NASDAQ / Last 4 quarters

FTEK earnings call analysis

FTEK. AI-assisted transcript summaries focused on management tone, evasions, goalpost moving, catalysts, risks, and data-center exposure.

4 storedAug 9, 2026

Research summary and source transcript

readyAug 9, 2026

FTEK's FY2026 Q2 call is best read as a thesis-quality check, not a transcript recap. The upside case is that AI and compute-heavy infrastructure demand are becoming real drivers of customer activity. The key investor question is whether that activity converts into durable revenue, royalties, margins, and cash flow rather than remaining a strong-sounding demand story.

Framework #1 asks what management may know now that the market may not fully recognize for 6-24 months. For FTEK, the possible information gradient is whether current demand, backlog, customer activity, or AI/data-center engagement is an early signal of durable conversion rather than a one-quarter narrative. The transcript still needs follow-through in future quarters before that can be treated as proven.

The business engine appears to be license/design-win activity that later converts into royalties, with valuation quality depending on renewal rates, backlog conversion, and margin durability.

  • Management centered the story on AI, compute, or data-center demand, which is the key thesis variable to verify in future quarters.
  • Backlog and demand visibility were important to the quarter's credibility.
  • Profitability and margin durability should be treated as quality-of-revenue checks, not just headline metrics.
  • Customer renewal and new-logo activity are the clearest checks on whether demand is broadening.
  • Management's strongest emphasis appears to be around demand momentum and AI/compute-related opportunity; the useful investor question is whether that enthusiasm is backed by conversion and customer economics.

The tone reads constructive but still needs investor skepticism. Management appears to have enough operating evidence to discuss momentum, but the call only becomes high-quality if the numbers support conversion, margins, cash flow, and customer breadth. Local fallback reason: model analysis failed during on-demand transcript rendering: Earnings call analyzer failed with status 403..

  • No clear dodged analyst question was detected by the local fallback; manual review should still check whether Q&A answers quantified conversion, margins, and guidance.
  • There may be a benchmark or metric-framing issue worth manual review, especially around adjusted metrics, timelines, or changed expectations.

Competitive position looks potentially improving, but not proven. Customer activity and AI/compute exposure suggest the company may be in the right demand pools; the missing proof is market-share data, pricing power, win/loss detail, and retention economics.

  • Key figure to verify: Consolidated revenues rose 17% to $6.5 million with our APC and fuel chem business segments delivering double-digit revenue growth of 11% and 21% respectively.
  • Key figure to verify: We continued to make progress toward commercialization with our dissolved gas infusion or DGI business initiative, and we ended the quarter in a strong financial position with cash, cash equivalents, and investments of approximately $30 million and no debt.
  • Key figure to verify: On our last call, I noted that we had secured our largest set of awards in recent history, totaling approximately $10 million in contracts with utility and industrial customers.
  • Key figure to verify: In combination, these awards drove our consolidated APC backlog to $14.3 million at June 30, 2026, which was the largest quarter-end backlog that we had reported since 2018.
  • Key figure to verify: Last week, we were pleased to announce new APC contracts valued at $2.6 million that addressed the needs of two industrial customers.
  • The quarter appears to be moving from story to evidence: operating momentum is showing up in revenue, royalties, or backlog rather than only in management narrative.
  • Customer activity looks healthier than a one-quarter spike because the transcript points to both retention/renewal work and new-account activity.
  • AI and data-center exposure look strategically relevant rather than cosmetic, because management ties demand to compute-heavy end markets instead of treating it as a generic buzzword.
  • Profitability is a quality signal here, but the investment value depends on whether margins can hold as mix, hiring, and customer concentration evolve.
  • The main open question is conversion: AI or data-center engagement has to turn into recurring royalties, cash flow, and repeatable design wins before it deserves full credit in valuation.
  • Backlog lowers some demand uncertainty, but investors still need timing, cancellation risk, concentration, and conversion economics before treating it as de-risked revenue.
  • Margin strength is not itself a risk; the risk is whether that margin level is sustainable if revenue mix, investment spend, or pricing changes.
  • There is enough downside language in the transcript to require follow-up on execution, timing, or disclosure quality rather than reading the quarter as fully clean.

The data-center angle appears investable but still needs sizing. The call connects the company to AI or compute-heavy infrastructure demand, which is directionally positive, but the thesis should depend on how much of that activity becomes durable revenue, royalties, and cash conversion rather than on thematic exposure alone.

  • How much of the AI or data-center engagement converts into recurring royalties or repeat revenue within the next four quarters?
  • What portion of backlog is cancellable, delayed, concentrated, or dependent on a small number of customers?
  • Can current margin levels persist as mix, headcount, and product investment change?
  • Did management quantify cash conversion and operating leverage, or only highlight revenue and demand?
  • Are customer wins broad enough to imply share gain rather than a few isolated projects?

FY2026 Q2 earnings call transcript

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NASDAQ:FTEK Q2 2026 Earnings Call Transcript Generated on 8/9/2026 Operator | Conference Operator: Welcome to the FuelTech, Inc. 2026 Second Quarter Financial Results Conference Call and Webcast. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. A question and answer session will follow the formal presentation. If anyone should require operator assistance during the conference, please press star zero on your telephone keypad. Please note, this conference is being recorded. I will now turn the conference over to Devin Sullivan, Managing Director of the Equity Group. Thank you, Devin. You may begin.

Please stand by. Operator | Conference Operator

Ladies and gentlemen, we are having a technical problem with the line of Devin Sullivan.

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Thank you for standing by. I will now turn the conference over to Devin Sullivan. Please stand by, we're having technical difficulties. Again, please stand by, we are having technical difficulties. Now we'll turn the call over to Devin Sullivan.

Please go ahead. Devin Sullivan | Managing Director, The Equity Group

Thank you, Jasmina, and good morning, everyone. Thank you for joining us today for FuelTech's 2026 Second Quarter Financial Results Conference Call. Yesterday after the close, we issued a press release, a copy of which is available at the company's website, www.ftek.com. Our speakers for today will be Vince Arnone, Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer, and Ellen Albrecht, the company's Chief Financial Officer. After prepared remarks, we will open the call for questions from our analysts and investors. Before turning things over to Vince, I'd like to remind everyone that matters discussed on this call, except for historical information or forward-looking statements, as defined in Section 21E of the Securities Act of 1934 as amended. which are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and reflect FuelTech's current expectations regarding future growth, the results of operations, cash flows, performance, and business prospects and opportunities, as well as assumptions made by and information currently available to our company's management. FuelTech has tried to identify forward-looking statements by using words such as anticipate, believe, plan, expect, estimate, intend, will, and similar expressions, but these words are not the exclusive means of identifying forward-looking statements. These statements are based on information currently available to FuelTech and are subject to various risks, uncertainties, and other factors, including but not limited to those discussed in FuelTech's annual report on Form 10-K. in item 1A under the caption of risk factors and subsequent filings under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 as amended, which could cause FuelTech's actual growth, results of operations, financial condition, cash flows, performance, business prospects, and opportunities to differ materially from those expressed in or implied by these statements. FuelTech undertakes no obligation to update such factors or to publicly announce the results of any forward-looking statements contained herein. to reflect future events, developments, or changed circumstances or for any other reasons. Investors are cautioned that all forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, including those detailed in the company's filings with the SEC. With that said, I'd now like to turn the call over to Vince Arnone. Vince, please go ahead.

Vince Arnone | Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer

Devin, good morning, and I'd like to thank everyone for joining us on the call today, and we apologize for the technical difficulties. Before I review our results, I want to acknowledge that, as announced last night, this will be my final earnings call as president and CEO of FuelTech. Effective August 10th, 2026, Ramesh Nagahali will succeed me in this role. I will share some additional thoughts on this transition at the conclusion of my remarks, but first, let's discuss our performance for the second quarter. Our performance in the second quarter was improved versus the prior year period across both of our business segments. Consolidated revenues rose 17% to $6.5 million with our APC and fuel chem business segments delivering double-digit revenue growth of 11% and 21% respectively. We continued to make progress toward commercialization with our dissolved gas infusion or DGI business initiative, and we ended the quarter in a strong financial position with cash, cash equivalents, and investments of approximately $30 million and no debt. We are pleased with our performance at the midpoint of the year, and we remain optimistic about the outlook for each of our business segments for full year 2026. Let's begin with our APC business segment. On our last call, I noted that we had secured our largest set of awards in recent history, totaling approximately $10 million in contracts with utility and industrial customers. As a reminder, these awards were anchored by a contract for the integration of our selective catalytic reduction technology with two new natural gas fired turbines for a large publicly owned Midwest municipal utility. The installation of these new GE Vernova turbines will increase the plant's output by approximately 100 megawatts, with the expansion expected to become operational in 2029. I am pleased to report that engineering work has commenced on this project and equipment will be ready to deliver in the fourth quarter of 2027. In combination, these awards drove our consolidated APC backlog to $14.3 million at June 30, 2026, which was the largest quarter-end backlog that we had reported since 2018. Last week, we were pleased to announce new APC contracts valued at $2.6 million that addressed the needs of two industrial customers. One, a new customer that is active in the gas infrastructure market space, and the other, a long-term recurring customer. Both customers required our SCR technology to address their emissions reduction requirements. In our last quarterly conference call, we had noted that these contracts were close to being awarded. Inclusive of these new awards, Our effective backlog as of today is approximately $17 million. With respect to the larger data center opportunity, the U.S. data center market remains in an historic boom, driven primarily by AI, cloud computing, and hyperscale deployments. Demand continues to exceed supply in most major markets, capital investment is setting records, and developers are aggressively pursuing new projects. The industry is increasingly constrained by four major factors. First, power availability, which is the single largest bottleneck. Second, permitting and zoning delays. Third, growing local community opposition. And lastly, supply chain shortages for electrical equipment and skilled labor. The result is a market where capital is abundant, but getting projects energized and operational is becoming increasingly difficult. Regarding power generation specifically, many of the major gas turbine suppliers have delivery lead times of greater than five years for large turbines, and many are evaluating investment in an incremental manufacturing capacity. As a result, we are seeing more data center development using aero derivative turbines, and in some cases reciprocating engines as a source of power for the data centers. With respect to FuelTech's participation in this market space, Our sales pipeline for these opportunities remains strong and approximates 75 to 100 million dollars for projects integrating our SCR technology with power generation sources. Please note that the value of the pollution control scope of supply represents a very small fraction of the estimated total AI infrastructure spend. I want to again emphasize that in all instances, we are a subcontractor to the data center integrator or to the turbine or engine OEM. Our role remains to support the needs of our direct customers regarding the design and delivery of a pollution control system that can best benefit the application. Beyond that, our knowledge regarding project funding, approval and timing is generally limited. At present, we are in various stages of participation in project opportunities for several different data center projects in conjunction with integrators and turbine and engine OEMs, including some of the largest companies in the industry. All of these inquiries are for pollution control systems, primarily SCR, in support of the development of onsite power generation. The size of these projects ranges from a few systems for up to 30, 40 units per project, with pricing at about $1 million to $4 million per unit. Regarding timing, On our last call, I had mentioned that there were two opportunities that could come to fruition in the second quarter. One of them did not continue to develop, and the timing of the second one had been delayed. That said, there is a possibility that one of our inquiries can convert to a commercial award based on our conversations with the various parties involved before the end of Q3. With this specific customer, we have been discussing a capacity reservation and long lead time procurement agreement where we would guarantee available capacity for fabrication capability and longer lead time items for our technology with our supply chain in exchange for a capacity reservation fee. We are watching this development closely. However, the remainder of the inquiries will develop further as we move throughout the year. We believe that we are still very much in the running to capture a share of these opportunities and we remain optimistic about our prospects for 2026. As a side note, none of these project opportunities are in states that have placed a moratorium on data center development, including New York. Regarding our near-term APC sales pipeline, exclusive of the data center opportunities, we are currently tracking $8 to $10 million in additional potential awards for project opportunities integrating our SDR and other pollution control technologies with power generation sources. We would expect to close on at least $3 to $5 million of these awards before the end of the third quarter or early in the fourth. Now, let's discuss our fuel chem business segment, which produced another solid quarter with revenues rising 21% to $3.7 million for the quarter versus prior year, primarily due to increased operational dispatch at legacy accounts. Our fuel chem segment is benefiting from high dispatch in these warm summer months. with a particular benefit to our legacy units. We expect to see strong performance in Q3 and continue to expect that segment revenues for the full year will approximate last year's results. Last quarter, we disclosed that a FuelChem customer had temporarily halted a six-month commercially priced demonstration program that commenced in early November of 2025. The halt was due to an issue with the plant's operations with no relation to FuelChem's performance. In fact, the customer noted that we helped produce a material reduction in downtime and maintenance costs largely attributed to decreased offline cleaning. The customer is planning to restart the program in mid-Q4 of 2026, and we expect to realize a modest impact on fourth quarter results. That said, if we are able to convert this account to a commercial account, 2027 would see a material benefit as this program could contribute approximately $2.5 to $3 million in revenue on an annualized basis based on running the program full-time with historic fuel chem gross margins. In addition to this demonstration, we are pursuing at least one other coal-fired unit opportunity that could result in a demonstration before the end of the year. We will provide more color on this opportunity on our third quarter earnings conference call. I wanted to mention one last point regarding our fuel count segment, and that is the status of an opportunity that has been dormant for some time, and that is our opportunity in Mexico. As we have discussed previously, this promising but still developing opportunity is tied primarily to the desire of the Mexican government to put emphasis on emissions and pollution control, specifically as it relates to the use of heavy fuel oil generated from their refining operations as fuel for power generation. Heavy fuel oil is being used in abundance to generate power in Mexico as this fuel is readily available, inexpensive, and provides a transitional source of power generation in Mexico while other sources are being developed. Conversations with our partners in Mexico have recently been rekindled. We are hopeful that working together, we can expand the provision of our chemical technology in that country. On the regulatory front, We have seen that the current administration is pursuing both the rollback of specific regulations that had been put in place previously and the implementation of new regulations that are less restrictive than those currently in place. These proposed rollbacks do not loosen the nitrogen oxide emissions reduction requirements for any sources and could potentially extend the life of some coal and natural gas fired units that may not have to reduce their emissions profile. We will take the opportunity, where applicable, to offer retrofit and maintenance solutions to accommodate the extension of useful life. Regarding the implementation of new rules, earlier this year, we reported that EPA had issued new source performance standards, also known as NSPS, for new gas turbines, which were published in the Federal Register on January 15. A new category of gas turbines was created called temporary power turbines, and is applicable to units below 85 megawatts and installed to run for 24 months or less. These units will be required to achieve NOx levels of 25 ppm, which may not require SCR for all turbines. Turbines greater than 5 megawatts with high operating capacity will need to meet 15 ppm NOx, likely requiring SCR. Turbines greater than 85 megawatts will need to get to 5 ppm NOx which will require SCR in almost all cases. With this rule in place, power generation developers will need to decide how best to proceed with their air pollution control solutions for their new sources of power generation. Based on the discussions that we have had with our potential customer base, we are not aware of this new regulation having a significant negative impact on decision making regarding the implementation of pollution controls. We know that there are legal challenges to the NSPS that could affect the timing or final requirements of the rule, and we will continue to monitor the situation. It is important to note that state-specific permitting requirements can vary from the new federal regulation. It is also important to note that outside of the NSPS requirements, the use of multiple small gas turbines working together could classify them as a major source for NOx emission control. Major sources are governed by other regulations and are often required to meet more stringent NOx emissions which would require SCR. Now I'd like to turn the discussion to DGI. An extended DGI demo at a Western U.S. fish hatchery was completed at the end of the second quarter and the DGI technology delivered strong performance with optimized oxygen delivery, program cost savings, and fish growth. We have been asked by this client to prepare a proposal for a DGI system that could meet the oxygen requirements of the full hatchery and we are in the process of developing that proposal right now. Our second trial at a southeast U.S. municipal wastewater facility is on extended month-to-month rental in follow-up to the original six-month rental term and we expect this trial to generate approximately $100,000 in rental revenue in 2026. With this trial, the client reported that odor-related complaints in the area surrounding the plant have been dramatically reduced and we have been working with the customer to assist them in assessing their oxygen delivery needs. This client is in the process of upgrading their primary aeration system and this upgrade will be complete later this year. Upon completion, the client will evaluate the need for the supplemental aeration that DGI has been providing. Additionally, we are currently in discussions with multiple other end markets of interest for DGI, including pulp and paper, food and beverage, Chemical, Petrochemical, and Horticulture. As noted earlier, we are optimistic about our outlook for 2026, driven by an expanded project backlog and opportunity landscape at APC, anticipated strong results at FuelChem, and progress toward our first commercial DGI contract. Taking all of this into account, we expect that revenues for 2026 will exceed the level of 2025, with FuelChem approximating 2025 revenues and APC exceeding 2025 performance. I want to emphasize that while our backlog has risen substantially, the majority of the revenue assigned to the new large APC contract award that I discussed earlier will be generated in 2027. Further, this 2026 APC outlook excludes the benefit of specific data center awards, which would be additive to this forecast. Now, before I turn the call over to Ellen, I'd like to spend a few moments on my upcoming retirement and the transition of leadership at FuelTech. After considerable reflection, I decided that the time had come for me to retire from FuelTech, concluding what has been a remarkable journey of 27 years with the company, including the privilege of serving as president and CEO for the past 11 years. When I joined FuelTech nearly three decades ago, I could not have foreseen what lay ahead. Together as a team, we have navigated changing markets, evolving technologies, and periods of growth and transformation. Along the way, I have been fortunate to work along extremely talented colleagues and have experienced business protocols in more than 15 countries and with a multitude of different companies. If there is one lesson I have learned throughout my career, it is that success in business and happiness in life are always driven by people. To our employees, thank you. Your diligence, commitment, and teamwork have been the foundation of everything we have accomplished. To our board of directors, thank you for your counsel and stewardship. And to our shareholders, thank you for your trust and investment, which have enabled us to pursue our mission and work to create long-term value. Serving this company has been one of the greatest honors of my professional life. I am proud of what we have built together and optimistic about FuelTech's future. And while I am retiring from my day-to-day responsibilities, I will remain a proud advocate of FuelTech and will continue to serve on the board as a non-independent director. With that said, I'd like to say a few words about my successor, Ramesh Nagahalli. Ramesh's selection was the result of a thorough, months-long executive search process conducted by the board which involves the evaluation and interviewing of multiple qualified candidates, and I'm very pleased that Ramesh has agreed to join the FuelTech team. Ramesh is a global, commercially oriented operating executive who has led growth, restructuring, and operational improvement initiatives across industries directly relevant to FuelTech, including environmental technologies, power generation, water infrastructure, and engineered systems. He has held senior leadership roles at General Electric, Amtech, Tyco, Pentair, Xylem, and most recently, Seco Environmental, with expertise spanning capital allocation, growth strategy, M&A, and operational improvement. In getting to know Ramesh during this process, I am confident that his background, temperament, and accomplishments make him exceptionally well-positioned to lead FuelTech into its next chapter of growth and development. Now, for the last time, I'd like to turn the call over to Ellen for her comments on our financial results. For those of you that are not aware, I have had the privilege of working alongside Ellen for most of my 27 years at FuelTech, and it would be impossible in a few brief remarks to fully capture the breadth and impact of her contributions to our organization. Ellen, please go ahead.

