PRECISION OPTICS CORPORATION, INC. 10-Q

Item 2. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations. The following discussion of our financial condition and results of operations should be read in conjunction with the unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements and notes to those statements included elsewhere in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended December 31, 2023 and with our audited consolidated financial statements for the year ended June 30, 2023 included in our Annual Report on Form 10-K, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on September 28, 2023. This Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q contains forward-looking statements. When used in this report, the words anticipate, suggest, estimate, plan, project, continue, ongoing, potential, expect, predict, believe, intend, may, will, should, could, would and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. You should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. Our actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in the forward-looking statements for many reasons, including the risks described in this report, the risks described in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended June 30, 2023 and other reports we file with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Although we believe the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, they relate only to events as of the date on which the statements are made. We do not intend to update any of the forward-looking statements after the date of this report to conform these statements to actual results or to changes in our expectations, except as required by law. Overview We have been a developer and manufacturer of advanced optical instruments since 1982. Our proprietary medical instrumentation line, unique custom design and manufacturing capabilities, and expert engineering and development has generated traditional proprietary endoscopes and endocouplers as well as other custom imaging and illumination products for our customers’ use in minimally invasive surgical procedures. We design and manufacture 3D endoscopes and very small Microprecision lenses, assemblies and complete medical devices to meet the surgical community’s continuing demand for smaller, disposable, and more enhanced imaging systems for minimally invasive surgery. Effective June 1, 2019 we acquired the operating assets of Ross Optical Industries, Inc. of El Paso, Texas. As Ross Optical Industries we also operate as a supplier of custom optical components and assemblies for military and defense, medical and various other industrial applications. All products sold by us under the Ross Optical name include a custom or catalog optic, which is sourced through our extensive domestic and worldwide network of optical fabrication suppliers. Most systems make use of optical lenses, prisms, mirrors and windows and range from individual optical components to complex mechano-optical assemblies. Products often include thin film optical coatings that are applied using our in-house coating department. Effective October 1, 2021 we acquired the operating assets of Lighthouse Imaging, LLC of Windham, Maine. Our Lighthouse Imaging division supplements our operations as a manufacturer of advanced optical imaging systems and accessories and has provided further expertise in electrical engineering and development of end-to-end medical visualization devices. Product development competencies at Lighthouse Imaging include Systems, Optical, Mechanical, Electrical and Process Development Engineering. Since the purchase we have integrated these acquired engineering and operational capabilities to provide an expanded, unified offering to our customers. Our product development team has extensive experience developing visualization systems that are used in a variety of clinical applications. Lighthouse Imaging is an industry leader in chip-on-tip visualization systems. The markets in which we do business are highly competitive and include both foreign and domestic competitors. Many of our competitors are larger and have substantially greater resources than we do. Furthermore, other domestic or foreign companies, some with greater financial resources than we have, may seek to produce products or services that compete with ours. Over the years we have developed extensive experience collaborating with other optical specialists worldwide. 13 The markets for our products have increasingly been driven by the demand for smaller and more enhanced imaging systems by the needs of the surgical community, including applications for the brain, eye, ear, urology, cardiology/angiography and the spine. We market directly to established medical device companies primarily in the United States that we believe could benefit from our advanced endoscopy visualization systems. Through this direct marketing, referrals, attendance at trade shows and a presence in online professional association websites, we have expanded our on-going pipeline of projects to significant medical device companies as well as well-funded emerging technology companies. We expect our customer pipeline to continue to expand as development projects transition to production orders and new customer projects enter the development phase. Our Ross Optical division markets through existing customers and trade shows, in addition to proactive online marketing strategies executed primarily through its website. We produce micro-precision optics, which are nominally