Ballard Power Systems Inc. (NASDAQ:BLDP) Q3 2023 Results Conference Call November 7, 2023 11:00 AM ET

Company Participants

Kate Charlton - IR

Randy MacEwen - CEO

Paul Dobson - CFO

Conference Call Participants

Michael Glen - Raymond James

Aaron MacNeil - TD Cowen

Rob Brown - Lake Street Capital Markets

Mac Whale - Cormark Securities

Rupert Merer - National Bank

Jordan Levy - Truist Securities

Manav Gupta - UBS

Operator

Thank you for standing by. This is the conference operator. Welcome to the Ballard Power Systems' Third Quarter 2023 Results Conference Call. [Operator Instructions] The conference is being recorded. [Operator Instructions]

I would now like to turn the conference over to Kate Charlton, Vice President, Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

Kate Charlton

Thank you, operator, and good morning. Welcome to Ballard's Third Quarter 2023 Financial and Operating Results Conference call. With us on today's call are Randy MacEwen, Ballard's CEO; and Paul Dobson, Chief Financial Officer.

We will be making forward-looking statements that are based on management's current expectations, beliefs and assumptions concerning future events. Actual results could be materially different. Please refer to our most recent annual information form and other public filings for our complete disclaimer and related information.

I will now turn the call over to Randy.

Randy MacEwen

Thank you, Kate. And welcome everyone to today's conference call. We began the second half of 2023 with robust revenue growth driven by deliveries in our core heavy-duty mobility markets. Our Q3 revenues are up 30% compared to the prior year period and up 80% compared to the previous quarter.

At the same time, our gross margin loss is more than half, due primarily to execution and our product cost reduction initiatives and scale benefits from higher revenues.

We continue to track to our full year guidance ranges for operating and capital expenses and have reduced our cash burn in the quarter and year-to-date compared to the prior year period. We continue to focus on prudently managing our costs, while making strategic investments in technology and product development programs, including product cost reduction programs as well as advanced manufacturing and manufacturing scaling and customer experience.

Consistent with focused strategic investments in our core business, we initiated a portfolio review of all current products and product development programs. Following this review, we've prioritized our investments in our core fuel cell stack and module programs that have leverage across our business model and target markets. We are discontinuing certain legacy products and discontinuing certain product development programs in non-core activities and markets. We've also discontinued any new corporate development investments.