AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV) Q3 2023 Earnings Call Transcript

Ken Herbert: That’s great. And just finally, is it fair to assume that the inventory level on the balance sheet, significant portion of that is in the MUAS or with the JUMP 20 considering the amount of aircraft you got in process as you prepare obviously for this ramp?

Wahid Nawabi: We have some inventory, but no, the overall level of inventory increasing is intentional for two reasons, because of the supply chain issues. Number one, we’ve been buying ahead because we are expecting these customers to take deliveries quickly as soon as the contracts come in. And number two has been, we’ve been experiencing significant growth this year and we expect even more growth next year. And so for those in order to secure our inventory on our products for our customers, and most of these situations are very urgent and high priority for the U.S. DoD and for allies. That’s why the inventory is up. So, a mixture of both small UAS, TMS, and UAS and even some UGV business as well, all those businesses are growing and we’re going to require inventories to support those businesses for fourth quarter and fiscal 2024.

Kevin McDonnell: Yeah. Remember the Ukraine contract was over $170 million, so they only delivered a portion of that here in the third quarter.

Ken Herbert: Excellent. All right. Nice quarter. Thanks Kevin. Thanks Wahid.

Wahid Nawabi: Thank you Ken.

Operator: One moment for our next question. Our next question comes from the line of Brian Ruttenbur with Imperial Capital. Your line is open. Please go ahead.

Brian Ruttenbur: Yes. Thank you very much. Very good quarter. First of all, in terms of cash, where do you anticipate ending the year in terms of cash? You had a big drop from quarter to quarter, obviously, but I wanted to get your perspective on that.

Kevin McDonnell: Well, I mean, we don’t necessarily predict the cash balance at the end of the year, but I would expect inventories to continue to rise, but at the same time, we’re going to be moving the cycle on some of these Ukraine billings, so we should be bringing some of the receivables down, but we’re again going to end the year with a large quarter. So, you could see some working capital usage still into the fourth quarter.

Brian Ruttenbur: Okay.

Wahid Nawabi: And generally speaking, Brian, our cash position or balance sheet very strong and healthy. We watch that and we keep an eye on it. Our ability to be able to fund the business operations is not going to be an issue in our mind.

Brian Ruttenbur: Absolutely. It should normalize, the cash positions should normalize. I know they’re — when you’re growing fast like that, a lot of moving parts, but should normalize within the next two or three quarters. Is that what you anticipate?

Kevin McDonnell: Yeah. Normalize the certain extent, but we do continue to grow that. We’re going to — expecting to grow as I think Wahid had said, least double-digit next year. So that would imply a significant growth year-over-year. And so you’ll continue to have some working capital usage. But there is some potential efficiencies over time as some of these supply chain issues ease, and we don’t have to do as much pre-buying as we’re doing right now.