Prepared remarks
Good day, and thank you for standing by, and welcome to the Ispire Technology Q3 2026 Earnings Conference Call. Operator instructions were provided to participants. Please note that today's event is being recorded. I would now like to turn the conference over to James Carbonara with Hayden Investor Relations. Please go ahead.
Good afternoon, and welcome to Ispire Technology's fiscal third quarter 2026 earnings conference call. Before we begin, I would like to remind you that this conference call contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements other than statements of historical fact in this announcement are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are based on estimates and assumptions made by the company in terms of its experience and its perception of historical trends, current conditions, and expected future developments as well as other factors that the company believes are relevant. These forward-looking statements involve known and unknown uncertainties, and many factors could cause the company's actual results or performance to differ materially from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Further information regarding this and other risk factors is included in the company's filings with the SEC. The company undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements to reflect subsequent or current events or circumstances or changes in expectations, except as may be required by law. I will now turn the call over to Michael Wang, Co-Chief Executive Officer of Ispire Technology. Michael, you may begin.
Thank you, operator, and thank you all for joining us. This quarter marked a turning point for Ispire. Our business has stabilized. Our operating model is sharper and more disciplined, and we ended the quarter with $18 million in cash, up $468,000 sequentially. This sequential cash growth is one of the clearest signs of progress in the quarter. It demonstrates improving financial control and a more focused operating posture and reinforces our confidence in becoming cash flow positive in the second half of this calendar year 2026. The transition we set out to make is behind us. Now we are executing against a phased growth roadmap with multiple catalysts, each tied to billion-dollar markets where we have clear competitive advantages. The first and most immediate of these is Malaysia. Our Malaysia manufacturing platform is live today, and we believe this is one of the most strategically important developments in the company's history. In addition, Malaysia provides us with an estimated 25% tariff advantage over China, giving us both economic and strategic leverage as we pursue opportunities in the $73 billion global vape market. This is both a manufacturing milestone and a structural advantage that we believe can support margin improvement, customer acquisition, and long-term market relevance. Second, plans are underway to launch our Vapor ODM initiative in July. This initiative will initially serve small and mid-sized brands with larger brand opportunities targeted for 2027. We see this as another practical commercialization pathway that can convert our manufacturing, design, and regulatory capabilities into higher-value customer relationships. Beyond these near-term drivers, we continue to build long-duration optionality through differentiated technology. Through IKE Tech, we believe our Age-Gating platform has the potential to help unlock approximately $50 billion to $70 billion of the U.S. flavored vape market, a market that remains effectively inaccessible today under the current framework. In parallel, our G-Mesh Glass Technology is growing interest in a $24 billion-plus legal global market, including licensing discussions with major tobacco participants. These are proprietary assets that could materially expand our strategic and financial opportunities beginning in 2027 and beyond. The accomplishments we achieved during the fiscal third quarter are clear. We strengthened liquidity, improved operating discipline, and advanced the roadmap with multiple high-value catalysts. We believe that combination gives Ispire a stronger foundation for both profitability and long-term shareholder value creation as we move forward. I will now turn the call over to Jie for a more detailed review of our financial results. Jie?
Thank you, Michael. For the fiscal third quarter ended March 31, 2026, Ispire reported revenue of $18.7 million compared with $26.2 million in the third quarter of fiscal 2025 and $20.3 million in the prior quarter. The modest sequential decline primarily reflected seasonal factory downtime associated with Chinese New Year and represents the most resilient second-to-third-quarter performance pattern in our history. Gross profit for the quarter was $2 million and gross margin was 10.7%. Importantly, gross profit was impacted by approximately $2.2 million of one-time product returns from a legacy cannabis customer with whom we have ceased doing business. We view those returns as part of final cleanup associated with our strategic repositioning, not representative of the normalized earnings profile of the go-forward business. In that sense, we view this quarter as one in which reported margin reflected a legacy headwind, while the underlying business mix continues moving in an improved direction. On the cost side, we continue to make meaningful progress. Total operating expenses, excluding credit loss, were $5.9 million, down 36% year-over-year from $9.3 million, and down 3.7% sequentially from $6.1 million in the December quarter. This performance reflects the impact of sustained cost discipline and a more focused operating structure. It also reinforces our belief that profitability is a matter of near-term execution and scale. Credit loss in the quarter was $5.6 million, down roughly $500,000 year-over-year. This improvement is another indication that the financial cleanup tied to legacy activity is moving in the right direction. We are committed to continued discipline around receivables and working capital management. Net loss for the quarter was $9.5 million compared with $10.9 million in the year-ago period and $6.6 million in the prior quarter. While the quarter still reflects transition-related pressure, the broader trend is encouraging. We have materially reduced our cost base while positioning the company for higher-quality revenue streams and better operating leverage over time. We ended the quarter with $18 million in cash, an increase of approximately $468,000 sequentially. This sequential cash growth is a meaningful achievement in the context of an ongoing repositioning. It strengthens our balance sheet, supports our near-term growth investments, and underpins our confidence in reaching cash flow positive performance in the second half of this calendar year 2026. From a financial perspective, the foundation for improved profitability has been built. The company is leaner, more disciplined, and better aligned with high-value growth markets. I will now turn the call back to Michael.
