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Plug Power Inc. (PLUG)

Q4 2014 Earnings Call· Tue, Mar 17, 2015

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Transcript

Operator

Operator

Greetings, and welcome to Plug Power's 2014 Fourth Quarter and Year End Results. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. It is now my pleasure to introduce Ms. Teal Vivacqua, Director of Marketing and Communications for Plug Power. Thank you, Ms. Vivacqua. You may begin.

Teal Vivacqua - Director, Marketing Communications

Management

Thank you. Good morning, and welcome to the Plug Power 2014 fourth quarter and year-end financial results conference call. This call will include forward-looking statements, including but not limited to statements regarding our expectations for future business and financial performance, bookings, product shipments, revenue, margin, EBITDA, geographic and market expansion, and inorganic growth. We intend these forward-looking statements to be covered by the Safe Harbor provisions for forward-looking statements contained in Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. We believe that it is important to communicate our future expectations to investors. However, investors are cautioned not to unduly rely on forward-looking statements because they involve risks and uncertainties and actual results may differ materially from those discussed as a result of various factors, including but not limited to the risks and uncertainties discussed under Item 1A Risk Factors in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2013, as well as other reports we file from time to time with the SEC. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the day on which the statements are made, and we do not undertake or intend to update any forward-looking statements after this call. At this point, I'd like to turn the call over to Plug Power's CEO, Andy Marsh.

Andrew J. Marsh - President and Chief Executive Officer

Management

Thank you, Teal, and good morning, everyone. 2014 was a breakout year for Plug Power. We proved the commercial viability of fuel cells in the material handling industry. It was a year filled with highlights. I'm going to go through many of those of highlights now. Revenue increased by almost three times to $64 million with the total value of billable activity reaching $70 million. Bookings exceeded $250 million, an increase of over $100 million compared to 2013 with $45 million in bookings in the fourth quarter. We introduced a new business offering, GenKey, which provided customers one-stop shopping, combining GenDrive fuel cells, GenCare service and GenFuel hydrogen infrastructure and hydrogen. The offering is so attractive that 90% of our customers in 2015 have chosen GenKey for their deployment. We also executed the largest commercial deployment of PEM hydrogen fuel cells with our six-site order from Walmart valued at over $50 million. In 2014, we converted four Walmart sites. They have, in North America, over 100 sites. Walmart continuously is converting to GenKey because it allows their operations to be more efficient. New and old customers continued to deploy Plug Power products. Our repeat customer, Kroger, recently converted their distribution centers in Louisville and Denver and Atlanta is soon to follow. New customers were added to the list like VW, Honda, Golden State Foods and FreezPak. I'd like to take a moment to highlight FreezPak. FreezPak is a frozen goods distribution company in Northern New Jersey. The size is smaller than most of our deployment and the cost of hydrogen infrastructure has generally been a barrier for this size customer. By offering a mini GenKey system, the company was able to construct a viable economical offering for FreezPak. I'm excited about this offering. This 25-unit sites are now viable, opening…

Paul B. Middleton - Chief Financial Officer

Management

Thank you, Andy. And good morning, everyone. I'd like to start off by sharing some financial highlights from the fourth quarter. We ended the quarter with over $21.5 million in revenue, representing 168% growth over the fourth quarter in 2013. This growth stems primarily from our new GenKey solution and the tremendous commercial traction we have gained in the marketplace. The fourth quarter 2014 represents an all-time record for Plug with 957 GenDrive unit shipments and sales with over 8 hydrogen installations. For clarity, however, 238 of these units and 1 of the installations in the fourth quarter 2014 is associated with programs where we generally complete the sale and leaseback to monetize the ongoing commercial relationships. However, for this particular program, due to timing, we were unable to complete the sale and leaseback transaction by year-end and we'll look to complete it in the first quarter 2015. Total gross margin as a percentage of sales was negative 8% as compared to negative 39% in the fourth quarter of 2013. Although we have not crossed the threshold with total gross margins being positive yet, this significant operating improvement is indicative of our continued commercial traction both in terms of volume and cost down initiatives. We recorded an excess of $45 million in orders in the fourth quarter of 2014 and ended the year with over $130 million in backlog. This compares to approximately $35 million in orders in the fourth quarter 2013 and a total backlog of approximately $49 million as of year-end 2013. Our backlog is a combination of units and installations planned for the more near term as well as the service and hydrogen delivery commitments for the next few years. This growth in backlog is indicative of our success in the market and provides a strong base…

Operator

Operator

Thank you. Thank you. Our first question comes from Matt Koranda with ROTH Capital Partners. Please state your question.

