if that is having any effect on your business and outlook for that piece of the market. Thanks.

Rick Wilmer: Yeah. So our understanding right now is that funds are not going to be affected by any rule changes around domestic content. We have got a strong pipeline of obligated funds that we will continue to fulfill this year and maybe even the next year. And then on the nonobligated funds, which may be impacted by any changes, we are going to have to wait for those rules to get finalized before we can assess what, if any, impact it will have on us.

Operator: We will take our next question from Chris Pierce at Needham and Company.

Chris Pierce: Just two, I think both for Mansi. If we look at, you know, the revenue guidance, the growth you guys have shown, kind of think about the rest of the year, and you have kind of given us the playbook for gross margins. I am just curious, is there any chance for further OpEx leverage or OpEx reductions? Or are we sort of in the late innings around there? I am just thinking about the pieces to get to, you know, sort of flat adjusted EBITDA.

Mansi Khetani: Yeah. You know, OpEx has been relatively flat for the last couple of quarters on a non-GAAP basis. We expect that this non-GAAP OpEx would remain in that current range in the near term. However, we should see a reduction over the year as we get through, you know, our engineering efforts on the new products that we have introduced and our NRE or prototyping costs on the engineering side start coming down.

Rick Wilmer: The other comment I will make there is around AI. We are now seeing measurable impact on keeping OpEx flat or even reducing it in some areas and then reallocating resources to other areas that have a need through AI implementation. We have got a number of examples and proof points in the company now where this is paying off in real dollars.

Chris Pierce: Okay. And then I think I have this right. You had a pretty sizable working capital benefit in the quarter, which helped cash. But if you look at the pieces of it, you know, there was a pretty sizable jump up in trade payables, and accounts receivable came down modestly that I think makes up the bulk of it. Should those reverse in the first quarter, or is this sort of like, how should we think about those two numbers and the benefit you might see in working capital or the debit in the first quarter?

Mansi Khetani: Yeah. So, you know, AR, we made significant progress in collections. We were pretty aggressive this quarter. We will continue to do that, but you are right. That probably will not be, you know, a big benefit in Q1. AP, same thing, you know, it is timing. So sometimes it is up or down. So it is difficult to pinpoint exactly if there will be a benefit or, you know, it may be a little bit worse. However, typically, Q1 tends to use more cash.

So typically, Q1, we see the highest usage of cash as compared to the rest of the year because we have a lot of software expenses that we have to pay upfront for the rest of the year. So that will impact working capital in Q1. However, through the rest of the year, we should start seeing that coming down. And then as we mentioned before, as inventory comes down, we should see a boost to working capital as well.

Chris Pierce: Alright. Thank you, and good luck.

Operator: Thank you. Next, we will go to Ryan Finks at B. Riley Securities.

Ryan Finks: Hey, guys. Thanks for taking my questions. Can you talk a bit about the competitive landscape as the EV market has evolved here in the U.S.? And what kind of opportunities that might present to you in terms of potential M&A or market share gain?

Rick Wilmer: Yeah. We are not going to comment on any M&A opportunities, but it is very active. I can tell you that. There are plenty of assets that are becoming available. We are getting calls. In terms of competitive landscape, we are capitalizing on some exits from the market by certain parties. So there are real opportunities, again, that we are capitalizing on as a result of people leaving the market. So in general, I would consider it favorable and normal for an industry that is going through a cycle like what we have been through.

Ryan Finks: Got it. Appreciate that. And then understanding you do not guide for the year, but what do you see as the main revenue growth drivers by segment or by product in 2026?

Rick Wilmer: It is going to be our new products. In addition to the strength we see in Europe, I think it looks fairly steady in North America. We had a very strong quarter in Q4 in Europe. We expect that trend to continue and then be further accelerated by the new products that are now built for Europe in addition to North America, unlike some of our prior products, which were continent specific.

Ryan Finks: Appreciate that, Rick. I will turn it back.

Operator: We will go next to Itay McKelley at TD Cowen.

Itay McKelley: Great. Thanks, everybody. Just to follow up on the last couple of questions. I was hoping you could dimension at a high level kind of the various paths the company has to reach, you know, positive EBITDA, whether it is you have the new products, it sounds like there is some gross margin opportunity, maybe opportunities on OpEx. But when you kind of think about those drivers as well as the EV market overall, kind of how are you thinking about the different ways you have and levers to pull to get the company to positive EBITDA?