Ellen Albrecht | Chief Financial Officer

Thank you, Vince, and good morning, everyone. For the quarter, consolidated revenues rose by 17% to $6.5 million from $5.6 million in the prior year period, driven by increases in both fuel chem and APC segment revenues. Consolidated gross margin for the second quarter declined to 41% of revenues from 46% in the last year's first quarter as a result of lower segment gross margins for both the fuel chem and APC segments. The income revenue rose 21% to $3.7 million from $3.1 million, primarily due to increased operational dispatch at legacy accounts. Segment margin declined slightly to 45% from 47% in the second quarter of 2025 due to demonstration costs, increased freight costs, and additional labor costs for unit maintenance. APC segment revenue rose 11% to $2.8 million from 2.5 million, primarily related to the timing of project execution on existing contracts. Despite higher segment revenue, APC segment gross margin decreased to 36% from 44%. The decrease in APC margin reflected project mix, contract timing, and costs associated with project execution. We expect segment margins to continue to vary based on revenue mix, customer activity, Project Milestones, and Related Cost Levels. Consolidated APC Segment Backlog on June 30, 2026 was $14.3 million compared to backlog of $7 million at December 31, 2025. Backlog at June 30 included $11.3 million of domestically delivered project backlog and $3 million of foreign delivered project backlog. The company's backlog and recently awarded contracts are expected to affect revenue recognition in future periods. However, the timing of revenue recognition may vary based on customer schedules, project milestones, contract terms, and execution risks. Approximately $10.5 million of the $14.3 million backlog at June 30th is expected to be recognized in the next 12 months, barring no customer-driven delays. SG&A expenses rose to $3.6 million in the second quarter, compared to $3.3 million last year. As a percentage of revenue, SG&A expenses declined to 55% from 60% in the prior year period, reflecting higher consolidated sales growth compared to SG&A growth during the quarter. For 2026, we continue to expect SG&A expenses will range between $14.5 to $15 million. Research and development expenses for the second quarter rose to $646,000 from $490,000 during the prior year period. Our R&D investments largely reflect our ongoing investment in our water and wastewater treatment technologies, specifically our DGI systems. Our investment in DGI will continue throughout 2026 to support ongoing site demonstrations and other growth initiatives as we ramp up towards commercialization later this year. Operating loss in the second quarter was $1.6 million compared to a loss of $1.3 million in the prior year period. Net loss was $1.2 million or $0.04 per diluted share compared to a net loss of $689,000 or $0.02 per diluted share in the prior year period. Adjusted EBITDA loss was $1.2 million in the second quarter compared to an adjusted EBITDA loss of $948,000 in the prior year period. Lastly, moving to the balance sheet, our financial condition remains strong. As of June 30th, we had total cash, cash equivalents and investments of $29.6 million, which was comprised of cash and cash equivalents of $7.6 million and short and long-term investments of $22 million. Shares outstanding at quarter end were approximately $31.2 million, equating to cash per share of $1.05. Working capital was $20.1 million, or $0.65 per share. Stockholders' equity was $37.4 million, or $1.20 per share, and the company continues to have no outstanding debt. We remain greatly confident in our ability to maintain a strong financial position to fund our short and long-term growth initiatives for FuelChem, APC, and DGI. Before I turn the call back over to Vince, I'd like to take a moment to express on behalf of myself, both as an employee and a shareholder, and on behalf of the company, what an honor and privilege it has been to work for and with Vince. Vince's dedication to this company, its employees, its operation, and its long-term success has been extraordinary. While much of this work has taken place behind the scenes and may not always been visible to others, Those of us who have had the opportunity to work alongside him have experienced the commitment, integrity, and leadership that he has brought to this organization every day. His contributions have had a lasting impact on this company and are deeply appreciated by me and my colleagues. As Vince begins this new chapter, we wish him continued success. At the same time, we are excited about the future of the company and the opportunity to build upon the strong foundation he has spent so many years creating and nurturing. His legacy will continue to shape our success for years to come. Thank you, Vince, for your leadership, your dedication, and everything you have done for FuelTech and its people. The pleasure truly has been ours.

Vince Arnone | Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer

Ellen, thank you very much for the very kind words. Operator, let's go ahead and open the call for questions.

Operator | Conference Operator

Thank you. We will now be conducting a question and answer session. If you would like to ask a question, please press star one on your telephone keypad. A confirmation tone will indicate your line is in the question queue. You may press start to if you would like to remove your question from the queue. For participants using speaker equipment, it may be necessary to pick up your handset before pressing the start keys. One moment please while we poll for questions. Our first question is from Samir Joshi with H.C.

Wainwright. Please go ahead. Samir Joshi | Analyst, H.C. Wainwright

Good morning, Vince, Ellen. Good morning, Samir. My pleasure. Sad to see you leave, but you have done great for the company for the last so many years, so it's been a pleasure covering the company while you were at the helm.

Thank you. Vince Arnone | Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer

A pleasure working with you as well over the years, Samir.

It's been a pleasure. Samir Joshi | Analyst, H.C. Wainwright

So just in terms of the opportunities that you have highlighted, last call and this call and this call, sorry, I'm hearing an echo. In any case, In 2027, should we expect this to become a significant source of revenues, or should we expect this to be like a 28-28 or 2029 upside?

Vince Arnone | Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer

I think relative to the data center opportunity, Ramesh, everything depends on timing of contract award at the end of the day, right? So I made reference to one opportunity that we are indeed following very closely right now, The delivery timeframes for this opportunity are early to mid-2027 delivery timeframes are what we are talking about right now. So there is the opportunity for some revenues to come into 2027 timeframe, but it fully depends on the timing of when the contract comes into fruition and then the expected delivery timeframes for having those turbines and then our related pollution control systems at site. So I'd say as we sit here today, there is a possibility for material revenues in 2027. Pending contract award, of course.

Samir Joshi | Analyst, H.C. Wainwright

Yeah, you did mention the full Q27 possibility of that, some revenues from this. Okay, thank you. On the On the DGI front, it seems that the fisheries demo went very well and they are waiting for a proposal from you guys. Do we know what the size of that award could look like and what would be the timeline of implementation and revenue recognition on that if it comes through?

Vince Arnone | Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer

Understood. So for a full system for that particular hatchery, I'll give you a range because it will depend on what level of equipment configuration that the client ultimately wants. But the sale of the DGI system could range anywhere from $500,000 to as much as $1 million, depending on the configuration, the level of redundancy that we would have with that system as well. So that's the range we're talking about. and the revenue profile, if we were actually awarded a contractor for that system before the end of the year, all of that revenue would be recognized in 2027. It would be probably a five to six month project build, if you will, for that equipment build out.

Samir Joshi | Analyst, H.C. Wainwright

Understood, and then this, could act as a demonstration of your capacity for other similar applications as well, I guess.

Vince Arnone | Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer

It sure would. It would be an outstanding reference if this was able to move forward.

Samir Joshi | Analyst, H.C. Wainwright

And then on the FuelChem side, I know you mentioned the one additional potential customer is on the horizon. Is there a concerted effort to increase this customer base in 2027? How should we look at revenues from FuelChem in 2027 and beyond?

Hello. Operator | Conference Operator

Please hold. Ladies and gentlemen, please stand by.

Operator | Conference Operator

Oh, so you're now reconnected.

Samir Joshi | Analyst, H.C. Wainwright

Yeah.

I'm still here. Operator | Conference Operator

Mr. Joshi, you may proceed with your question.

Samir Joshi | Analyst, H.C. Wainwright

Oh, okay, thanks. So yeah, the question was about FuelChem's outlook and new customers in 2027. I know you're working on one right now that may materialize by year end or early next year. Just wanted to see how to see additional customers in 2027.

Operator | Conference Operator

Please stand by.

Operator | Conference Operator

Say that again.

Operator | Conference Operator

Ladies and gentlemen, we thank you for your patience. Gentlemen, you may resume your event.

Vince Arnone | Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer

This is Vincent Arnone back online. Sameer, are you there?

Samir Joshi | Analyst, H.C. Wainwright

Sameer. Yes, I can hear you.