Matt B. Koranda - ROTH Capital Partners LLC

Analyst

Good morning, Andy and Paul. Thanks for taking my questions.

Andrew J. Marsh - President and Chief Executive Officer

Management

Good morning, Matt.

Paul B. Middleton - Chief Financial Officer

Management

Good morning.

Matt B. Koranda - ROTH Capital Partners LLC

Analyst

Just wanted to start out with the revenue recognition issue that you guys faced with the sale-leaseback transaction. Could you talk about typically – or in a typical quarter what percent of units you guys ship typically have that sale-leaseback arrangement? Was this something that was new or have you guys done this transaction before?

Paul B. Middleton - Chief Financial Officer

Management

Can I answer?

Andrew J. Marsh - President and Chief Executive Officer

Management

Yeah, go ahead.

Paul B. Middleton - Chief Financial Officer

Management

Well, I mean, you say typical, I would answer with there's three quarters of tremendous commercial success last year and one thing we've drawn is – are those trends that you would draw from as go forward. As we go forward, I can tell you our commercial model is that we won't be doing sale-leasebacks outside of some very specific customer programs. Our standard model is that customers will buy products from us or do their direct sale-leasebacks on their own. But for us, there are at least one program that we still do that for.

Matt B. Koranda - ROTH Capital Partners LLC

Analyst

Okay. So, reasonable to assume that this type of transaction probably will be tapering going forward and we shouldn't really expect too many additional revenue recognition issues going forward?

Paul B. Middleton - Chief Financial Officer

Management

Well, I think it will taper as a percentage of our total sales for sure. But we will have a portion of the sales in 2015 associated with these type of transactions.

Matt B. Koranda - ROTH Capital Partners LLC

Analyst

Okay. Any way to quantify the level that would be associated in 2015?

Andrew J. Marsh - President and Chief Executive Officer

Management

20%, Matt, 25%.

Matt B. Koranda - ROTH Capital Partners LLC

Analyst

Okay. Great. That's helpful, Andy. Thank you.

Andrew J. Marsh - President and Chief Executive Officer

Management

Okay.

Matt B. Koranda - ROTH Capital Partners LLC

Analyst

And then service gross margins it looks like you guys year-over-year did a great job improving those but they dipped sequentially. Can you just talk about what happened during the quarter that drove that sequential dip?

Paul B. Middleton - Chief Financial Officer

Management

Well, I think again, I would tell you specifically in the fourth quarter, it was the highest number of hydrogen installation sites the company has recognized. And last year with the introduction of that product offering, that was something that we've been working through in terms of refining our design, our installation process, all of the resources that we go at it. So I think you see a substantially higher concentration of the sales associated with that, and the maturing and learning of the process that goes along with that. And you also see some mix issues there associated with that compared to previous quarters. I mean, I think it was three or four sites previous to Q4 and we had sales associated with over eight sites in Q4. So comparatively, I think that's not necessarily a great benchmark. But we feel very confident with the trends that we're seeing that we're going to continue to see substantial margin improvement in that process as well as the ongoing service business.

Andrew J. Marsh - President and Chief Executive Officer

Management

I'd say this, Matt, first, I think that – and I think Paul would agree, as we mature the financial organization here at Plug that hydrogen infrastructure really needs to be pulled out of the service number and either reported with product or reported differently because I think that blurs the number today. And the infrastructure, as I talked about, we have a clear path out for margins for the infrastructure ultimately to reach 35%. They continue to improve. They probably were a drag on the service business in the fourth quarter. As we pull that out, see the numbers separately, we're seeing dramatic improvements now with the activity of bringing the units in-house, being able to buy and buy them in scale that margins for infrastructure will be double digits in 2015. But I think that's really kind of been the issue, I think, in general, trying to get more clarity to separate that service line out. Now on the service front, as I mentioned, the two big issues, one actually fixes itself with growth, which has to do with the utilization of the service for it. And the second one, I think, the cooperation we've been receiving from Ballard. My major cost item in the field is failure of high-power stacks, and I think that there is some work going on that, I think, we're going to see the benefits in the second half of the year. But that has been a drag on the service number. And so we're quite confident that the labor utilization issue is going to be solved and I think we know that we have the right support, we have solutions which will allow us to meet our year-end goal for service margins, and I think we're thinking well beyond that how we make changes so that the service business can be over 35% gross margin business in the (32:13). Long explanation but, Matt, I think that's really kind of the basis of it all.

