Willdan Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:WLDN) Q1 2022 Earnings Conference Call May 5, 2022 5:30 PM ET

Company Participants

Al Kaschalk – Vice President-Investor Relations

Tom Brisbin – Chairman and Chief Executive Officer

Kim Early – Chief Financial Officer

Conference Call Participants

Craig Irwin – Roth Capital Partners

Marc Riddick – Sidoti and Company, LLC

Operator

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Willdan Group First Quarter 2022 Earnings Conference Call. Our host for today is Al Kaschalk, VP of Investor Relations. Mr. Kaschalk, please go ahead.

Al Kaschalk

Thank you, Barry. Good afternoon, everyone, and welcome to Willdan Group’s first quarter fiscal 2022 earnings call. Joining our call today are Tom Brisbin, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer; Kim Early, Chief Financial Officer; and Mike Bieber, President.

The call today builds on our earnings release we issued after market close today. You may find the earnings release and the Willdan investor report that accompanies today’s call in the press release and Stock’s Information section of our Investor Relations website on ir.willdan.com.

Management will review prepared remarks, and we will then open the call up to your questions. Statements made in the course of today’s conference call, including answers to your questions, which are not purely historical are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The forward-looking statements involve certain risks and uncertainties, and it is important to note that the company’s future results could differ materially from those in any such forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially and other risk factors are listed from time to time in the company’s SEC reports, including, but not limited to, the annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2021. The company cautions investors not to place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements made during the course of this conference call. Willdan disclaims any obligation and does not undertake to update or revise any forward-looking statements made today.

In addition to GAAP results, Willdan also provides non-GAAP financial measures that we believe enhance investors’ ability to analyze the business trends and performance. Our non-GAAP measures include net revenue, adjusted EBITDA and adjusted EPS.

Tom, I will now turn the call over to you.

Tom Brisbin

Thanks, Al, and good day, everyone. We spoke just 60 days ago and the burning question then was, when do we return to pre-COVID results? First quarter is on our plan, which reflects lower profitability, but it is what we projected. We ramped up heavily for the California programs, and our revenue in those programs is not covering our cost yet. We reaffirmed our guidance in both our press release and Kim’s financial script that we’ll hear soon. We expect the second half to accelerate and get us at pre-COVID results.