Vince Arnone | Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer

Thank you.

Samir Joshi | Analyst, H.C. Wainwright

Sorry about that. Yeah, the question was about FuelChem's outlook for 2027. Are there additional customers or installations that you may be looking for and many more.

Thank you. Vince Arnone | Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer

the client that we'll be restarting the demo on in the fourth quarter of this year we're looking to convert that to a commercial account as we move into 2027 so as I mentioned if that does convert and does run full time throughout the year that's about a $2.5 to $3 million incremental revenue contribution for 2027 and then I mentioned that there's at least one other coal-fired account that we're were hoping to get a demonstration opportunity on later in this year. But right now, I would say it's premature to look to account for anything regarding that opportunity in 2027.

Samir Joshi | Analyst, H.C. Wainwright

And then just the last one, given that there is going to be change at the CEO position, is there a mandate that has been given to Ramesh or especially because you have a strong balance sheet and there could be acquisitions that could be had with Ramesh's experience in integrating those in his past experience.

Vince Arnone | Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer

Right. So I would say as we sit here today, Ramesh, that there is no specific mandate, but I will tell you that Ramesh, along with the board support, We'll be looking at a variety of different opportunities to see if we can enhance our top line. That could include some level of M&A, if and when it makes sense for FuelTech, if we find an appropriate organization that we think would be accretive incrementally for us to take a look at for the company. I think that'll be part of his overall scope as he evaluates how we move FuelTech to the next level.

Samir Joshi | Analyst, H.C. Wainwright

Thanks a lot, Vince, for today and for all the past years.

Have a good one. Vince Arnone | Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer

You're very welcome.

Thank you. Operator | Conference Operator

We have reached the end of the question and answer session. I would like to turn the floor back over to Vince Arnone for closing comments.

Vince Arnone | Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer

Thank you, operator. I want to thank everyone for joining the call today. It truly has been my privilege to speak with everyone on these calls over the many years, both as CEO and previously as CFO. My goal has always been to provide a transparent and factual depiction of our company, its operations and its opportunities, and I hope I have conveyed the messaging well over the years. Lastly, I'd be remiss if I didn't provide a quick thank you to a few special individuals prior to signing off, as I would not have been able to provide the stewardship for FuelTech without the support of these individuals. To Sharon, my partner of 18 years, and to her children, Isabel and Grant, thanks for your ongoing care and support. I love you guys, and I look forward to spending more time with you in the future. And I also want to thank my brother, Bobby, who has always been there for me. With that, thanks everyone, and I truly wish everyone my best.

Thank you. Operator | Conference Operator

This concludes today's teleconference. You may disconnect your lines at this time. Thank you for your participation. jsPDF 3.0.3 D:20260809225820-00'00'

Research summary and source transcript

readyJun 10, 2026

FuelTech's Q1 2026 results showed a slight year-over-year revenue decline driven by weakness in the FuelChem segment, partially offset by growth in APC. Management highlighted a significant near-term information gradient: the company has secured approximately $10 million in new APC contract awards, more than doubling its pro forma APC backlog to $17 million—the highest since 2018. While most revenue from the largest award will not be recognized until 2027, the backlog expansion and active data center pipeline (estimated at $75–$100 million in opportunity) suggest a potential inflection point in 2027–2028 that is not yet reflected in current market expectations.

Management knows today that the company has secured approximately $10 million in new APC contract awards, including a landmark award for SCR integration with GE Vernova turbines at a Midwest municipal utility expanding by 100 MW, which has more than doubled the pro forma APC backlog to $17 million—the highest since 2018. While Vince Arnone emphasized that the majority of revenue from this award will be generated in 2027 (with engineering work commencing Q1 2026 and equipment deliveries starting Q4 2027), the backlog expansion provides concrete, near-term visibility into future revenue streams that the market may not fully appreciate given the current focus on Q1 2026's slight revenue decline. Additionally, the data center opportunity pipeline remains strong at $75–$100 million in potential projects integrating SCR with power generation, with 8–10 active inquiries underway, though timing remains uncertain and no near-term conversions are guaranteed. This backlog growth and pipeline development represent material forward-looking information not yet priced in, with meaningful revenue recognition likely beginning in 2027.

The business is driven by: (1) backlog conversion in the APC segment, particularly from large-scale SCR awards tied to power generation projects; (2) conversion of demonstration programs to commercial contracts in FuelChem and DGI; and (3) successful engagement with data center developers and turbine OEMs to position SCR as part of on-site power generation platforms, where timing and award conversion are critical to near-term growth.

  • Expansion of APC backlog and recent $10 million in new contract awards
  • Data center opportunity pipeline and positioning with turbine OEMs and integrators
  • Progress in converting FuelChem demonstration to commercial contract with a major U.S. customer
  • Ongoing DGI demonstrations and expansion into new end markets (pulp/paper, food/beverage, etc.)
  • Impact of regulatory changes (NSPS for gas turbines) on emissions control demand
  • Financial strength: $30.6 million in cash and investments, no long-term debt
  • Vince Arnone's detailed emphasis on the significance of the $10 million APC award, calling it the 'largest set of awards in terms of contract value that we have received in recent history' and noting it 'more than doubled our pro forma APC backlog to approximately $17 million'
  • His specific discussion of the GE Vernova turbine integration and how the award lends 'more specific credibility' for data center opportunities
  • The repeated emphasis on the data center pipeline being 'strong' and approximating '$75 to $100 million' in opportunity, with 8–10 active projects
  • His optimism about converting one of the 8–10 data center inquiries to a commercial award before end of Q2 2026
  • His highlight that the APC backlog of $17 million is 'the largest backlog that we have had since 2018'

Management displayed a candid and detailed tone, particularly Vince Arnone, who engaged deeply with technical and commercial specifics—such as turbine models (GE Vernova), emissions thresholds (5 ppm, 15 ppm, 25 ppm NOx), project timelines (engineering work Q1 2026, deliveries Q4 2027), and customer types (municipal utilities, data center integrators). He corrected misconceptions forcefully (e.g., rejecting the claim that the sales team had no role in the $10 million award) and provided granular context on backlog composition, margin drivers, and regulatory impacts. Ellen Albrecht delivered a clear, factual summary of financials without embellishment. There was no evident evasiveness or overpromising; instead, management balanced optimism about the backlog and pipeline with clear-eyed acknowledgment of timing risks (e.g., 'majority of revenue... will be generated in 2027') and uncertainties in demonstration conversions. The tone was credible, transparent, and grounded in observable progress rather than speculation.

  • No clear dodged analyst question was detected by the local fallback; manual review should still check whether Q&A answers quantified conversion, margins, and guidance.
  • There may be a benchmark or metric-framing issue worth manual review, especially around adjusted metrics, timelines, or changed expectations.

FuelTech appears to be maintaining or slightly improving its competitive position, particularly in the APC segment, where the recent $10 million award and backlog growth to $17 million (highest since 2018) suggest renewed traction in large-scale SCR projects. The company's emphasis on credibility gains from using GE Vernova turbines—common in data center applications—indicates strategic progress in penetrating a high-growth adjacent market. However, the lack of insider buying, persistent losses, and reliance on lengthy sales cycles for large projects suggest that while the company may be improving its competitive stance, it has not yet demonstrated a clear, sustained advantage over competitors in winning or executing projects at scale. The position is best described as 'stabilizing with potential upside' rather than definitively winning or losing.

  • Consolidated Q1 2026 revenue: $6.1 million, down from $6.4 million in Q1 2025
  • APC segment revenue: $1.6 million in Q1 2026, up 23% from $1.3 million in Q1 2025
  • FuelChem segment revenue: $4.5 million in Q1 2026, down from $5.1 million in Q1 2025
  • Consolidated gross margin: 43% in Q1 2026, down from 46% in Q1 2025
  • APC segment margin: 38.3% in Q1 2026, up nearly 600 basis points from prior year
  • Pro forma APC backlog: approximately $17 million as of the call date, more than doubled from prior levels and highest since 2018
  • New APC contract awards: approximately $10 million in value, announced the week prior to the call
  • Data center opportunity pipeline: $75–$100 million in potential projects integrating SCR with power generation
  • Conversion of one or more of the 8–10 active data center inquiries to commercial awards, particularly before end of Q2 2026 or through 2026
  • Successful conversion of the FuelChem demonstration program to a commercial contract, potentially adding $2.5–$3 million in annual revenue
  • Progress on the recently awarded $10 million APC contract, with engineering work commencing Q1 2026 and equipment deliveries beginning Q4 2027, leading to revenue recognition in 2027
  • Closure of $3–$5 million from the near-term APC sales pipeline ($8–$10 million) by end of Q2 or early Q3 2026
  • Advancement of DGI demonstrations to commercial solutions in end markets like wastewater, fish hatchery, pulp/paper, or food/beverage
  • The majority of revenue from the $10 million APC award will not be recognized until 2027, creating a gap between near-term backlog growth and actual revenue
  • Data center opportunity timing remains uncertain; Vince noted that one expected Q2 2026 opportunity did not continue, and another was delayed, with no guarantee of near-term conversions
  • FuelChem segment remains vulnerable to seasonal dispatch, maintenance outages, and operational demands at customer sites, which are outside FuelTech's control
  • SG&A expenses rose to 61% of revenue in Q1 2026 (from 52% prior year), reflecting operating leverage challenges at lower revenue levels
  • Continued operating and net losses despite strong cash position, raising questions about path to profitability
  • Dependence on third-party turbine OEMs and integrators for data center awards, limiting FuelTech's control over timing and pricing

FuelTech has direct but indirect exposure to the data center boom through its role as a subcontractor providing SCR pollution control systems for on-site power generation at data centers. Vince Arnone explicitly stated that the company is in various stages of participation for 8 to 10 different data center projects with integrators and turbine OEMs, including some of the largest companies in the industry, with project sizes ranging from 2–5 to 30–40 SCR units priced at $1–$3 million per unit. While the recently awarded $10 million APC contract with the Midwest municipal utility was not deemed data center-specific (as the turbines are 'in front of the meter' for municipal infrastructure), Vince noted it uses a GE Vernova turbine model 'commonly being deployed for data center-specific opportunities,' lending credibility. He emphasized that data center awards are likely to be the 'primary source of material near-term growth' and that the company is devoting 'substantial internal and external resources' to capture this opportunity. However, he also clarified that FuelTech's knowledge regarding funding, approval, and timing is 'generally limited,' and that the pollution control scope re

  • What is the expected timeline for revenue recognition from the recently awarded $10 million APC contract, and what percentage is expected in 2026 vs. 2027?
  • How many of the 8–10 active data center inquiries have progressed to late-stage negotiations, and what is the estimated probability and timing of conversion to commercial awards in 2026?
  • What specific milestones must be achieved for the FuelChem demonstration customer to convert to a commercial contract, and what is the expected timeline for that conversion?
  • Given the rise in SG&A to 61% of revenue, what is the company's plan to achieve operating leverage as revenue grows, and what is the long-term target for SG&A as a percentage of revenue?
  • How does the new NSPS regulation for gas turbines (particularly the 5 ppm NOx requirement for units >85 MW) specifically impact the addressable market for FuelTech's SCR systems in new power generation projects?
  • What is the expected gross margin profile for the $10 million APC contract and similar large-scale awards, and how does it compare to historical APC segment margins?
  • Beyond the current pipeline, what is the sustainable annual run-rate of new APC bookings the company expects to achieve excluding data center opportunities?
  • What are the key technical or regulatory barriers that could prevent DGI from moving beyond demonstrations to commercial sales in target end markets like pulp/paper or food/beverage?

FY2026 Q1 earnings call transcript

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NASDAQ:FTEK Q1 2026 Earnings Call Transcript Generated on 6/6/2026 Jill | Operator: Greetings, and welcome to the FuelTech, Inc. 2026 First Quarter Financial Results Conference Call and Webcast. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. A question and answer session will follow the formal presentation. If anyone should require operator assistance, please press star zero on your telephone keypad. As a reminder, this conference is being recorded. It is now my pleasure to introduce Devin Sullivan, Managing Director of the Equity Group.

Devin. Devin Sullivan | Managing Director, The Equity Group

Thank you, Jill. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us today for FuelTech's 2026 First Quarter Financial Results Conference Call. Yesterday, after the close, we issued a press release, a copy of which is available at the company's website, www.ftek.com. Our speakers for today will be Vince Arnone, Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer, and Ellen Albrecht, the company's Chief Financial Officer. After prepared remarks, we will open the call for questions from our analysts and investors. Before turning things over to Vince, I'd like to remind everyone that matters discussed on this call, except for historical information, are forward-looking statements as defined in Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 as amended, which are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and reflect FuelTech's current expectations regarding future growth, results of operations, cash flows, performance and business prospects and opportunities, as well as assumptions made by and information currently available to our company's management. FuelTech has tried to identify forward-looking statements by using words such as anticipate, believe, plan, expect, estimate, intend, will, and similar expressions, but these words are not the exclusive means of identifying forward-looking statements. These statements are based on information currently available to FuelTech and are subject to various risks, uncertainties, and other factors. including but not limited to those discussed in FuelTech's annual report on Form 10-K in Item 1A under the caption of Risk Factors and Subsequent Filings under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 as amended, which could cause FuelTech's actual growth, results of operations, financial condition, cash flows, performance, business prospects, and opportunities to differ materially from those expressed in or implied by these statements. FuelTech undertakes no obligation to update such factors or to publicly announce the results of any forward-looking statements contained herein to reflect future events, development, and circumstances or for any other reasons. Investors are cautioned that all forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, including those detailed in the company's filings with the SEC. With that said, I'd now like to turn the call over to Vince Arnone. Vince, please go ahead.