Matt B. Koranda - ROTH Capital Partners LLC

Analyst

Okay. I think that's fair. One quick follow-up to that, is it possible for you guys to maybe just – can you break out what actual core service gross margins were versus the hydrogen infrastructure on the quarter? And if you can, maybe you could just directionally talk about how much lower versus that negative 35.7% gross margin were the infrastructure gross margins? Could you characterize that for us?

Paul B. Middleton - Chief Financial Officer

Management

I guess I'm not prepared to do it at the moment, to be honest, Matt. So, we can come back to you to follow up with that.

Matt B. Koranda - ROTH Capital Partners LLC

Analyst

Okay. All right. No problem. Last one for me here, Walmart, you guys mentioned doing seven to 10 sites potentially this year. It sounds like you guys are breaking ground for about four sites in the first half for the year, but could you talk about the cadence of sites completed with Walmart during the year?

Andrew J. Marsh - President and Chief Executive Officer

Management

Sure. So, Matt, we started in May and we did four sites last year. And this year we'll do three to four sites in the first half of the year. And I think that – look, as you know, it was a six-site deal and it's just adding addendums to put new sites on and also at the end of 2015 I expect that – and this is not counting some work we're doing with Walmart Canada on a separate activity that we'll against that contract do between 11 to 14, 15 new sites. So, really good progress.

Matt B. Koranda - ROTH Capital Partners LLC

Analyst

Okay. Great, guys.

Andrew J. Marsh - President and Chief Executive Officer

Management

And as you know, the only reason Walmart does it is because they save money. And I think when you take a look at the numbers, the GenDrive units are profitable and generating money for us. And this whole activity in the long run not only will allow us to fill this business and drive it at 35% gross margins across the board for GenDrive and GenFuel but also introduce us and engage many other customers. There's not a better salesperson for the company than Walmart is today.

Matt B. Koranda - ROTH Capital Partners LLC

Analyst

Great. Thanks, Andy. Thanks, Paul. I'll jump back in queue here.

Andrew J. Marsh - President and Chief Executive Officer

Management

Okay.

Operator

Operator

Our next question comes from Aditya Satghare with FBR Capital Markets. Please state your question. Aditya A. Satghare - FBR Capital Markets & Co.: Thank you. Good morning, all.

Andrew J. Marsh - President and Chief Executive Officer

Management

Good morning, Aditya. Aditya A. Satghare - FBR Capital Markets & Co.: So, a few quick questions here. So Andy, when you think about some of your largest customers, and you talked about seven to 10 Walmart sites. What are some of the key criterias as the contract expands, right? Is it still sort of individual sites, economics of individual sites, or do we get to a point where we start to see regional-type deployments, right, where there's maybe one full state gets awarded to Plug? And if so, how far are we away from that point?

Andrew J. Marsh - President and Chief Executive Officer

Management

I got to watch how I say this, Aditya, because it is a little sensitive. But I'll say this, I wouldn't think about it about states. I would think about maybe certain regions in the summertime and certain regions in the wintertime, and we may have it backwards this year. But I think that the discussions are more in circles than in a specific state because Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana, you can kind of almost put a circle around. Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, you can almost put a circle around. Aditya A. Satghare - FBR Capital Markets & Co.: Got it. Understood. Understood. Second question on the hydrogen infrastructure, could you elaborate? When you said that you plan to build the skid in-house, could you sort of help me understand as to maybe the process in place today versus what is changing the most and...

