Qualstar Corporation Reports Third Quarter 2024 Results

Unlock stock picks and a broker-level newsfeed that powers Wall Street. Upgrade Now

PR Newswire

Thu, Nov 7, 2024, 7:00 AM 6 min read

Consolidated Financial Results (Unaudited)

(Amounts in thousands except per share data and percentages)

	Three Months Ended September 30,										Nine Months Ended September 30,
	2024			2023				$ ∆	% ∆			2024			2023			$ ∆	% ∆

Revenues	$	1,358		$	3,142		$	(1,784)	(56.8)	%	$	6,011		$	7,212		$	(1,201)	(16.7)	%
Gross profit	$	552		$	981		$	(429)	(43.7)	%	$	1,775		$	2,067		$	(292)	(14.1)	%
Gross margin		40.6	%		31.2	%						29.5	%		28.7	%

Income (loss) from operations	$	(44)		$	158						$	(532)		$	(170)

Net income (loss)	$	(34)		$	161						$	(461)		$	(129)

Earnings (loss) per share	$	(0.02)		$	0.10						$	(0.32)		$	(0.08)

Adjusted EBITDA	$	(52)		$	200						$	(159)		$	(23)

Key Highlights:

Revenue decreased 57% for the three months ended September 30, 2024, compared to the three months ended September 30, 2023, and decreased 17% for the nine months ended September 30, 2024, compared to the nine months ended September 30, 2023. The declines in revenues were primarily due to lower shipments of our power supplies products in the 2024 periods compared to the 2023 periods, and to a lesser extent due to lower shipments of our data storage products this year compared to last year. We expect a significant revenue reduction in our power supplies business for the foreseeable future due to the loss of a large customer.
Gross margin percentage improved to 41% for the three months ended September 30, 2024, compared to 31% for the three months ended September 30, 2023, and improved to 30% for the nine months ended September 30, 2024, compared to 29% for the nine months ended September 30, 2023. The gross margin percentage improvements were due to efficiencies resulting from lower production-related labor costs on personnel reductions, and favorable changes in our product mix.
Net losses for the three- and nine-month periods ended September 30, 2024, were impacted by revenue levels and also by certain non-routine expenses and non-cash charges. We use an Adjusted EBITDA financial measure to understand and evaluate our core operating performance. Adjusted EBITDA for the three months ended September 30, 2024 was negative $52,000, compared to positive $200,000 for the three months ended September 30, 2023. Adjusted EBITDA for the nine months ended September 30, 2024 was negative $159,000, compared to negative $23,000 for the nine months ended September 30, 2023.
We continue to pursue acquisitions and partnerships with companies in the data management software and hardware systems spaces.
We ended the quarter with $2.2 million in cash and cash equivalents.

Qualstar makes available its annual financial statements, quarterly financial statements, and other significant reports and amendments to such reports, free of charge, on its website as soon as reasonably practicable after such reports are prepared. Please visit www.qualstar.com to view the Company's financial results in more detail.

About Qualstar Corporation

Qualstar Corporation, founded in 1984, manufactures and markets data storage system products and compact, high efficiency power solutions.

Our data storage systems are marketed under the Qualstar^™ brand and include highly scalable automated magnetic tape libraries used to store, retrieve and manage electronic data primarily in the network computing environment. Our products, sold through resellers, system integrators and OEMs, range from entry-level to enterprise and are a cost-effective solution for organizations requiring backup, recovery and archival storage of critical electronic information.

The Company's power solutions, marketed under the N2Power^™ brand, include standard, semi-custom and custom versions and provide OEM designers with increased functionality while reducing thermal loads and cooling requirements and lowering operating costs. These products are sold to OEMs in a wide range of markets, including telecom/networking equipment, audio/visual, industrial, gaming and medical.

More information is available at www.qualstar.com and www.n2power.com or by phone at 805-583-7744.

Non-GAAP Financial Measure

To supplement our condensed consolidated financial statements, which are prepared and presented in accordance with United States generally accepted accounting principles ("GAAP"), we use the following non-GAAP financial measure: Adjusted EBITDA. The presentation of this financial information is not intended to be considered in isolation or as a substitute for, or superior to, the financial information prepared and presented in accordance with GAAP.

We define Adjusted EBITDA for a particular period as net income (loss) before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, and as further adjusted for non-routine expenses that may not be indicative of our core business operating results such as severance compensation, provisions (recoveries) for inventory net realizable value, gains/losses on marketable securities, gains/losses on foreign currency transactions, and non-cash expenses such as stock-based compensation expense.

We use this non-GAAP financial measure for financial and operational decision-making and as a means to evaluate period-to-period comparisons. We believe that this non-GAAP financial measure provides meaningful supplemental information regarding our performance by excluding certain items that may not be indicative of our core business operating results. We believe that both management and investors benefit from referring to this non-GAAP financial measure in assessing our performance and when planning, forecasting, and analyzing future periods. This non-GAAP financial measure also facilitates management's internal comparisons to our historical performance and liquidity as well as comparisons to our competitors' operating results. We believe this non-GAAP financial measure is useful to investors both because (1) is allows for greater transparency with respect to key metrics used by management in its financial and operational decision-making and (2) it is used by our investors to help them analyze the health of our business.

There are a number of limitations related to the use of non-GAAP financial measures. We compensate for these limitations by providing specific information regarding the GAAP amounts excluded from these non-GAAP financial measures and evaluating these non-GAAP financial measures together with their relevant financial measures in accordance with GAAP.

The following table reconciles Net Income (Loss) to Adjusted EBITDA for the three- and nine-month periods ended September 30, 2024 and 2023:


	Three Months Ended September 30,				Nine Month Ended September 30,
	2024		2023		2024		2023
	(in thousands)
Net income (loss)	$	(34)	$	161	$	(461)	$	(129)
Adjustments to arrive at earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA):
Interest income		(25)		(20)		(60)		(24)
Depreciation and amortization expense		5		9		24		28
EBITDA		(54)		150		(497)		(125)
Adjustments to arrive at Adjusted EBITDA:
Severance compensation		—		—		57		9
Provisions (recoveries) for inventory net realizable value		(65)		33		163		110
(Gains) losses on marketable securities, net		33		(14)		(7)		(40)
(Gains) losses on foreign currency transactions, net		(18)		31		(4)		23
Stock-based compensation expense		52		—		129		—
Adjusted EBITDA	$	(52)	$	200	$	(159)	$	(23)