Vince Arnone | Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer

Thank you, Devin. Good morning, and I'd like to thank everyone for joining us on the call today. Our first quarter results, although strong, fell slightly short of last year's Q1 results, with improved performance in our air pollution control business segment being offset by a decline in revenues for our fuel chem business segment. We continue to validate the efficacy and client return on investment for our dissolved gas infusion demonstrations and we maintained a strong financial position with cash, cash equivalents, and investments of nearly $31 million at quarter end and no long-term debt. Most importantly, our outlook for the year has changed significantly and for the better. The expanded opportunity landscape that we have been tracking for our APC business segment resulted in the largest set of awards in terms of contract value that we have received in recent history. Last week, we announced multiple air pollution control contracts valued at approximately $10 million with utility and industrial customers. The new awards were anchored by a contract for the integration of our selective catalytic reduction pollution control technology with two new natural gas fire turbines for a large publicly owned Midwest municipal utility. The installation of these new GE Vernova turbines will increase the plant's output by approximately 100 megawatts. The expansion and the generating station is expected to become operational in 2029. We are scheduled to commence engineering work this quarter with equipment deliveries scheduled to begin in the fourth quarter of 2027. The utility is undertaking this expansion to meet the region's rapidly growing electricity demand. We believe that this project reflects a growing focus on municipalities and states working together to plan infrastructure upgrades in response to and in anticipation of population expansion and commercial and data center growth. A strong, reliable power grid is one of the largest factors in determining where data centers are developed, and operators need abundant capacity reliability, and a path to fast interconnection, as well as emissions control solutions that address compliance, reporting, and air permitting requirements that reduce carbon footprints and meet sustainability goals. These contracts have more than doubled our pro forma APC backlog to approximately $17 million at this date, which is the largest backlog that we have had since 2018. With respect to the larger data center opportunity, our sales pipeline for these opportunities remains strong and approximates $75 to $100 million for projects integrating our SCR technology with power generation sources. Please note that the value of the pollution control scope of supply represents a very small fraction of the estimated total AI infrastructure spend. I want to again emphasize that in all instances, We are a subcontractor to the data center integrator or to the turbine or engine OEM. Our role remains the support and education of our direct customer regarding the design and delivery of a pollution control system that can best benefit the application. Beyond that, our knowledge regarding funding, approval, and timing is generally limited. As I noted on our year-end conference call in March, data center awards are likely to be the primary source of material near-term growth for our company. Our optimism remains high. As such, we have been and continue to devote substantial internal and external resources to position FuelTech with data center developers and turbine and engine providers to deliver NOx reduction technologies as part of a data center's power generation platform. At present, we are in various stages of participation and project opportunities for 8 to 10 different data center projects in conjunction with integrators and turbine and engine OEMs, including some of the largest companies in the industry. All of these inquiries are for pollution control systems, primarily SCR, in support of the development of on-site power generation. The size of these projects ranges from as few as two to five units to as many as 30 to 40 NOx reduction units, with pricing predominantly in the range of $1 million to $3 million per unit. Regarding timing, on our last call, I had mentioned that there were two opportunities that could come to fruition in the second quarter. One of them did not continue to develop, and the timing of the second one has been delayed. That said, there is a possibility that one of our eight to 10 inquiries can convert to a commercial award based on our conversations with the various parties involved before the end of Q2. However, the remainder of the inquiries will develop further as we move throughout the year. We believe that we are still very much in the running to capture our share of these opportunities, and we remain optimistic about our prospects for 2026. As one last comment, I did want to note that we did not consider the large contract that we were awarded for the Midwest utility to be a data center-specific application, as the two new units will be deployed in front of the meter as part of the municipality's generating infrastructure. However, this award is material and significant for FuelTech, as the SCR pollution control system that we are providing is for a model of GE renova turbine that is commonly being deployed for data center-specific opportunities. This win lends credibility to our company as we move to capture a portion of the larger market opportunity. Regarding our near-term APC sales pipeline, exclusive of data center opportunities, we are currently tracking $8 to $10 million in additional potential awards, of which we expect to close on at least 3 to 5 million of these awards before the end of the current second quarter or early in the third. Included in this near-term pipeline are opportunities emanating from our recent acquisition of the technology portfolio of Walco Inc., a well-established environmental equipment and services company with several hundred project installations worldwide. The pace and scope of inquiries from Walco customers remains encouraging. Now, let's discuss our fuel chem business segment. Following a strong 2025, our fuel chem segment produced another solid quarter of revenue. Across the country, the operating lives of coal-fired units are being extended to meet rising energy demand with many facilities dispatched at levels not seen in several years. Our fuel chem segment continues to benefit from this trend, particularly across our legacy units. On our last conference call, I noted that we received benefit in the fourth quarter of 2025 from a new U.S. customer that is currently operating with us under a six-month commercially priced demonstration program that commenced in early November. As we have discussed previously, the annual revenue potential from this commercial opportunity, should it convert from a demonstration, is expected to be approximately $2.5 to $3 million based on the customer running the program full-time and with the revenue expected to generate historic fuel chem gross margins. During the first quarter of this year, the demonstration experienced a temporary interruption driven by unrelated plant operations, which limited its contribution to revenue. As of today, the customer has not yet completed the demonstration program. However, they have noted a material reduction in downtime and maintenance costs largely attributed to decreased offline cleaning which bodes well for a successful demonstration. These results continue to support a positive outlook for the demonstration, and we remain optimistic that this account will convert to a commercial program later in the year. On the regulatory front, we have seen that the current administration is currently pursuing both the rollback of specific regulations that had been put in place previously, and the implementation of new regulations that are less restrictive than those currently in place. These proposed rollbacks do not loosen the nitrogen oxide emissions requirements for any sources and could potentially extend the life of some coal and natural gas fired units that may not have to reduce their emissions profile. We will take the opportunity, where applicable, to offer retrofits and maintenance solutions to accommodate the extension of useful life. Regarding the implementation of new rules, earlier this year, we reported that EPA had issued new source performance standards, also called NSPS, for new gas turbines, which were published in the Federal Register on January 15th of this year. A new category of gas turbines was created called temporary power turbines and is applicable to units below 85 megawatts and installed to run for 24 months or less. These units will be required to achieve NOx levels of 25 ppm, which may not require SCR for all turbines. Turbines greater than 5 megawatts with operating capacity will need to meet 15 ppm NOx likely requiring SCR. And finally, turbines greater than 85 megawatts will need to get to 5 ppm NOx, which will require SCR in almost all cases. With this rule in place, power generation developers will need to decide how best to proceed with their pollution control solutions for their new sources of power generation. Based on the discussions that we have had with our potential customer base, We are not aware of this new regulation having a significant negative impact on decision-making regarding the implementation of pollution controls. It is important to note that state-specific permitting requirements can vary from the new federal regulation. It is also important to note that outside of the NSPS requirements, the use of multiple small gas turbines working together could classify them as a major source for NOx emissions control. Major sources are governed by other regulations and are often required to meet more stringent NOx emissions, which would require STR. DGI continued its extended technology demo at a Western U.S. fish hatchery, which is on track to end this quarter and has been delivering strong performance with optimized oxygen delivery, program cost savings, and improved fish growth. A second trial at a Southeast U.S. wastewater facility is on schedule to end its extended six-month rental phase in the third quarter. With this trial, the client reports that odor-related complaints in the area surrounding the plant have been dramatically reduced, and we are working with the customer to assist them in assessing their oxygen delivery needs. In both instances, we are discussing the post-demonstration next steps with the client's and remain hopeful that DGI will become a commercial solution for them. We are also currently in discussions with multiple other end markets of interest for DGI, including pulp and paper, food and beverage, chemical petrochemical, and horticulture. As I noted earlier, we are optimistic about our outlook for 2026. Driven by an expanded project backlog and opportunity landscape at APC, anticipated strong results at FuelChem and our first commercial DGI contract. Taking all of this into account, we expect that revenues for 2026 will exceed the level of 2025, with FuelChem approximating 2025 revenues and APC exceeding 2025 performance. I want to emphasize that while our backlog has risen substantially, The majority of the revenue assigned to the new large APC contract award that I discussed earlier will be generated in 2027. Further, this 2026 APC outlook excludes the benefit of specific data center awards, which would be additive to this forecast. Before turning things over to Ellen, I want to thank the entire FuelTech team for their continued dedication in advancing our strategic objectives and our shareholders for their patience and support. We are very excited about what the future holds for our company. Now, I'd like to turn the call over to Ellen for her comments on our financial results. Ellen, please go ahead.

Ellen Albrecht | Chief Financial Officer

Thank you, Vince, and good morning, everyone. For the quarter, consolidated revenues declined to 6.1 million from 6.4 million in the prior year period. Higher revenues in our APC business segment were offset by a decline in revenue for the fuel chem segment. Consolidated gross margin for the first quarter declined slightly to 43% of revenues from 46% in last year's first quarter as a result of segment concentration. APC segment revenue rose 23% to 1.6 million from 1.3 million primarily related to timing of project execution on existing contracts and ancillary business activity. Higher segment revenues and product and project mix led to a nearly 600 basis point expansion in segment margin to 38.3%. Fuel PEM revenue declined to $4.5 million from $5.1 million, primarily due to seasonal maintenance outages and dispatch-related decreases in operational demands. Segment margin declined to 45.3% from 49.9% in the first quarter of 2025, but is expected to return to historical averages as we move throughout the remainder of the year. Consolidated APC segment backlog on March 31st, 2026 was 6.9 million, roughly flat compared to a backlog of 7 million at December 31st, 2025. Backlog at March 31st included $3.6 million of domestically delivered project backlog and $3.3 million of foreign-delivered project backlog. Approximately $6 million of the $6.9 million project backlog at March 31st is expected to be recognized in the next 12 months, barring no customer-driven delays. We were very pleased to secure the recent APC contracts referenced by Vince. These agreements represent approximately $10 million in new bookings, strengthening our backlog, enhancing revenue visibility, and supporting both gross margin and cash flow as project milestones are achieved. While APC projects have traditionally spanned 8 to 24 months, we are observing increased forward planning from our clients, resulting in some projects with longer execution timelines. This will impact timing of revenue recognition. We will continue to actively manage these extended project durations to optimize strategic pricing and operational efficiency while further reinforcing our backlog for future periods. SG&A expenses rose to $3.7 million in the first quarter compared to $3.3 million last year. As a percentage of revenue, SG&A expenses rose to 61% from 52% in the prior year period reflecting higher total SG&A expenses and the effect of lower consolidated revenue. For 2026, we continue to expect SG&A expenses will range between $14 and $15 million. Research and development expenses for the first quarter were stable at $524,000. Our R&D investments largely reflect our ongoing investment in water and wastewater treatment technologies, specifically our DGI system. Our investment in DGI will continue throughout 2026 to support ongoing site demonstrations and other growth initiatives as we ramp up towards initial commercial sales later this year. Operating loss for the first quarter was $1.6 million compared to a loss of $952,000 in the prior year period. Net loss Net loss was $1.4 million or $0.04 per diluted share compared to a net loss of $739,000 or $0.02 per diluted share in the same prior year period. Adjusted EBITDA loss was $1.3 million in the first quarter compared to an adjusted EBITDA loss of $735,000 in the prior year period. Lastly, moving to the balance sheet, our financial condition remains very strong. As of March 31, 2026, total cash and investments was $30.6 million, comprised of cash and cash equivalents of $9.1 million, and short and long-term investments of $21.5 million. Shares outstanding at the quarter were approximately $31.2 million, equated to a cash per share of $0.98. Working capital was $22.2 million, or $0.71 per share, Stockholders' equity was $38.6 million, or $1.24 per share, and the company continues to have no outstanding debt. We remain very comfortable with our financial position and our ability to funding these awards while pursuing new contract opportunities across FuelChem, APC, and DGI. I'll turn the call back over to Vince.

Vince Arnone | Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer

Ellen, thank you very much. Operator, let's please go ahead and open the line for questions.

Jill | Operator

Yes sir. Ladies and gentlemen, if you would like to ask a question, please press star 1 on your telephone keypad and a confirmation tone will indicate your line is in the question queue. You may press star 2 if you would like to remove your question from the queue. For participants using speaker equipment, it may be necessary to pick up your handset before pressing the star keys. One moment please while we poll for questions. And our first question comes from the line of Sameer Joshi with HC Wainwright.

Please proceed. Sameer Joshi | Analyst, HC Wainwright

Hey, good morning, Vince, Alan. Thanks for taking my questions.

Vince Arnone | Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer

Good morning, Sameer.

Sameer Joshi | Analyst, HC Wainwright

Good morning. The first question on the regulatory front, the retrofit opportunity for old plants that will be required to continue to work. Can you give us an idea of what the opportunity for FuelTech, and what kind of efforts or resources have you applied towards this effort, and when should we start seeing any orders emanating from this effort?

Vince Arnone | Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer

Are you referring to anything related to the extension of coal-fired lives, Samir?

Sameer Joshi | Analyst, HC Wainwright

Yes, extension of the coal farm, yes.

Vince Arnone | Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer

Understood. So those, as I sit here right now, our largest landscape of opportunity is truly more so in the data center and other power generation build-out, right? Obviously, as a company, we have a long history of doing successful business with coal-fired utilities in this country. And so as those plants would look to extend their lives and where they indeed have the need to enhance their emissions control portfolios at that site, we're going to be there to assist them. As I sit here today, although I do believe there will be opportunities there, that's not something that I could necessarily readily quantify for you right now, just given the unknown circumstances there.

Sameer Joshi | Analyst, HC Wainwright

Understood. Okay. And does the 85, applications for 85 megawatts or greater sizes of new source power. Are you – same question, sort of. What are your efforts? Are you adding additional resources to identify specific locations where the installations might be bigger than 85 megawatts? And what timeline should we expect on that front?