Andrew J. Marsh - President and Chief Executive Officer

Management

First, you're welcome to come up to see it. It's happening now. So I think that part of thinking through – a good deal of that work at the moment construction, Aditya, happens in the field, and comes from multiple suppliers and managing the logistics and qualities from multiple suppliers in the field. Some are at other manufacturers who have built semi-portions of the unit for us. The approach we've taken is that we have a standard skid in which essentially 80% of the critical components can be brought in-house here, tested here, things like liquid pumps, the gas compressors, items like that which can be built on one skid, in-house tested, verified, reduces labor cost in the field, reduces logistic cost of chasing. So it's essentially a 10x20 foot skid, which most of the items are mounted on, constructed and shipped out to the field from here. So, again, it kind of gives you a cadence in manufacturing. It helps reduce the load here, reduces the number of people you need in the field and, just as important, the troubleshooting for it is done in-house where they're outside in minus 10-degree weather. So when you think about that, all you have to do at the site is hang the fueling stations which are inside, which we built here in-house at Plug Power. You have to put the piping and do the piping from the fueling station to our skid, so that's outside work with our people, and then make a final connection to a liquid pump. So it makes the on-site work relatively small. And if you just think about it, you have much greater repeatability in your (39:19) processes if you know you're building every one exactly the same, under the same quality system with the same people overlooking the activity. It also allows you to manage inventory much better. So, there's lots of benefits for us bringing this in-house. Aditya A. Satghare - FBR Capital Markets & Co.: Understood. And last question from my side. When you talked about the high-power stacks from ReliOn, right, does it potentially change the mix of the systems you are shipping or is it another way where you can improve the reliability of the systems as you launch the stack?

Andrew J. Marsh - President and Chief Executive Officer

Management

When we launch a stack, I mean our goal, Aditya, is to have stacks which operate for five years or six years without having been replaced. So, that's a goal that we're focused on for our in-house stack development as well as make clear to Ballard that that's the goal we need to achieve for units we purchase from them. Aditya A. Satghare - FBR Capital Markets & Co.: Understood. Thank you. And thanks for all the updates today.

Andrew J. Marsh - President and Chief Executive Officer

Management

Okay. It's all right.

Operator

Operator

Our next question comes from Moses Sutton with Cowen and Co. Please state your question. Moses Sutton - Cowen & Co. LLC: Hi. This is Moses Sutton on for Jeff Osborne. Thanks for taking our question. Can you provide more color on the timeframe for the internal stack development? Is R&D spending expected to persist at a higher level due to this effort?

Andrew J. Marsh - President and Chief Executive Officer

Management

Moses, I think first I think Paul mentioned that I think the words you used, we see essentially our OpEx expense remain relatively flat during the coming year; that we have geared up for the activity. When it comes to stacks, we have Plug Power low power stacks working in the field today. And we expect to continue to ramp more of those units into our products. In the end of third quarter, our high-power stack will be ready for production and we will be producing units in the fourth quarter with the Plug Power stack. Moses Sutton - Cowen & Co. LLC: Great. That's very helpful. And how much of this quarter's revenue approximately came from ReliOn? And maybe you could provide some guidance on ReliOn revenue in 2015, especially related to the $20 million contract.

Andrew J. Marsh - President and Chief Executive Officer

Management

ReliOn revenue was in the $4 million to $5 million range. And in the coming year we expect ReliOn revenue to be $6 million to $7 million. Moses Sutton - Cowen & Co. LLC: Great. That's very helpful. Thank you.

Andrew J. Marsh - President and Chief Executive Officer

Management

Okay.

Operator

Operator

Ladies and gentlemen, there are no further questions at this time. I'll turn the conference back to Andrew Marsh for closing remarks. Thank you.

Andrew J. Marsh - President and Chief Executive Officer

Management

Thank you. And outlining 2015, Plug Power will continue to showcase ourselves at powerhouse and hydrogen fuel cell space. There are several exciting marketing initiatives in March that we're happy to announce. In the coming weeks, new Plug Power website will be launched, an update that fully integrates our hydrogen, material handling and stationary businesses at one site. In April, we'll be hosting a media event alongside the Department of Energy to showcase our ground support fuel cell units at the Memphis Airport. We intend this event to attract VIP guests from state and federal legislations. And finally, in March here Plug Power will be exhibiting at Chicago at ProMat, the largest material handling show in North America. Our sales and marketing team will be on site promoting GenKey to over 30,000 attendees at booth number 672. If you're at the show and I'll be there, we invite you to stop by personally to see a simulated hydrogen fueling from a GenFuel system, GenFuel dispenser into a GenDrive fuel cell. I appreciate everyone taking time this morning and really look forward to everything 2015 has in store. Have a nice day. Thank you.

Operator

Operator

Thank you. This concludes today's conference. All parties may disconnect. Have a good day.