Aspen Aerogels, Inc. (NYSE: ASPN) ("Aspen" or the "Company"), a technology leader in sustainability and electrification solutions, today announced that it has received a conditional commitment from the U.S. Department of Energy ("DOE") for a proposed loan of up to $670.6 million (the "Loan") under the Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing loan program within DOE's Loan Programs Office ("LPO") for financing the construction of its planned second aerogel manufacturing facility ("Register Plant") in Register, Georgia.
The Company also announced Q3 2024 preliminary financial results and details regarding its planned Q3 earnings conference call.
Loan and Project Highlights:
- Aspen Aerogels Georgia, LLC, a subsidiary of Aspen Aerogels, Inc., is the intended borrower of the loan. The loan would be structured as project financing, providing for repayment commencing upon project commissioning.
- The interest rate will be the applicable U.S. Treasury Rate at the time of each cash draw.
- The Register Plant is designed to manufacture PyroThin® aerogel blankets. Aspen's PyroThin platform offers ultrathin and lightweight thermal barriers designed to help prevent thermal runaway propagation - an event in which a battery cell overheats and triggers neighboring cells, possibly resulting in a sudden fire - in batteries. Aspen's PyroThin is designed to offer a unique combination of thermal management, mechanical performance, and fire protection properties. Aerogel thermal barriers have the potential to increase energy density of EV battery systems when compared to alternative thermal barrier products.
- The Register Plant has an initial estimated revenue capacity of $1.2B - $1.6B, depending on product mix.
- The Register Plant project is expected to create up to 550 construction jobs and 255 permanent, full-time operations jobs.
- The project aligns with the LPO's mission of supporting U.S. manufacturing that will help enable the growth of zero-emissions vehicles.
"With this Conditional Commitment, we are pleased to announce that the proposed loan would fully fund the required CAPEX for our second aerogel manufacturing facility, which is expected to play a key role in scaling our PyroThin supply for our rapidly growing Thermal Barrier business," noted Donald R. Young, Aspen's President and CEO. "We believe that PyroThin, which can enable increased battery safety and performance, is a unique and differentiated product that solves an important and challenging problem. The past 12 months have further validated these beliefs; we have increased our revenues to $232 million in this segment, a 277% year-over-year increase1; secured additional EV production contracts, bringing us to a total of six major OEMs in the United States and Europe; and, won a prestigious Automotive News Pace Award. We are also excited to further DOE's mission to onshore and re-shore domestic manufacturing technologies that are critical to meeting the current federal goal of having half of all new vehicles sold in 2030 be zero-emissions vehicles. We want to thank the DOE Loan Programs Office for its continued support and partnership throughout this process."
Ricardo C. Rodriguez, Aspen's Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer added, "Securing the lowest cost of capital has been the top priority of our financing strategy. This proposed loan, and its terms, will provide us, if finalized, with the opportunity to optimize our capital structure and capture the long-term opportunity that is in front of us. In the meantime, we'll continue maximizing our existing assets and resources to drive profitability."
While this conditional commitment indicates the DOE's intent to finance the project, the DOE and the Company must satisfy certain technical, legal, environmental, and financial conditions before the DOE enters into definitive financing documents and funds the loan.
Learn more about Aspen's thermal barrier solutions here.
1. 277% year-over-year revenue increase in Thermal Barrier revenue compares segment revenues from the trailing twelve months ended June 30, 2024 to the trailing twelve months ended June 30, 2023.
Q3 2024 Preliminary Financial Results
The Company today announced the following select preliminary results for the quarter ended September 30, 2024:
- Quarterly revenue of approximately $117 million.
- Quarterly net loss of approximately $13 million, including a $27.5 million one-time charge from the extinguishment of the Company's convertible note on August 19, 2024.
- Quarterly Adjusted EBITDA of approximately $25 million.
Cash and cash equivalents were approximately $113 million as of September 30, 2024
A reconciliation of net income (loss) to Adjusted EBITDA is provided in the financial schedules that are part of this press release. An explanation of this non-GAAP financial measure is also included below under the heading "Non-GAAP Financial Measures."
Aspen's preliminary Q3 2024 financial results are based solely on information currently available to management and are unaudited. This financial information does not represent a comprehensive statement of Aspen's financial results for the quarter ended September 30, 2024 and remains subject to the completion of Aspen's financial closing procedures and internal reviews. As a result, Aspen's actual results for the quarter ended September 30, 2024 may vary materially from these preliminary estimates.
Q3 2024 Financial Results Conference Call and Webcast Notification
The Company has announced that Don Young, President & Chief Executive Officer, and Ricardo C. Rodriguez, Chief Financial Officer & Treasurer, expect to discuss the Company's financial results for the third quarter ended September 30, 2024, during a conference call scheduled for Thursday, November 7, 2024, at 8:30 a.m. ET. The Company also expects to release financial results for the third quarter on Wednesday, November 6, 2024, after the market close.
Shareholders and other interested parties may participate in the conference call by dialing +1 (833) 470-1428 (domestic) or +1 (929) 526-1599 (international) and referencing conference ID "921873" a few minutes before 8:30 a.m. ET on Thursday, November 7, 2024. In addition, the conference call and an accompanying slide presentation will be available live as a listen-only webcast hosted on the Investors section of Aspen's website, www.aerogel.com.
A replay of the webcast will be available on the Investor Relations section of the Aspen Aerogels website at www.aerogel.com, where it will remain available for approximately one year after the conference call.