Vince Arnone | Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer

Yeah, no specific resources added. These types of opportunities We'll call it, they'll follow our normal supply chain interaction and activity using our internal sales force and manufacturers representative individuals that we have out in the marketplace here in the U.S. specifically. and so I don't anticipate adding anything specific there, but relative to timing and or volume, those are the opportunities that we're following for power generation build-out and data center build-out as we sit here today. The larger contract that we just announced that is regarding the municipal public utility, that was actually a public tender that we were invited to bid on amongst quite a few other companies being invited to bid as well. So that came out to us directly from an organization that was looking to build out their internal generation capability planning for the future, and we became part of that bidding process. So no real change in how we're doing business, Sameer. The only, what I would say primary difference is with the focus on the data center specific build out, we have been engaging with significant amount of call it newer parties or companies that as FuelTech we just haven't engaged with previously because it's a different type of customer for us generally speaking. But over this past year, we've been doing an excellent job at developing relationships with companies that are indeed looking to help with the build-out of data centers here in this country. And I think today we're nicely positioned with some of the larger, more reputable parties that are looking to take part of this opportunity landscape.

Sameer Joshi | Analyst, HC Wainwright

And yes, thanks for that. And you did mention that this opportunity uses a GE Vernova turbine, which is the same or similar type that is used for these new data center kind of applications.

Vince Arnone | Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer

That is correct. I mean, this new award is very important for us because of the scale of the award, because of the fact that we are going to be affixing our NOx reduction SCR solution onto one of the predominant power generating sources that are indeed being deployed today. Again, it's not like as FuelTech we don't have credibility. We do. We've been in the business for almost four decades now providing successful solutions for emissions reduction for both utility and industrial customers. But In today's marketplace, this contract just lends us what I would call more specific credibility to enable us to have a better chance at obtaining and winning opportunities for the data center build-out specifically.

Sameer Joshi | Analyst, HC Wainwright

Understood. And maybe just one last one again on FuelChem. The outlook for the year is sort of similar levels, flattish, relative to 2025. Are there any potential new build-outs that could materialize from now, between now and the end of the year that could add incremental revenues here?

Vince Arnone | Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer

So as part of my commentary, I did mention the one new customer that we're looking to go ahead and turn a demonstration into a commercial account, right? So that is the primary new account that we are indeed focused on as we sit here right now, in 2026. Our revenue outlook, we're saying, is going to be approximately the same year on year, mainly because of the fact that there are so many unknowns that we deal with regarding some of the unscheduled outages that we do deal with on occasion with some of our installed base already that it's difficult to forecast exactly how the full year is going to pan out. If the new customer that we're looking to convert to a commercial system, if they convert sooner in the year rather than later in the year, that could provide a little bit of upside to us. But those are just unknowns for us right now. It's a little bit more conservative for us to target an equivalent Chemtech revenue year-on-year, which, again, last year was an excellent year of performance for FuelChem. If we can achieve that again this year, I'd be pleased with it, but I do want us to add that additional new account and have that convert to commercial.

Sameer Joshi | Analyst, HC Wainwright

Understood. Thanks, Vince, for taking my question.

Vince Arnone | Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer

You're welcome.

Jill | Operator

As a reminder, if you would like to ask a question, please press star 1 on your telephone keypad. And the next question will come from the line of William Bremmer with Vanquish Capital Partners.

Please proceed. William Bremmer | Analyst, Vanquish Capital Partners

Good morning, Vince. Hey, good morning, Bill. So I'd like to first start off with fuel chem. Yes. Given the harsh winter that we had that was broad-based, Midwest, et cetera, and the duration of it, I was expecting much stronger figures from the fuel chem divisions.

Vince Arnone | Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer

Yeah, the winter was mixed, Bill, from an overall temperature perspective in certain parts of the country. And again, we don't have the ability to be able to predict when our customers' units are going to be dispatched to run at certain points in time or when they actually have to come down for their scheduled planned outages or when they have unplanned outages. That's something that's out of our control. So we did have a mix of performance at our base clients in the first quarter of the year. But again, if we look back at Q1 over the past several years, with the exception of 2025's Q1, our Q1 of 26 was one of the better performing quarters that we've had for Q1. So hopefully that's Again, we'll pull a little bit more forward here for the rest of the year, and we'll have dispatch at all of our base load of accounts here for the rest of the year, but difficult for us to predict.

William Bremmer | Analyst, Vanquish Capital Partners

Okay. Now on the air side, congratulations on this last order. It seems as though, and based upon your articulation of how you achieved this close to $10 million contract, This was not from your sales team personnel, but in essence, hey, you were able to bid for it and the offset, hey, having the customer of GE Renova and supporting their equipment is monumental, extremely positive for fuel tech. My question is, okay, at what point do you and the Baileys, okay, finally make some changes on your sales personnel. And, you know, I look at the figures and I've been a long shareholder that have more shares than yourself and many of your team. I do not see any insider purchases other than yourself here and there. If the outlook is so strong, why are we not seeing some insider purchases, number one? Second question I have, I would welcome William Cummings to be on our next call. He's been there an exorbitant amount of time. Him and his sales team, I think should be on the clock. Either they start producing or we need to start making some changes. I mean, your peers are exploding in the space. You have in September of 2018, everybody can look this up. You guys landed a $15.8 million order for backup systems for power generation for the data center market. That was in 2018. We were ahead of the curve back then, and now all of a sudden we are trying to land something, trying, when the field has been exploding for years. Changes have to be made there. And we are all, we all see the value in Fuelchem. That's why we're shareholders. We're just, I'm just starting to wonder, is this a value trap? Or are we ever going to grow this company?

Vince Arnone | Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer

Anything further, Bill?

William Bremmer | Analyst, Vanquish Capital Partners

Changes have to be made, Vince.

Vince Arnone | Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer

Bill, let me start by going through some of your questions, okay? Okay. First of all, regarding the contract that we just won. There are companies that will put their project opportunities out to bid on a regular basis. So the fact that this contract was a public bid, it's not unusual by any sense of the word. The public bid starts the sales process. It is just the beginning. So to make the comment that our sales team had nothing to do with it is completely off base. And that's just fact as we sit here today. That's fact. that starts the sales process. And from there, our team has been intimately involved from the end of 2025 when this first started up until final award and going back and forth and back and forth, iteration after iteration, responding to questions, comments, and any other inquiry that comes our way comes through our sales team. That's the way the process works. As part of that process, our sales team has to indeed build in the fact that FuelTech is indeed a credible supplier of these technologies. And from that perspective, that's all us. That's FuelTech and its sales team. That doesn't just happen, Bill. So I just want to correct the record on the statement because it's simply not a fair statement to make regarding how that award was won by the company. It's a team award. There are a lot of individuals involved in bringing a contract of that magnitude to FuelTech. We're proud of the effort, and we're looking forward to more of those coming our way. Secondarily, and we've discussed this previously, insider purchasing is something that's governed by the individuals on the board and within the company. We don't put pressure on our our internal folks to be buying shares of the company. Do I know that there are some non-reportable FuelTech employees that have bought shares? I do. I am aware of that, but that's not something that we do indeed announce publicly. I can tell you that from the board's perspective and from the leadership team and the employee team's perspective, we have every confidence in the world that FuelTech is indeed going to become a profitable company once again. We've had some headwinds as a small public company over these past several years. And no doubt, our performance, and again, I'm the first one to raise my hand and say that, our performance needs to be better. And you and I have discussed that as well. I believe we're finally on the track towards making that shift. This last award is meaningful to us. particularly as we look at some of the larger scale opportunities that we're looking at and with the parties that we're dealing with. So there's a lot that's going on here, Bill. We just don't pick up and change personnel because we go through a slow period of time. We have some of the most well-respected individuals in the industry that represent FuelTech and its technologies. I'm very confident of that. Will changes be made within the leadership team here at FuelTech over time? Sure they will, and when they're warranted. So from that perspective, again, I appreciate your comments and questions. I always do. Thanks for being a shareholder of the company, and we're looking to go ahead and, again, show that there is value added to FuelTech as we sit here today, and we should be trading much higher than where we are today, which isn't that much higher than cash value.

William Bremmer | Analyst, Vanquish Capital Partners

That's correct. And I've read all of your executive management bios in depth, and they do have incredible backgrounds. The numbers, though, Vince, are the numbers. And for the last 10 years, where are the numbers? So you've got a light of fire underneath them. The bellies have the light of fire of them where they need to be replaced. because as a shareholder, I'm getting tired of waiting.

Thank you. Vince Arnone | Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer

Thanks for your comments, Bill.

Jill | Operator

Thank you. This concludes the question and answer session, and I'll turn the call back over to Vince Arnone for closing remarks.

Vince Arnone | Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer

Operator, thank you very much. I want to thank everyone for joining us on the call today. We are very much looking forward to our performance here for the remainder of 2026. The recent contract awards are milestones for us as a company, and I look forward to further expanding on those awards as we move throughout the year. So thanks, everyone, for taking the time today, and we look forward to talking with you again in the future.

Thank you. Jill | Operator

Thank you. This concludes today's conference. You may disconnect your lines at this time, and we thank you for your participation. jsPDF 3.0.3 D:20260606090136-00'00'

Research summary and source transcript

readyJun 10, 2026

FuelTech's 2025 results showed modest revenue growth driven by a strong FuelChem segment performance, while APC segment revenue declined despite backlog growth. The company maintains a strong cash position with no debt and is actively pursuing data center opportunities as a subcontractor, though no commercial awards have been secured yet. Management expresses optimism about converting demonstration programs to commercial contracts in FuelChem and DGI, and expects 2026 revenue to exceed 2025 levels, with data center awards being additive to the forecast.

Management knows today that they are in active discussions with more than 10 data center integrators and turbine/OEMs for SCR-based pollution control systems, with pricing of $1-2.5 million per unit and earliest expected conversion to commercial award in Q2 2026 based on schedule requirements. They also know that the FuelChem demonstration program with a new U.S. customer has realized material reductions in downtime and maintenance costs, and that the annual revenue potential from conversion is expected to be $2.5-3 million at historic FuelChem gross margins. The market likely will not know for 6-24 months whether these data center inquiries convert to awards, whether the FuelChem demonstration converts to a commercial contract, or whether DGI secures its first commercial contract in 2026 as expected.

Revenue growth is driven by FuelChem segment performance (legacy units and demonstration conversions), APC segment project execution and backlog conversion, and potential data center pollution control awards as a subcontractor to integrators/OEMs.

  • Data center opportunity as a future growth driver requiring subcontractor role with integrators/OEMs
  • FuelChem demonstration program progress and potential conversion to commercial revenue
  • APC segment backlog growth and project timing delays
  • DGI technology demonstration progress and path to first commercial contract
  • Strong financial position with cash reserves and no debt
  • Regulatory environment impact on coal and gas turbine operations
  • Vince Arnone's detailed description of being in various stages with more than 10 data center integrators and turbine/OEMs, including some of the largest companies in the industry
  • His emphasis on the volume and caliber of inquiries increasing over the past 3 months compared to initial 6-9 months
  • His optimism about converting the FuelChem demonstration to a commercial contract, noting the customer's realized reduction in downtime and maintenance costs
  • His statement that FuelChem revenue in 2025 reached its highest level since 2018 and exceeded expectations
  • His confidence in the DGI system's performance at the fish hatchery and municipal wastewater site, and discussions with multiple end markets

Management presents a direct and credible tone, balancing optimism with clear limitations and uncertainties. Vince Arnone explicitly states they are not 'designed in' with data center partners, acknowledges their subcontractor role limits insight into timing, and notes no awards have been secured yet. Ellen Albrecht provides precise financial figures and reconciliations without overstatement. Both executives qualify optimistic statements (e.g., calling FuelChem upside 'moderate', noting DGI revenue will not be material) and avoid overpromising, which enhances credibility despite the early-stage nature of the growth opportunities they highlight.

  • There may be at least one Q&A answer that needs manual review for a possible dodge or lack of numerical follow-through.
  • There may be a benchmark or metric-framing issue worth manual review, especially around adjusted metrics, timelines, or changed expectations.

FuelTech appears to be maintaining its competitive position in legacy APC and FuelChem markets, with backlog growth and strong demonstration results indicating retained technical relevance. However, the lack of commercial data center awards to date, despite extensive discussions, suggests the company has not yet differentiated itself sufficiently to win in this emerging opportunity. The subcontractor role inherently limits control over outcomes, making competitive assessment difficult, but the absence of conversions implies they are not yet a preferred or selected vendor in the data center pollution control supply chain.

  • Consolidated revenue for 2025: $26.7 million, up 6% year-over-year
  • FuelChem segment revenue for 2025: $17.8 million, up 28% year-over-year
  • Consolidated APC segment backlog as of December 31, 2025: $7 million, up from $6.2 million at end of 2024
  • Cash, cash equivalents and investments as of December 31, 2025: nearly $32 million
  • Data center opportunity sales pipeline: approximately $75-100 million for projects integrating SCR technology
  • Near-term APC sales pipeline (exclusive of data center): between $3 and $5 million
  • Expected annual revenue potential from FuelChem demonstration program conversion: $2.5-3 million
  • Consolidated gross margin for 2025: 46%, up from 42% in 2024
  • Conversion of the FuelChem demonstration program to a commercial contract, with expected annual revenue of $2.5-3 million
  • First commercial award from data center opportunity pipeline, with earliest expected timing in Q2 2026
  • Securing first commercial contract for DGI technology in 2026 based on successful demonstrations
  • Closure of near-term APC sales pipeline ($3-5 million) before end of Q2 2026
  • Conversion of APC backlog ($7 million) to revenue over next 12 months, with ~$6 million expected in that period
  • Data center opportunity remains dependent on third-party integrators and OEMs for final awards, with no commercial conversions to date
  • FuelChem demonstration program may not convert to a commercial contract, limiting incremental revenue upside
  • APC segment revenue declined in 2025 despite backlog growth, indicating execution or timing risks
  • DGI technology has not yet secured a commercial contract, with revenue expectations limited to small rental income in 2026
  • Dependence on legacy coal-fired unit operations for FuelChem performance, which faces long-term secular decline
  • Potential for project delays in APC and data center opportunities due to customer-driven timing and approval processes

FuelTech's data center opportunity is indirect and speculative, as the company acts solely as a subcontractor to data center integrators or turbine/OEMs for SCR-based pollution control systems. Management acknowledges this limits their knowledge of project funding, approval phases, and timing. While they describe a strong pipeline of $75-100 million and earliest expected award in Q2 2026, no inquiries have been awarded to date. The opportunity is contingent on third-party decisions and does not represent direct exposure to AI infrastructure spending, as the pollution control scope is a small fraction of total data center costs.