millimeter sized and smaller cameras with low manufacturing costs. The small size provides visualization for new procedures in new parts of the body and for existing procedures that are currently performed blind or with sub-optimal imaging, facilitating the development of new surgical procedures that are currently impractical. We use patented and patent-pending approaches to fabricating opto-mechanical and opto-electronic systems. We have developed and helped commercialize applications for numerous customers in the medical device and defense/aerospace industries. We believe that our future success depends to a large degree on our ability to develop new optical products and services to enhance the performance characteristics and methods of manufacture or existing products. Competition amongst medical device companies is increasing with multiple companies now pursuing less expensive, procedure specific robotic systems. We expect to continue to seek and obtain product-related design and development contracts with customers and to selectively invest our own funds on research and development, particularly in the areas of Microprecision™ optics, micro medical cameras, illumination, single-use endoscopes, and 3D endoscopes. We are one of only a handful of companies in the world to design and provide high-quality 3D endoscopes. By designing systems with low manufacturing costs, we have also begun to penetrate the single-use endoscope market. Single-use endoscopes virtually eliminate the potential for patient cross-contamination and support a number of additional operational benefits for hospitals and surgeons. We estimate this segment of the overall minimally invasive surgical market is growing at two to three times the rate of the overall market. Current sales and marketing activities are intended to broaden awareness of the benefits of our new technology platforms and our successful application of these new technologies to medical device projects requiring surgical-grade visualization from millimeter sized devices and 3D endoscopy, including single-use products and assemblies. We are registered to the ISO 9001:2015 and ISO 13485:2016 Quality Standards and comply with the FDA Good Manufacturing Practices. Our websites are www.poci.com, www.rossoptical.com, and www.lighthouseoptics.com. The information contained on our websites does not constitute part of this report. General This management’s discussion and analysis of financial condition and results of operations is based upon our unaudited consolidated financial statements, which have been prepared without audit, pursuant to the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission. The preparation of these consolidated financial statements requires us to make estimates and judgments that affect the reported amounts of assets, liabilities, revenues and expenses and related disclosures. We base our estimates on historical experience and on various other assumptions that are believed to be reasonable under the circumstances, the results of which form the basis for making judgments about the carrying values of assets and liabilities that are not readily apparent from other sources. Actual results may differ from these estimates under different assumptions or conditions and any such differences may be material. There have been no significant changes in our critical accounting policies as disclosed in the Notes to our Financial Statements contained in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended June 30, 2023 filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on September 28, 2023. 14 Results of Operations Revenue Three Months Ended December 31, 2023 Percent of Sales 2022 Percent of Sales Increase (Decrease) Percent Change Engineering Design Services 2,265,217 47.0 1,701,611 28.9 563,606 33.1 Optical Components 1,979,875 41.0 2,580,140 43.8 (600,265 ) (23.3 ) Finished Products and Assemblies 579,197 12.0 1,005,210 17.1 (426,013 ) (42.4 ) Technology Rights – – 600,000 10.2 (600,000 ) (100.0 ) Total Revenues 4,824,289 100.0 5,886,961 100.0 (1,062,672 ) (18.1 ) Six Months Ended December 31, 2023 Percent of Sales 2022 Percent of Sales Increase (Decrease) Percent Change Engineering Design Services 4,166,216 45.6 3,344,578 30.5 821,638 24.6 Optical Components 3,883,186 42.4 5,232,821 47.7 (1,349,635 ) (25.8 ) Finished Products and Assemblies 1,096,142 12.0 1,794,863 16.4 (698,721 ) (38.9 ) Technology Rights – – 600,000 5.4 (600,000 ) (100.0 ) Total Revenues 9,145,544 100.0 10,972,262 100.0 (1,826,718 ) (16.6 ) Total revenues for the quarter ended December 31, 2023 were $4,824,289, as compared to $5,886,961 for the same period in the prior year, and for the six months ended December 31, 2023 was $9,145,544 as compared to $10,972,262 for the same period in the prior year, a decrease of $1,826,718, or 16.6%. A decrease of $600,000 in both periods was attributable to the sale of one-time technology rights recognized in the prior year. Revenue from Engineering Design Services increased 33.1% and 24.6% during the three- and six-month periods ending December 31, 2023 from the same periods in the year ending December 31, 2022. Revenue increases in the engineering category resulted from increasing demand for services and expansion of engineering capacity. Engineering sales were driven by customer design engagements that will be transitioning into the later manufacture of new Finished Products and Assemblies. Revenue from Optical Components decreased 23.3% and 25.8% during the three- and six-month periods ending December 