Good day, everyone. Welcome to the Eco Wave Power First Quarter 2026 Earnings Call. It is now my pleasure to turn the floor over to your host, Aharon Yehuda, the CFO of Eco Wave Power. The floor is yours.
Thank you. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining Eco Wave Power's First Quarter 2026 Earnings Call. Turning to our financial results. During the first quarter of 2026, we continued advancing our global project portfolio, while maintaining disciplined cost management across the organization. Operating expenses for the quarter were approximately USD 682,000, representing an 11% decrease compared to the first quarter of 2025. The reduction was primarily driven by lower research and development, sales and marketing and general and administrative expenses. Research and development expenses decreased to approximately USD 140,000 compared to USD 181,000 during the same period last year. Sales and marketing expenses were approximately USD 71,000 compared to USD 77,000 in the prior year period, while general and administrative expenses decreased to approximately USD 499,000 from USD 539,000 last year.
Operating loss improved year-over-year, decreasing to approximately USD 682,000 compared to USD 765,000 during the same period in 2025. Other income remained relatively stable at approximately USD 52,000 compared to USD 54,000 during the same period last year and was primarily driven from technology demonstration activity as well as management fees from a joint venture. Net loss for the quarter was approximately USD 695,000 compared to approximately USD 505,000 during the same period last year. The change was primarily attributable to foreign exchange fluctuation, including the appreciation of the Swedish krona and the Israeli shekel against the U.S. dollar, which impacted financial income during the quarter. Importantly, as of March 31, 2026, the company held approximately $5.3 million in total liquidity, including cash, cash equivalents and short-term bank deposits. We believe this provides a solid financial foundation to continue advancing our operational projects, strategic initiatives and business development activities.
Operationally, the company continued progressing projects across Israel, the United States, in Portugal, in Taiwan, in India and in South Africa during the quarter, while also expanding discussions around potential future applications of wave energy within emerging AI-related energy infrastructure market. As we move forward, we remain focused on disciplined capital allocation, project execution and strategic partnerships designed to support long-term commercial growth. I will now turn the call over to our Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Inna Braverman.
Thank you, Aharon, and thank you, everyone, for joining us today. The first quarter of 2026 was an important quarter for Eco Wave Power, both operationally and strategically. During the quarter, we continued advancing our global project portfolio while also positioning Eco Wave Power within one of the most important emerging themes in the global infrastructure market, the rapidly growing intersection between artificial intelligence and energy demand. As AI adoption accelerates globally, energy availability is increasingly becoming one of the key constraints to scale in next-generation computing infrastructure. Data centers, accelerated computing systems and digital infrastructure require a significant amount of reliable electricity, particularly in coastal regions, where many population centers and industrial hubs are located. We believe this creates a compelling long-term opportunity for Eco Wave Power.
Our technology is uniquely positioned within this emerging landscape because we generate renewable energy directly from existing coastal infrastructure such as breakwaters and piers, enabling deployment close to demand centers without requiring offshore seabed connection or complex marine construction. During the quarter, Eco Wave Power was featured during NVIDIA Founder and CEO Jensen Huang's keynote presentation at the NVIDIA GTC conference as part of a future-facing digital twin model focused on the renewable energy infrastructure. Following the conference, Eco Wave Power was also featured across NVIDIA's social media channels. We view this visibility as an indication that the role of energy infrastructure in enabling AI growth is becoming increasingly important globally. We are also seeing broader market validation around the intersection of wave energy and AI infrastructure. Recently, Panthalassa, a company focused on offshore energy solutions for AI infrastructure, announced a $140 million financing round led by Peter Thiel.
We believe developments like this further demonstrate the increasing importance of scalable energy infrastructure in supporting the future growth of artificial intelligence. Importantly, we remain focused on disciplined execution and real-world deployment. In Israel, our EWP-EDF One project in Jaffa continued operating successfully as Israel's first grid-connected wave energy power station. During Q1, the system demonstrated stable performance and strong production during significant wave events. In the United States, we completed and submitted the final report for our pilot project at the Port of Los Angeles to Shell Marine Renewable Energy. The pilot successfully demonstrated the technical, regulatory and economic feasibility of our nearshore deployment model. As next steps, we are planning to submit the results of the Port of L.A. report and enter discussions regarding a potential larger scale implementation on the outer breakwater of the port.
We were also pleased to see our technology highlighted in the report issued by the U.S. Department of Energy, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, or NREL, which emphasized the advantages of infrastructure-integrated wave energy systems. In Portugal, we continued advancing our first megawatt project under the 20-megawatt concession agreement in Porto, including engineering validation and grid connection progress. In Taiwan, we continued advancing our first Asia Pacific project in collaboration with I-Ke International Ocean Energy, including localized manufacturing plan and deployment preparation. In India, we continued progressing our collaboration with Bharat Petroleum, beginning with site assessment work for a potential pilot installation. Based on the latest information received from BPCL, we currently expect to receive the formal site assessment order during Q3 of this year. And in South Africa, we completed the feasibility study at the Port of Ngqura, indicating approximately 8.3 megawatts of potential installed capacity.
At the same time, we have initiated discussions with infrastructure developers and data center participants regarding potential future applications of wave energy within AI-related infrastructure environment. Looking ahead, our priorities remain clear: continue advancing our operational projects, maintain disciplined financial management, deepen strategic partnerships and position Eco Wave Power within the next generation of global energy infrastructure. The demand of energy driven by artificial intelligence is happening now, and the market is actively searching for scalable solutions that can be deployed within commercially relevant timelines. While many emerging concepts being discussed, including advanced nuclear technologies, space-based energy systems or orbital solar collection platforms are technologically fascinating, most are expected to require many years and in some cases, decades before meaningful commercial deployment.
By contrast, Eco Wave Power's technology is designed around existing coastal infrastructure and commercially deployable engineering, allowing potential implementation timelines measured in months rather than decades. We can build wave energy for AI right now and not in decades. We believe this positions wave energy as one of the practical renewable energy solutions capable of helping address the rapidly growing electricity demand of AI infrastructure in coastal markets today. Thank you again for joining us today.
Thank you, everyone. This does conclude today's conference call. You may disconnect at this time, and have a wonderful day. Thank you for your participation.