Thank you. This quarter marks the beginning of a new phase for Ispire. The transition in our business reflects reduced exposure to low-quality revenue and is now about converting that reset into a stronger earnings model, a stronger cash profile, and a stronger strategic position in global nicotine and compliance technology markets. Our priorities are clear. First, we are focused on profitability and the path to becoming cash flow positive in the second half of this calendar year 2026. We intend to build on the momentum we have established this quarter through operating discipline, working capital management and the ramp of new revenue catalysts. Second, we are focused on winning from a position of strategic advantage. Our licensed manufacturing presence in Malaysia gives us a highly differentiated foothold in a critical geography with regulatory exclusivity and tariff advantages that we believe can translate into both commercial and financial benefits over time. Malaysia is a platform for expansion. And finally, we are building a company with multiple avenues for value creation: near-term scale commercialization through Vapor ODM, and longer-term upside through Age-Gating and G-Mesh. Together, these initiatives create a diversified roadmap that we believe is unusual in our industry and compelling from an investor perspective. Thank you for your time and continued support. Operator, please open the line for questions.
Questions and answers
Operator instructions were provided. And today's first question comes from Nick Anderson with ROTH Capital Partners.
Congrats on the quarter. First for me, just on the vape news and the recent flavored approval, there was discussion around the digital leash software, which maybe was the reason the FDA viewed that application favorably. I have two questions from that. Do you believe proximity-based restrictions will be the path the FDA takes? And if so, do you have the capability to incorporate that technology into your solution if you don't have it already?
Nick, thank you. I'll address the second part first. Yes, we have that capability built into our solution. From day one, that was a key differentiation between our technology and other solutions. More importantly, our platform is moving out of the old app model and into a platform model, which reinforces continuous authentication capabilities. Because it's a platform, we allow brands to customize and set their own performance parameters; brands can vary settings country by country depending on regulations. So the simple answer is yes, we have continuous authentication in our solution. The advantage is that many solutions developed years ago either leave the device active after initial age verification and it stays on indefinitely, which is undesirable from a regulatory point of view, or they have periodic reauthentication, which creates gaps where potential misuse could happen. From day one, our solution has been continuous authentication, and that proved to be very important to regulators, not only with the FDA but outside the U.S. as well. Nick, I hope I answered your question.
Yes, that's perfect and very encouraging. Second for me, just on partnerships. This PMTA announcement also validated Age-Gating positioning and getting flavors to market. I know this is maybe too early, but what have you seen in discussions with potential partners in terms of potentially accelerating off of this approval? What has changed in the last few days in terms of the clients you're talking to?
You're right. In the last 48 to 72 hours, the ground has been moving, which is encouraging to us. President Trump's pressure on the FDA obviously influenced the industry, and the immediate approval of the four additional SKUs for glass sent a strong signal. I think all key players in the industry are familiar with the pros and cons of different solutions. Collectively, there is a shared consensus that our solution is the most advanced versus other technologies. With the news over the last couple of days, we have accelerated existing conversations with brands. In some cases we have moved one step further, discussing using our technology in some of their existing PMTAs through a supplemental PMTA to accelerate the approval of their flavored products. It's clear the industry recognizes the floodgate is opening and Age-Gating is the only way to get flavored approval. Given the understanding that our solution is far ahead of the competition, we are absolutely getting traction. To put it plainly, yesterday I worked 17 hours, much longer than my typical 12-hour day, which says a lot about the effort we put into these conversations.
That's great to hear. If I could squeeze just one more in on the state-by-state structures: with regulators becoming more constructive around vape, how do you anticipate states will respond? Several markets still have banned flavors, some have banned foreign imports. How do you see the state landscape changing as potentially more flavors come to market in the legal market?
I think on flavor bans, five or six states are aligned with the FDA's flavor ban and have reinforced those bans. I certainly hope that with the FDA feeling comfortable with Age-Gating technology and starting to approve flavors, those states will align and support approved flavors. The general flavor bans are largely intended to minimize the impact of the black market selling devices to underaged users, which was a real goal of those states. From that perspective, there is alignment with the FDA, and I hope states will follow the FDA's lead in supporting approved flavors. Regarding other state-by-state actions, Texas, for example, is moving toward banning China-made vaping devices, which supports our strategy of producing product in Malaysia. That is a plus for us. Some states are considering banning disposables because disposables are not environmentally friendly; the industry is moving toward pod systems versus disposable devices. California, as we know, bans online sales to further protect consumers, and I don't think that is going to change because online sales are hard to regulate and verify. Ultimately, the true solution to protect underaged consumers and to protect adult consumers from risky products is for the FDA to approve flavored devices with age-gating built in. We are pleased devices have been approved; this is a new beginning for the industry. I'm happy for consumers and see this as a major win for regulators as well. Instead of doing nothing about flavored products, using technology to solve the problem is the right approach. Nick, that's my answer.
Congrats.
This concludes today's question-and-answer session. I would now like to turn the conference back over to Michael Wang for any closing remarks.
Thank you, operator. Obviously, this quarter is a low quarter in terms of revenue for us, but it's not a surprise. Q3 has always been a low quarter due to the Chinese New Year shutdown of the factories. Historically from Q2 to Q3 we've seen over a 30% drop in business. This time, it's only an 8% drop. That's the lowest drop in our history, as Jie indicated. From a top-line and bottom-line point of view, Q3 was a low point. We feel very strongly, as Jie stated, our foundation is solid. We have a lot of work to do to prove to investors that we're over the hump and now on an upward trajectory. I look forward to sharing more performance and developments with investors in the coming months. We are focused on what we can accomplish this current quarter and the September quarter. I hope there will be a trend to regain investors' trust and confidence, and we'll never look back again. Thanks again to everybody on today's call. This concludes the call. Thank you.
Thank you. The conference has now concluded. Thank you for attending today's presentation, and you may now disconnect.