31, 2023 from the same periods in the year ending December 31, 2022 due in part to reduced industry demand. We believe the decreases in optical components were largely driven by lower order volumes as customers sought to rebalance their inventories, which had previously grown beyond sustainable levels due to increased ordering in response to concerns about supply chain disruptions. Revenue from Finished Products and Assemblies decreased 42.4% and 38.9% during the three- and six-month periods ending December 31, 2023 from the same periods in the year ending December 31, 2022. The decreases in Finished Products and Assemblies was attributable to timing differences between the exit of certain mature customer programs and reorders for ongoing products and the introduction of new customer programs, primarily single-use medical devices and new defense / aerospace opportunities. 15 Gross Profit Gross margin decreased to 30.1% during the three months ended December 30, 2023, compared to 44.2% for the three months ended December 31, 2022, and decreased to 31.9% during the six months ended December 31, 2023 compared to 38.6% during the six months ended December 31, 2022. Gross profit decreased to $1,450,976 during the three months ended December 31, 2023, compared to $2,599,472 for the three months ended December 31, 2022, and decreased to $2,914,587 during the six months ended December 31, 2023 compared to $4,238,913 during the six months ended December 31, 2022, primarily driven by changes in the product sales mix and the decreases in revenue discussed above. The $600,000 in Technology rights revenue in the prior year had a significant impact on gross margin as it had no cost of sales associated with it. Excluding that revenue from both sales and gross profit for comparison purposes, the gross margin would have been 37.8% and 35.1% for the three- and six-month periods ending December 31, 2022, respectively. In addition, we recorded an increase in our reserve for excess and obsolete inventory in the amount of $75,000. Research & Development R&D expenses increased $66,464 to $221,728 during the three months ended December 31, 2023, compared to $155,264 during the three months ended December 31, 2022, and increased $68,595 to $434,486 during the six months ended December 31, 2023, compared to $365,891 during the six months ended December 31, 2022. The increase in R&D expenses was primarily due to employee-related expenses to support product improvements and the development of new technologies. Selling, General and Administrative Expenses SG&A expenses increased $60,267 to $1,933,410 during the three months ended December 31, 2023, compared to $1,873,143 during the three months ended December 31, 2022, and increased $185,797, or 5.5%, to $3,589,556 during the six months ended December 31, 2023, compared to $3,403,759 during the six months ended December 31, 2022. The increase in SG&A was primarily due to increased personnel costs, increased travel-related expenses, increased stock-based compensation and increases in our reserve for doubtful accounts. Liquidity and Capital Resources During the six months ended December 31, 2023, cash on hand funded increases in inventory of $323,770 and a net decrease in accounts payable and accrued expenses of $945,002, partially offset by decreases in accounts receivable of $395,863. We also made payments of $277,912 on our term notes and capital leases. These items, in addition to the impact of the quarterly net loss, net of depreciation, amortization, stock-based compensation and other non-cash items, resulted in a decrease of $1,938,808 in our cash and cash equivalents at December 31 2023 from $2,925,852 at June 30, 2023 to $987,044 at December 31, 2023. In October 2021 we entered a $2,600,000 term loan with a commercial bank. In June 2023 we added a second term loan in the amount of $750,000. We secured a $250,000 line of credit from the same bank in October 2021 for working capital needs, which was increased to $500,000 in May 2022 and to $1,250,000 in June 2023. There were no borrowings outstanding on the line of credit on December 31, 2023 and full availability in the amount of $1,250,000. Capital equipment expenditures and additional patent costs during the six months ended December 31, 2023 and in the same period in the prior year were $170,772 and $37,637, respectively. The increase was primarily attributable to the implementation of a new computer system. Contractual cash commitments for the fiscal periods subsequent to December 31, 2023, are summarized as follows: Fiscal 2024 Thereafter Total Capital lease for equipment, including interest $ 24,309 $ 77,792 $ 102,101 Minimum operating lease payments $ 91,326 $ 195,371 $ 286,697 16 We have contractual cash commitments related to open purchase orders as of December 31, 2023 of approximately $3,163,000. Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements We currently have no off-balance sheet arrangements that have, or are reasonably likely to have, a current or future material effect on our financial condition, changes in financial condition, revenues or expenses, results of operations, liquidity, capital expenditures or capital resources. Item 3. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk. As a smaller reporting company, as defined by Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act and in Item 10(f)(1) of Regulation S-K, we are electing scaled disclosure reporting obligations and therefore are not required to provide the information requested by this Item.