  • What specific milestones or customer commitments would need to be achieved for management to convert the FuelChem demonstration to a commercial contract, and what is the expected timeline for that conversion?
  • Beyond general inquiry volume, what concrete steps are being taken to move data center opportunities from discussion to formal bid submission or award, and what internal metrics are used to track progress?
  • What are the key technical or commercial milestones remaining for DGI to secure its first commercial contract, and what is the expected revenue ramp from such a contract?
  • Given the APC backlog of $7 million, what is the expected quarterly revenue recognition schedule for this backlog over the next 4-6 quarters, and what factors could cause slippage?
  • How does management define 'success' in the data center opportunity over the next 12-18 months in terms of number of awards, revenue contribution, or pipeline conversion rate, and how will they report progress?
  • What is the expected gross margin profile for data center pollution control awards compared to historical APC projects, and what cost structure assumptions underlie that expectation?

FY2025 Q4 earnings call transcript

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NASDAQ:FTEK Q4 2025 Earnings Call Transcript Generated on 6/6/2026 Rob | Conference Operator: Greetings and welcome to FuelTech's 2025 fourth quarter and full year conference call, a financial results conference call and webcast. At this time, all participants are on a listen only mode. A question and answer session will follow the formal presentation. If anyone should require operator assistance during the conference, please press star zero on your telephone keypad. As a reminder, this conference is being recorded. I would now like to turn the conference over to your host, Mr. Devin Sullivan, Managing Director at the Equity Group. Thank you.

You may begin. Devin Sullivan | Managing Director, Equity Group

Thank you, Rob. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us today. Yesterday, after the close, we issued a press release, a copy of which is available at the company's website, www.ftek.com. Our speakers for today will be Vince Arnone, Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer, and Ellen Albrecht, the company's Chief Financial Officer. After prepared remarks, we will open the call for questions from our analysts and investors. Before turning things over to Vince, I'd like to remind everyone that matters discussed on this call, except for historical information, are forward-looking statements as defined in Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 as amended, which are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and reflect FuelTech's current expectations regarding future growth, results of operations, cash flows, performance, and business prospects and opportunities, as well as assumptions made by an information currently available to our company's management. FuelTech has tried to identify forward-looking statements by using words such as anticipate, believe, plan, expect, estimate, intend, will, and similar expressions, but these words are not the exclusive means of identifying forward-looking statements. These statements are based on information currently available to FuelTech and are subject to various risks, uncertainties, and other factors, including but not limited to those discussed in FuelTech's annual report on Form 10-K in Item 1A under the caption of Risk Factors and subsequent filings under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 as amended, which could cause FuelTech's actual growth, results of operations, financial condition, cash flows, performance, and business prospects and opportunities to differ materially from those expressed in or implied by these statements. FuelTech undertakes no obligation to update such factors or to publicly announce the results of any forward-looking statements contained herein to reflect future events, developments, or changed circumstances or for any other reason. Investors are cautioned that all forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, including those detailed in the company's filings with the SEC. With that said, I'd now like to turn the call over to Vince Arnone. Vince, please go ahead.

Vince Arnone | Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer, FuelTech

Thank you, Devin. Good morning, and I'd like to thank everyone for joining us on the call today. 2025 was a year of multiple achievements for FuelTech, marked by an expanded opportunity set in our air pollution control business segment, driven largely by anticipated growth in data center development and construction, a resurgence in revenue for our FuelChem operations, where revenues for the year exceeded our expectations and reached their highest levels since 2018 and tangible progress at our dissolved gas infusion business. We maintained a strong financial position with cash, cash equivalents and investments of nearly $32 million at year end and no debt. Our fuel count segment ended an already strong year on a high note. Across the country, the useful life of coal-fired units is being extended to satisfy growing energy demand. And many of these units were dispatched at levels that haven't been realized in several years. Our results for the fuel chem segment benefited from this phenomenon, in particular for our legacy units. In addition, 2025 results were favorably impacted by the full year performance of a U.S. commercial unit that we added to late in 2024, and from a new U.S. customer that is currently operating with us under a six-month commercially priced demonstration program that commenced in early November of 2025. As we have discussed previously, the annual revenue potential from this commercial opportunity, should it convert from a demonstration, is expected to be approximately $2.5 to $3 million based on the customer running the program full-time with the revenue expected to generate historic FuelChem gross margins. I want to share a bit of additional color regarding our FuelChem demonstration program. This customer was interested in our program as a means to improve boiler availability and reliability and to reduce maintenance downtime for offline boiler cleaning, in particular during periods of high power generation demand. This customer utilizes a source of coal that is high in sodium content and is prone to extensive slagging and fouling. To date, the customer has realized a material reduction in downtime and maintenance costs due to a reduction in offline cleaning, which bodes well for a successful demonstration. Revenues generated by our APC segment rose in the fourth quarter, but declined annually reflecting customer-driven delays and project award timing. We secured 8.8 million of APC awards during 2025 from new and existing customers in the U.S., Europe, and Southeast Asia. Our near-term sales pipeline of APC contracts, exclusive of data center opportunities, is between $3 and $5 million. While we had hoped to close on these opportunities by year-end, discussions remain active, and we expect to close before the end of the current second quarter. Even with these delays, we ended the year with a consolidated APC segment backlog of $7 million, up from $6.2 million at the end of 2024. As we announced last quarter, we expanded our APC portfolio through a small strategic acquisition of complementary intellectual property and customer-related assets from Walco Inc., a well-established environmental equipment and services company with several hundred project installations worldwide. As we continue to integrate Walco's operations, we have been encouraged by the pace of project inquiries from their client base and others, including a number of near-term needs. The value proposition for us in acquiring Walco was in securing these high-value assets at a modest price, strengthening our technology portfolio, and attracting a broader base of potential customers. This proposition seems to be playing out thus far. With respect to the data center opportunity, these facilities will potentially require emissions control solutions to mitigate their environmental footprint, comply with federal, state, and local regulations, and align with corporate sustainability mandates. Our sales pipeline for these opportunities remains strong and approximate $75 to $100 million for projects integrating our SCR technology with power generation sources. Please note that the value of the pollution control scope of supply represents a very small fraction of the estimated total AI infrastructure spend. I want to provide a little more information about our data center opportunity. First, I think that we have been clear that any material near-term growth for our company will likely derive from our success in addressing this opportunity. As such, we have been and continue to devote substantial internal and external resources to position FuelTech with data center developers and turbine and engine providers to deliver NOx reduction technologies as part of a data center's power generation platform. One point that I want to highlight is that FuelTech is a subcontractor in the data center ecosystem. In all instances, we are a subcontractor to the data center integrator or to the turbine or engine OEM. This relationship limits our knowledge of the development of the data center opportunity, its funding, its phase of approval, and its timing. Our role remains the support and education of our direct customer regarding the design and delivery of a pollution control system that can best fit the application. This does not dilute the opportunity landscape or temper our enthusiasm in any way, but it does make providing specific insights with respect to the timing of awards more challenging. This is what we concurrently share about the opportunity. At present, We are in various stages of participation in project opportunities with more than 10 different data center integrators and turbine and engine OEMs, including some of the largest companies in the industry. All of these inquiries are for pollution control systems, primarily SCR, in support of the development of onsite power generation. The size of these projects run the gamut from as little as two to five units per project to as many as 30 to 40 NOx reduction units, with pricing predominantly in the range of $1 million to $2.5 million per unit. Regarding timing, the earliest we expect any of these inquiries to convert to a commercial award, based on our conversations with the various parties involved, is Q2 2026, as the schedule requirements for at least two of the projects would necessitate the receipt of an award by then. The remainder of the inquiries will develop further as we move throughout the year. To the best of our knowledge, with just one exemption, none of the inquiries that we are currently involved with have been awarded. More specifically, we are still very much in the running to capture our share of these opportunities, and we remain optimistic about our prospects for 2026. On the regulatory front, We have seen that the current administration is currently pursuing both the rollback of specific regulations that had been put in place previously and the implementation of new regulations that are less restrictive than those currently in place. Regarding the rollback of regulations, EPA announced the rescission of rules related to the reduction of greenhouse gases. Regulation of these emissions started in 2009 with the EPA endangerment finding based on a 2007 Supreme Court ruling. EPA has also announced the repeal of the 2024 mercury and air toxic standards for coal-fired units. It is important to note that both of these proposed rollbacks do not loosen the nitrogen oxide emissions reduction requirements for any sources and could potentially extend the life of some coal and natural gas fired units that may not have to reduce their emissions profile. We will take the opportunity where applicable to offer retrofit and maintenance solutions to accommodate the extensions of useful life. Now regarding the implementation of new rules. Earlier this year, EPA issued new source performance standards, also known as NSPS, for new gas turbines which were published in the Federal Register on January 15th. The NSPS was required for EPA consent decree with Sierra Club and the Environmental Defense Fund and were in response to the proposed rules that were issued in November 2024. A new category of gas turbines was created called temporary power turbines and is applicable to units below 85 megawatts installed to run for 24 months or less. These units will be required to achieve NOx levels of 25 ppm, which in some cases may not require SCR for all turbines. Turbines greater than 5 megawatts with high operating capacity will need to meet 15 ppm of NOx, which will likely require SCR, and turbines greater than 85 megawatts will need to get to 5 ppm NOx, which will require SCR in almost all cases. So what is the impact of the new regulation? First of all, several organizations, including the Clean Air Task Force, Sierra Club, the Environmental Defense Fund, have filed a petition for reconsideration with the EPA. And the hard deadline to file a formal lawsuit challenging these amendments in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit is March 16th of this year. it is certain that lawsuits will be filed. And second, with this rule in place, power generation developers will need to decide how best to proceed with their pollution control solutions for their new sources of power generation. Based on the discussions that we have had with our potential client base, we are not aware of this new regulation having a significant negative impact on decision-making regarding the implementation of pollution controls. It is important to note that state-specific permitting requirements can vary from the new federal regulation. And it's also important to note that outside of the NSPS requirements, the use of multiple gas turbines working together classify them as a major source for NOx. Major sources are governed by other regulations and are often required to meet more stringent NOx emissions, which would require SCR. We continue to pursue additional new awards driven by industrial expansion globally and by state-specific regulatory requirements in the U.S., and we are continuing to monitor the progress of the EPA's rule for large municipal waste combustor units. This rule reduces the nitrogen oxide emissions requirements for up to 150 large MWC units across the country. FuelTech has had a long history of assisting this industry in meeting its compliance requirements, and we have had discussions with customers in this segment to support their compliance planning. The final rule is currently in the White House Office of Management and Budget and is expected to take effect before the end of March, with NOx emission levels likely requiring advanced SNCR technology to meet compliance deadlines three years from the date of issue. Moving over to DGI, we are continuing the extended demonstration of the technology at a fish hatchery in the western US, which remains on track to conclude in the second quarter of this year. The system is performing well, meeting customer expectations for the precise delivery of concentrated dissolved oxygen and generating positive results in terms of reduced operational costs and improved fish growth. A second trial that commenced at a municipal wastewater site in the southeast US was successfully completed in January of this year and converted to a six-month rental contract that is expected to run through the beginning of the third quarter of this year. Our DGI system is delivering the designated volume of oxygen, and the client reports that odor-related complaints in the area surrounding the plant have been dramatically reduced. We are currently in discussions with multiple other end markets of interest for DGI, including pulp and paper, food and beverage, chemical, petrochemical, and horticulture. And we have been supported in these efforts with the addition of representative firms with end market expertise. As we look ahead to 2026, we are optimistic about our potential financial outlook. Our fuel chem business is expected to continue to perform well, driven by the performance of our base accounts and by the expectation that we will convert another demonstration account to commercial operation. Our APC business development activities, including our standard opportunities, those associated with respect to the WALCO acquisition, and potential tailwinds from data center opportunities are at the highest level that we have experienced in several years. And regarding DGI, based on progress at our demonstrations, it is expected that we will have our first commercial contract in 2026. Overall, we expect that revenues for 2026 will exceed the level of 2025, with FuelChem approximating 2025 revenues and APC exceeding 2025 performance without considering the benefit of data center awards, which would be additive to the forecast. Before turning things over to Ellen, I want to thank the entire FuelTech team for their dedication in advancing our strategic objectives and our shareholders for their patience and support. Now, I'd like to turn the call over to Ellen for her comments on the financial results. Ellen, please go ahead.