Rick Wilmer: I think it is a combination of things. It is obviously growth. And as we just mentioned, we are optimistic about Europe, especially as we introduce new products and move through the year, with North America continuing to be steady and perhaps opportunities coming about as, you know, the attrition of competition moves forward. And then on the gross margin side, again, as we mentioned a minute ago, we expect much better gross margin profiles on all the new hardware products that we are introducing into the market, and that should move our overall weighted gross margin up as we move through the year.

And then lastly, we will continue to control OpEx and optimize OpEx, again, with AI now starting to show tangible results for us in terms of our ability to keep our costs constant while growing top line and expanding our product portfolio because of the efficiencies we are seeing through AI implementation in different areas of the company.

Itay McKelley: That is helpful. Then my second question, Rick, actually is on the AI initiatives. I am just kind of curious, which quarter this year do you think that starts to kind of show through? And kind of how do you see the opportunity progressing even over the next couple years for the company?

Rick Wilmer: Yeah. I think for now, what we are seeing, generally speaking, is knowledge work that is done on a screen that tends to be complex but repetitive. We are now using AgenTeq AI to automate that. So there are quite a number of jobs in the company that fit that profile, and in specific areas where we have implemented solutions, we are doing, you know, twice as much work with half as many people. And I think we will continue to expand that capability across the company. It will also show up in the way we write and test code, which should increase our pace of innovation when it comes to releasing new software features.

And then last, we have got some very interesting AI features on the roadmap that will manifest themselves in our product, primarily on our software side, that I think will be really valuable for our customers and the drivers that use our technology.

Itay McKelley: That is very helpful. Thank you.

Operator: And as a reminder, if you would like to ask a question. We will go next to Craig Irwin at Roth Capital Partners.

Craig Irwin: Good evening. Thanks again for taking my questions. So, Rick, over the last many years, technology companies and their charging points outside of their offices have been a great opportunity for ChargePoint Holdings, Inc. You know, some of us have been, you know, moderately optimistic with the building wave of sort of back to the office. You know, I know the footprints of how these companies are staffing are changing a little bit. Maybe that is actually an incremental opportunity. Can you talk about, you know, your legacy technology customers that were so very important many years ago? Are they coming back in any material way right now, and is this something that you see maybe building in momentum?

Rick Wilmer: I think what we are seeing generally is steady expansion of their networks. We mentioned that new KPI in the prepared remarks around stations that exceed 30% utilization one day in a month, and that we had over 100,000 AC ports that met that criteria. And when you reach that threshold, you will find drivers pull into a parking lot and just have a hard time finding an available charger. So in areas where EV is strong, you know, generally speaking in North America, the coasts, you know, we are seeing that metric exceed that 30% number, which drives expansion business.

So that remains an important part of our company's strategy, to continue to grow with our customers as the population of EV drivers that frequent those workplaces continues to grow, which is really driven by the cumulative number of EVs on the road. I think a lot of people get fixated on the new EV sales, but what really drives our business is not only new EV sales, but the cumulative number of EVs that are on the road. So we continue to see, you know, good expansion business with our workplace and commercial customers in general.

Craig Irwin: Okay. Excellent. And then my second question really is about the pathway to positive EBITDA, right? Over the last number of quarters, you have kind of sort of leaned in the direction of, you know, wanting to preserve the capacity in the company and see growth help you deliver this with new products and new partnerships. Can you maybe build us a bridge on how we get there? And, you know, do you have, you know, a set timeline that you are looking for? You know, what should we expect as external observers with the company?

Rick Wilmer: Yeah. We are going to, like I just mentioned when I answered a question a moment ago, you know, it is a function of growth, improving gross margins, and controlling OpEx. And as you have seen historically, we expect to gradually improve in all areas as we move through the first half of this year.

And then I think the acceleration on improvement in all three of those, particularly growth and gross margin, will be stronger in the second half as we introduce these new products and we really take advantage of the favorable macro conditions in Europe with a whole suite of new products that we were not selling into those segments before because we did not have a product offering.

Craig Irwin: Understood. That makes sense. Thanks again for taking my questions.

Operator: And that concludes our question and answer session and today's conference call. Thank you for joining ChargePoint Holdings, Inc.'s call. You may now disconnect.

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