Luminar Technologies Inc. (Nasdaq: LAZR) CEO Austin Russell is very pleased with his company's first-quarter 2023 performance, despite suffering a net loss in that time period.
“Luminar is firing on all cylinders and successfully proving our ability to execute, industrialize and capitalize on our business," he said in a prepared statement. "Over the past quarter, leading automakers have continued to expand our technology across their vehicle lineups, betting the future of their ADAS [advanced driver-assistance systems] and autonomous roadmaps in partnership with Luminar.
"The first production run of the Luminar-equipped Volvo EX90 has now sold out faster than even Volvo’s ambitious expectations. This demonstrates the sheer demand for the most advanced and safest technologies on the road, with growing excitement about Luminar not just from automakers but also consumers directly.”
Last month, Volvo Cars unveiled the new Luminar-equipped 4-seater EX90 Excellence. According to Russell, the relationship with Mercedes-Benz also is going strong.
"After a few years of close collaboration between our companies, Mercedes-Benz announced in Q1 plans to introduce our new Iris+ sensor and associated software across a broad range of their next generation production vehicle lines by mid-decade," he said.
Meanwhile, the Orlando-based autonomous vehicle technology company had a net loss of $146.7 million, or 40 cents per share, in first-quarter 2023 ending March 31, compared with an $88 million net loss, or 25 cents per share, for the same period last year.
The company hit $14.5 million in revenue for the quarter, up 112% year over year and up 30% from the prior quarter, exceeding expectations, according to Luminar.
While the company has held agreements with automakers for years, Luminar-equipped vehicles just now are hitting the market and it still is in pursuit of profitability.
The company expects to end the year with a balance of greater than $300 million, which is more than required to execute on its current plan for profitability. According to a news release, Luminar expects to demonstrate solid progress toward its profitability goals, with no changes to its earnings outlook.
On the investor call, Luminar CFO Tom Fennimore also said, “For the second quarter, we expect revenue to be in the range of $15 million to $17 million."
More than 400 Luminar team members work out of the firm's Research Park headquarters in Orlando. A manufacturing facility in Monterrey, Mexico, was brought on-line in partnership with Celestia. Iris sensors already are being shipped from the facility to Volvo, and Luminar expects to ramp up to planned production levels by the end of the year.
Meanwhile, a few days after the earnings report, Russell announced he is buying a majority stake in Forbes Global Media Holdings.
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