Thank you. Ellen Albrecht | Chief Financial Officer, FuelTech

Thank you, Vince, and good morning, everyone. I'll start off today by reviewing our fourth quarter results. For the quarter, consolidated revenues rose 37% to $7.2 million from $5.3 million in the prior year period, reflecting growth from both our APC and FuelChem segment revenues. APC segment revenues increased 37% to $2.4 million from $1.8 million, primarily related to timing of project completion. FuelChem had a very strong quarter, generating a 37% increase in revenues to $4.9 million from $3.5 million, reflecting contributions from our legacy portfolio and the six-month commercially priced demonstration program that commenced in early November. Consolidated gross margin for the fourth quarter rose to 45% of revenues from 42% in last year's fourth quarter, with APC and FuelChem each producing higher margins for the quarter. ULCHEM gross margin increased to 46% from 45% in the fourth quarter of 2024 due to the increase in the revenue base. APC gross margin expanded significantly to 42% in the fourth quarter compared to 36% in the prior year period as a result of project and product mix. Consolidated APC segment backlog on December 31st, 2025 with 7 million, up from backlog of 6.2 million on December 31st, 2024. Backlog at the end of 2025 included 3.4 million of domestically delivered project backlog and 3.6 million of foreign delivered project backlog, compared to 1.9 million of domestic delivered project backlog and $4.3 million of foreign-delivered project backlog at the end of 2024. We expect that approximately $6 million of current consolidated backlog will be recognized in the next 12 months. SG&A expenses were $4.2 million in the fourth quarter compared to $3.9 million in the prior year period. As a percentage of revenue, SG&A expenses declined to 57% from 75%, reflecting higher consolidated revenue in the current period, offset by the timing of certain expenditures. Research and development expenses for the fourth quarter rose to $504,000 from $405,000 in the same period a year ago, mainly attributed to our commercialization efforts for our DGI technology. Our operating loss narrowed to $1.4 million compared to a loss of $2.1 million in last year's fourth quarter, reflecting higher revenue and margin contributions from our operating segment. We continue to take advantage of the favorable interest rate environment, and as of December 31, 2025, have invested a majority of our $31.9 million in held-to-maturity debt securities and money market funds. This generated $288,000 of interest income in the fourth quarter and $1.4 million of interest income for 2025. Moving to the results for full year 2025, consolidated revenue rose 6% to $26.7 million, in line with our most recent guidance provided in November. The increase in full year revenue was driven by a 28% rise in fuel chem segment revenue to $17.8 million, exceeding our guidance for the year. This increase in revenue was partially offset by a decrease in APC segment revenue. Consolidated gross margin for 2025 rose to 46% from 42% in 2024, with higher margins for both the fuel chem and APC operating segments. SG&A expenses for 2025 modestly increased to $14.1 million from $13.8 million in 2024 within the guidance range we provided at this time last year. The increase was mainly attributed to employee-related expenditures. As a percentage of revenue, SG&A decreased to 53% from 55%, reflecting higher consolidated revenue. For 2026, we expect SG&A expenses to increase modestly from those in 2025. Research and development expenses for the year were $2 million for 2025 compared to $1.6 million in 2024. As we move closer to fully commercializing our DGI segment technologies, In addition, we also continue to invest efforts related to our legacy technologies as necessary. Operating loss narrowed to $3.7 million for 2025 compared to a loss of $4.7 million in 2024, reflecting higher segment revenues and relatively flat total costs and expenses. Net loss for 2025 was $2.3 million or $0.08 per diluted share compared to a net loss of $1.9 million or $0.06 per diluted share in 2024. Adjusted EBITDA loss was $2.7 million in 2025 compared to an adjusted EBITDA loss of $2.2 million in 2024. Lastly, moving to the balance sheet, our financial condition remains very strong. As of December 31st, total cash and cash equivalents Total cash and investments was $31.9 million, comprised of cash and cash equivalents of $11.9 million, and short and long-term investments of $20 million. Net cash provided by operating activities was $3 million for the year, as compared to a use of total cash of $2.8 million in the same period last year. Shares outstanding at a quarter end were approximately $31.1 million, equating to cash per share of $1.03 million. Working capital was $25.7 million, or $0.83 per share. Stockholders' equity was $40 million, or $1.29 per share, and the company continues to have no outstanding debt. We remain fully confident in our ability to uphold a strong financial condition and continue funding both short- and long-term growth initiatives across FuelChem, APC, and DGI. I'll now turn the call back over to Vince.

Vince Arnone | Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer, FuelTech

Thanks very much, Ellen. Operator, let's please go ahead and open the line for questions.

Rob | Conference Operator

Thank you. At this time, we'll be conducting a question and answer session. If you'd like to ask a question, please press star 1 on your telephone keypad. A confirmation tone will indicate your line is in the question queue. You may press star 2 if you'd like to remove your question from the queue. For participants using speaker equipment, it may be necessary to pick up your handset before pressing the star key. One moment, please, while we poll for questions. Our first question comes from Sameer Joshi with HC Wainwright. Please proceed with your question.

Sameer Joshi | Analyst, HC Wainwright

Hey, good morning, Vince, Ellen. Thanks for taking my call.

Vince Arnone | Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer, FuelTech

Good morning, Sameer.

Good morning. Sameer Joshi | Analyst, HC Wainwright

Good morning. So first, the data center opportunity should be significant for the company You mentioned you're reliant on these integrators or OEMs for getting the final order. My question is, are you already designed in with these participants, or is there further sort of competition once those guys get the orders from data centers?

Vince Arnone | Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer, FuelTech

I can't say that we were specifically designed in for these operators at this point in time, Samir. What we're doing is we would obviously, we would like to be at the point whereby we are designed in with an integrator or operator that's looking to build several sites. But right now at the beginning phase with some of these operators, what we're doing is establishing ourselves as a potential trusted partner to be able to do the design pollution control system for them. A lot of the parties that are coming to us aren't necessarily, not necessarily very familiar with pollution control requirements. So we are definitely playing an education role as we work with some of these parties at this point in time. But we are hoping that the upfront time that I mentioned that we are investing with these opportunities is going to pay off a little bit longer term as these projects actually do come through their evolution and are ultimately awarded. So that's where we stand today. And the situation, I would say, is slightly different across the different parties that we are dealing with.

Sameer Joshi | Analyst, HC Wainwright

Understood. And I do not want to conflate this, but the requirements for the less than 85 megawatt plants and short-term working less than 24 months, does that in any way affect or impact these data center opportunities? I just don't want to conflate those, but is there any relation?

Vince Arnone | Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer, FuelTech

Right. Ultimately, on a long-term basis, that should not have an impact, Samir, because most of the projects that we read about, most of the projects that we're having discussions about, are intended to be long-term power generation solutions for that particular data center, right? It would only be in the instance whereby a potential operator or integrator needed to meet perhaps a very specific startup date, and they had the ability to have some power generation equipment up and running for a short period of time to meet that startup date. Again, perhaps, right? But again, from our perspective, the people and party that we are dealing with, they're looking at long-term power generation solutions that are indeed not temporary in nature because they're looking to support that data center long-term, not just for less than 24 months.

Sameer Joshi | Analyst, HC Wainwright

Got it. Sticking to sort of a regulatory environment with the EPA declaring carbon dioxide not a pollutant, and you talked about the mercury toxins action, and it indirectly helping you because it does not require NOx reductions, and so existing plants may have extended life because of the other reductions in requirement or losing of requirement. Are you already seeing any increased activity as a result of this, where some of the plants that may be on the way to shutdown are now saying that, hey, we can work, we can continue to function and reaching out to you?

Vince Arnone | Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer, FuelTech

At this point in time, Samir, it's a little bit too early to assess the impact of those relatively recent rollbacks. We just wanted to point out very specifically that those rollbacks are do not impact FuelTech's opportunity to capture prospective awards that are specifically related to nitrogen oxide reduction opportunities. So we just want to ensure that there isn't confusion related to those rollbacks, which are not going to impact FuelTech business opportunities. Longer term, those rollbacks, they could indeed have the impact of possibly extending the useful lives of some facilities.

Sameer Joshi | Analyst, HC Wainwright

Thanks for that. You're welcome. And then moving to FuelChem, it's nice to see this six-month sort of trial order, and likely because they are seeing the results, likely to convert. Are there more such potential customers that you have in the pipeline or are pleased talking to? in terms of getting, because each additional customer could bring two plus million or almost four plus million in orders, annual recurring revenues.

Vince Arnone | Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer, FuelTech

So at this point in time, and yes, we're very optimistic about converting this demonstration to a commercial contract. Hopefully that will bode well for us here in 2026. But incrementally, as I've said on prior conference calls, The coal-fired, base-loaded unit, just call it phenomenon, it isn't as robust as it used to be a decade or 15 years ago with so many coal-fired plants being shut down. We are looking for these pockets of opportunity whereby we can, on an incremental basis, add these one-off opportunities for us. And we need to be a little bit careful about saying that each incremental unit is going to be between $2 and $3 million per opportunity in revenue because it does vary by unit size and the specific run time of that unit. So I just wanted to qualify that. So to specifically answer your question, we don't have anything of what I would call specifically that we're looking for imminent demonstration, but we are looking at some other opportunities that could be for us and perhaps with the same body of plants that we're doing business with today to add another unit or two at plant sites. So there is opportunity there, but again, as I've said previously, we haven't looked at fuel chem as being what I would call a material growth opportunity for the past several years. What we're seeing here in the recent term, we're very, very pleased with. We finished 2025 at just under $18 million in revenue, which if you had asked me that question five years ago, I would have said it wouldn't have been possible. So we're very pleased with where we are. And there is some, I'll call it moderate, upside opportunity, but it's moderate.

Sameer Joshi | Analyst, HC Wainwright

Right, right. And just... I'm guessing this outlook for 2026 where field cam is expected to be at same levels as 2025 does not include this incremental opportunity that may convert from trial to full time.

Vince Arnone | Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer, FuelTech

Yeah, we're looking at it right now very, very conservatively, Sameer, without without knowing exactly what the outcome is going to be as we sit here today. We'll have more information to share in early May when we have our first quarter conference call.

Sameer Joshi | Analyst, HC Wainwright

Yes, and that's fair. I'm just squeezing in one last one on DGI. It seems this fishery, sorry, municipal wastewater seems to be working well as well as the fishery. seems to be working well. Should we expect revenues from DGI during 2026? Because on the outlook, you didn't mention any of that.

Vince Arnone | Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer, FuelTech

Right. So we are going to recognize a small dollar value of revenue from the rental of the system at the municipality. That's only $10,000 per month. As we look at the remainder of the year, we are hoping to to have a system sale between now and the end of 2026 of one of our DTI units. It's not going to be material to our overall results, but what is important regarding that activity is it sets a platform for us to be able to further and go ahead and discuss a success story specifically with the end markets that we're looking to chase. And we haven't had the opportunity to do that yet. So that moment is extremely critical for us as we look to further develop and commercialize DGI.

Sameer Joshi | Analyst, HC Wainwright

Thanks, Vince, for taking my questions. Congrats on a strong year, and good luck. Thanks, Samir.

Rob | Conference Operator

As a reminder, if you'd like to ask a question, please press star 1 on your telephone keypad. One moment, please, while we poll for questions. Our next question comes from Adam Waldo with Lismore Partners. Your line is now live.

Adam Waldo | Analyst, Lismore Partners

Good day, Vince. I hope you can hear me okay.

Vince Arnone | Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer, FuelTech

Yes, we can, Adam.

Thank you. Adam Waldo | Analyst, Lismore Partners

So, very high-level question. Your stock trades at $1.20, $1.25 a share. You have about $1 a share in cash on your balance sheet. You have reasonable prospect of being cash flow positive in 2026, and you articulate a sizable new business pipeline in the data center area. I would argue that whether you're stock trading where it is, the market doesn't believe you're going to close any of that pipeline. You're very optimistic that you can over the balance of 2026 and you were optimistic in the second half of 2025 as well. The timing of these projects is very hard to predict. What gives you so much confidence and optimism that you're going to close you know, a sizable number of data center projects over the next 12 to 18 months.

Vince Arnone | Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer, FuelTech

Adam, thanks very much for the question. You're correct. I mean, we're in a position whereby, yes, we're trading just a little bit above cash value today. We as a company have not been able to go ahead and bring to the table any material award as of yet as it relates to the data center opportunities. So in response to your question, my level of confidence lies in a couple of areas. First of all, as we've seen this opportunity develop, and literally over the past 9 to 12 months, because it is still what I would call a new opportunity, and it's one that we don't believe as FuelTech is a short-term opportunity. It's one that's going to develop over the next 5 to 10 years. But What we have seen over this past nine to 12 months is more and more players, if you will, players defined as data center integrators, parties that have access to power generation equipment in the form of turbines or engines, and just then the OEMs of those turbines or engines themselves, there have been more inquiries come our way literally over this past three months than we saw come our way or over the initial six to nine months relative to parties seeking to take advantage of the opportunity to provide a power generation solution to the data centers that are going to be built out. So point number one is just the volume of activity, the different types of parties and players that are coming to the table. And also what I would call it's the caliber of the parties that we're dealing with as well in terms of them being, in some cases, multinational organizations with scale and capability that give us the confidence that at some point in time here, just given the demand, that FuelTech's product and solutions are going to be pulled in to this ultimate data center solution, okay? So number one, the volume of activity, it gives me a very high level of confidence. Point number two is my confidence in the FuelTech team to be able to go ahead and basically assimilate all of the inquiries that have been coming our way and determine our best path with these data center integrators and or engine or turbine suppliers. to be able to position as well with those organizations and give these organizations the confidence that we as FuelTech can deliver on our air pollution control solution for them. So it's twofold. And yes, I am optimistic. I mean, the level of inquiry is indeed extraordinary. And so it's up to us to capitalize on it, and we're doing everything that we can to do so at this point in time. I hope that answers your question.

Adam Waldo | Analyst, Lismore Partners

Thank you very much.

Vince Arnone | Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer, FuelTech

Thank you, Anna.

Rob | Conference Operator

We have reached the end of the question and answer session. I'd now like to turn the call back over to Vince Arnone for closing comments.

Vince Arnone | Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer, FuelTech

Thank you, operator. In closing, I want to thank, obviously, our FuelTech team for their continued support and dedication. Thanks to all of our stakeholders, again, for your patience. We're doing everything that we can to create shareholder value. And we have an opportunity landscape in front of us today that we know we need to capitalize on, and we're going to do everything that we can. Thanks to our board for support as well. With that, I want to wish everyone a good day, and thanks for participating in the conference call.

Rob | Conference Operator

This concludes today's conference. You may disconnect your lines at this time, and we thank you for your participation. jsPDF 3.0.3 D:20260606090137-00'00'

Research summary and source transcript

readyJun 10, 2026

FuelTech reported Q3 2025 profitability with improved gross margins and a strengthened financial position, driven by FuelChem growth and APC backlog expansion. Management highlighted a significant data center opportunity pipeline of $80–100 million from 8–10 prospects, though most remain in early budgetary stages. While near-term contributions from the Walco IP acquisition and FuelChem demo are expected in Q4 2025, material data center revenue is not anticipated until 2026 or later, leaving near-term guidance unchanged.

Management knows today that the data center opportunity pipeline consists of 8–10 prospects valued at $80–100 million, with 2–3 expected to reach commercial conclusion by late 2025 or Q1 2026, while the remainder require further project development. The market likely does not yet appreciate the specificity of this pipeline breakdown or the near-term timeline for initial conversions, as prior disclosures framed the opportunity more broadly without distinguishing between budgetary inquiries and commercial-stage prospects. This granularity on pipeline maturity and timing represents information not yet reflected in market expectations.

Revenue growth in FuelChem driven by dispatch at legacy clients and new account contributions; APC segment performance tied to project execution timing and aftermarket/ancillary sales mix; data center opportunity dependent on SCR technology integration with power generation sources in non-attainment areas and extended utilization scenarios.

  • Data center opportunity pipeline and engagement with OEMs, integrators, and non-traditional players
  • FuelChem growth from legacy dispatch, new accounts, and demonstration programs
  • APC backlog expansion and pursuit of $3–5 million in additional contracts
  • Strategic IP acquisition from Walco and its aftermarket monetization potential
  • Financial strength: $34M cash, no debt, and operating profitability
  • Regulatory monitoring of EPA MWC rule and state-level NOx requirements
  • Data center opportunity described as 'one of the most exciting opportunities' in years due to digital economy and energy transition
  • Extended demonstration of dissolved gas infusion (DGI) at fish hatchery generating 'significant interest'
  • Walco IP acquisition called 'strategically and operationally attractive' with 'high-value assets at a modest price'
  • Expectation of FuelChem full-year 2025 revenue reaching highest level since 2022
  • APC backlog growth to $9.5M viewed as validation of global industrial expansion and regulatory tailwinds

Management displayed a direct and credible tone, providing specific figures and timelines when asked (e.g., backlog, pipeline value, acquisition cost) while clearly distinguishing between near-term expectations and longer-term development. There was no evidence of evasiveness or overpromising; instead, executives qualified statements about data center timelines and IP monetization with realistic expectations (e.g., 'not extraordinarily material' near-term impacts). The tone reflected confidence in execution without exaggerating near-term upside.

  • No clear dodged analyst question was detected by the local fallback; manual review should still check whether Q&A answers quantified conversion, margins, and guidance.
  • There may be a benchmark or metric-framing issue worth manual review, especially around adjusted metrics, timelines, or changed expectations.

FuelTech appears to be strengthening its competitive position in APC through backlog growth, strategic IP acquisition, and expansion into adjacent markets like data centers and DGI. The company is actively pursuing opportunities aligned with secular trends (digitalization, energy transition) and regulatory environments, suggesting it is capturing share in niche emissions control markets. However, without data on market share or competitor wins, the assessment is based on internal momentum rather than direct competitive comparison.

  • Q3 2025 consolidated revenue: $7.5 million
  • Q3 2025 consolidated gross margin: 49%
  • Q3 2025 net income: $303,000 ($0.01 per share)
  • Cash and investments at quarter end: $33.8 million
  • APC segment backlog: $9.5 million as of September 30, 2025
  • FuelChem full-year 2025 revenue guidance raised to $16.5–$17 million
  • Data center pipeline: 8–10 opportunities valued at $80–100 million
  • Walco IP acquisition: $350,000 cash consideration
  • Near-term contribution from Walco IP acquisition via aftermarket opportunities in 2025
  • FuelChem demonstration program expected to drive sustained contributions in 2026
  • Conversion of 2–3 data center pipeline opportunities to orders by late 2025 or Q1 2026
  • Closure of $3–5 million in additional APC contracts by end of 2025 or early Q1 2026
  • EPA MWC rule finalization in December 2025 with compliance deadline three years post-issue
  • Data center opportunities remain largely in budgetary/inquiry stage with uncertain conversion timing
  • APC revenue subject to project execution timing, causing quarterly volatility
  • FuelChem growth dependent on sustained dispatch and demo program success
  • No guarantee that Walco IP acquisition will yield material capital project awards beyond aftermarket
  • Reliance on external factors like EPA rulemaking and state-level NOx regulations
  • Limited near-term revenue impact from data center pipeline despite large stated value

FuelTech is actively engaged in a data center opportunity pipeline valued at $80–100 million from 8–10 prospects, primarily involving SCR technology integration with power generation sources. The company is working with turbine OEMs, integrators, and non-traditional players (e.g., aircraft engine lessors) to address emissions control needs for data centers in non-attainment areas or with high-utilization power sources. While 2–3 opportunities are expected to reach commercial conclusion by late 2025 or Q1 2026, the majority remain in early budgetary stages, meaning material revenue contribution is not anticipated until 2026 or later. The opportunity is described as exciting but not yet contributing to near-term guidance.

  • What is the expected timeline for conversion of the 2–3 commercial-stage data center opportunities into actual orders?
  • What portion of the Walco IP acquisition is expected to contribute to revenue in Q4 2025 versus 2026+?
  • What are the specific criteria for a data center opportunity to move from 'budgetary inquiry' to 'commercial' stage?
  • How much of the $9.5M APC backlog is expected to convert to revenue in Q4 2025 versus 2026?
  • What is the anticipated gross margin profile for data center-related SCR projects compared to historical APC projects?
  • Beyond aftermarket, what is the expected timeline for the Walco IP to generate capital project awards?
  • How does the current EPA MWC rule delay affect the timing of state-level NOx opportunities being pursued?
  • What is the split between domestic and international opportunities in the $80–100M data center pipeline?

FY2025 Q3 earnings call transcript

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NASDAQ:FTEK Q3 2025 Earnings Call Transcript Generated on 6/6/2026 Operator | Conference Operator: Greetings and welcome to the FuelTech, Inc. 2025 Third Quarter Financial Results Conference Call and Webcast. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. A brief question and answer session will follow the formal presentation. If anyone should require operator assistance during the conference, please press star zero on your telephone keypad. As a reminder, this conference is being recorded. It is now my pleasure to introduce your host, Devin Sullivan, Managing Director of the Equity Group. Thank you, sir.

You may begin. Devin Sullivan | Managing Director, The Equity Group

Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us today for FuelTech's 2025 Third Quarter Financial Results Conference Call. Yesterday after the close, we issued a press release, a copy of which is available on the company's website, www.ftek.com. Our speakers for today will be Vince Arnone, Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer, and Alan Albrecht, the company's Chief Financial Officer. After prepared remarks, we will open the call to questions from our analysts and investors. Before turning things over to Vince, I'd like to remind everyone that matters discussed on this call, except for historical information, are forward-looking statements as defined in Section 21E of the Securities Act of 1934 as amended, which are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and reflect FuelTech's current expectations regarding future growth, results of operations, cash flows, performance in business prospects and opportunities. as well as assumptions made by and information currently available to our company's management. FuelTech has tried to identify forward-looking statements by using words such as anticipate, believe, plan, expect, estimate, intend, will, and similar expressions, but these words are not the exclusive means of identifying forward-looking statements. These statements are based on information currently available to FuelTech and are subject to various risks, uncertainties, and other factors, including but not limited to those discussed in FuelTech's annual report, on Form 10-K in item 1A under the caption of risk factors and subsequent filings under the Securities Act of 1934 as amended, which could cause FuelTech's actual growth, results of operations, financial conditions, cash flows, performance, and business prospects and opportunities to differ materially from those expressed in or implied by these statements. FuelTech undertakes no obligation to update such factors or to publicly announce the results of any forward-looking statements contained herein. to reflect future events, developments, or changed circumstances, or for any other reason. Investors are cautioned that all forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, including those detailed in the company's filings with the SEC. With that said, I'd now like to turn the call over to Vince Arnone. Vince, please go ahead.

Vince Arnone | Chairman, President & Chief Executive Officer

Thank you, Devin. Good morning, and I'd like to thank everyone for joining us on the call today. For the third quarter of 2025, we operated profitably. enhanced our gross margins, broadened the client base for our APC and fuel chem business segments, and maintained a strong financial position with cash, cash equivalents, and investments of nearly $34 million at quarter end and no long-term debt. We are continuing to advance our dissolved gas infusion technology through industry outreach and are well underway with an extended demonstration of this offering at a fish hatchery in the Midwest U.S. We also closed a modest acquisition of complimentary APC intellectual property that we believe will help us address customer APC needs on a global basis. Our Fuelchem segment produced a solid quarter of growth, driven by increased dispatch at legacy clients and contributions from a new account added in mid-2024. Just a few days ago, we commenced a six-month commercially priced demonstration program for a new FuelChem customer in the U.S. As discussed on our second quarter call, the purpose of the demonstration is to improve boiler availability and reliability and reduce maintenance downtime for offline boiler cleaning in order to maximize the power generation profile of this unit. This new engagement will have a positive initial effect on our fuel chem results in the current fourth quarter, with sustained segment contributions in 2026. We estimate the annual revenue potential from this commercial contract to be approximately $2.5 to $3 million, based on the customer running the program full-time, with the revenue expected to generate historic fuel chem gross margins. Based on fuel chem segment performance year-to-date and the impact of this new demonstration program, We now believe FuelCam's full-year 2025 segment revenue will approximate $16.5 to $17 million, up from our prior guidance of $15 to $16 million, which would be the highest level since 2022. Revenues for our APC business in the third quarter declined compared to the prior period, due primarily to the timing of project execution on existing contracts. During the third quarter, however, we announced $3.2 million of new APC awards from new and existing clients in the US, Europe, and Southeast Asia. These contracts helped to increase our consolidated APC segment backlog to $9.5 million at the end of the third quarter. We are currently pursuing $3 to $5 million of potential additional APC contracts that we would expect to close before the end of the year or in the early part of Q1, 2026. This is exclusive of data center opportunities, which I will discuss shortly. Next, I'd like to note that subsequent to quarter end, we expanded our APC portfolio through a small strategic acquisition of complimentary intellectual property and customer related assets from Walco Inc., a well established environmental equipment and services company with several hundred project installations worldwide. The total cash consideration for the transaction was $350,000, representing a strategic and cost-effective expansion of our IP portfolio and demonstrating our disciplined approach to capital allocation. We were able to secure high-value assets at a modest price, strengthening our technology base, and aligning with our long-term strategy to address customer air pollution control needs globally. The acquired suite of assets includes technology applicable to flue gas conditioning systems, ammonia handling equipment for a wide range of industrial applications, and urea to ammonia conversion technologies for NOx reduction using complementary technologies to our existing portfolio in these areas. Also included as part of the portfolio are customer installation and aftermarket data, which we believe will drive accretive aftermarket revenues. We view this acquisition as both strategically and operationally attractive, enhancing our competitive position and expanding the solutions we can offer to our APC customers worldwide. We continue to pursue additional new awards driven by an industrial expansion globally and by state-specific regulatory requirements in the US. And we are continuing to monitor the progress of EPA's rule for large municipal waste combustor units. This rule reduces the nitrogen oxide emissions requirements for large MWC units. FuelTech has had a long history of assisting this industry in meeting its compliance requirements, and we have had discussions with customers in this segment to support the compliance planning. The final rule has been delayed by EPA until December of this year, with compliance deadlines expected three years from the date of issue. The public comment period closed at the end of May of this year so the final rule remains on track. That being said, there are some specific states that are currently requiring lower NOx emissions that are consistent with the proposed MWC rule, and we are actively pursuing those opportunities today. Additionally, EPA, under the current administration, is currently pursuing the rollback of rules related to the reduction of greenhouse gases. It is important to note that the proposed rollback of the 2009 EPA endangerment finding does not loosen the nitrogen oxide emission requirements for any sources and could potentially extend the life of some coal and natural gas fired units that may not have to reduce their carbon dioxide emission profile. Lastly, as discussed on our previous conference calls, we are not expecting any specific tailwinds that would come from the implementation of new regulation and the opportunities that we are pursuing today are not contingent on the implementation of any specific new regulations. As we have discussed on our two prior conference calls, we are experiencing an unprecedented increase in demand for power generation in this country and globally that is being driven by the digital economy, including AI and data centers, the electrification of everything, and a massive industrial and energy transition. all happening simultaneously. This represents one of the most exciting opportunities that we have seen in quite some time for our company as it relates to the application of our APC emissions control solutions as part of the proliferation and investment in data center infrastructure being built in support of the general trend for digital expansion. Data centers are expected to become the backbone of the digital age, and their development is driving new power generation demand. This demand in power, in some instances, will require emissions control solutions for many of the energy sources that necessitate a low carbon footprint. In fact, the primary factors that determine whether a data center will require NOx control using FCR technology are the following. First, site location. Is the site in an attainment or a non-attainment area for ozone ambient air quality standards? as NOx is a contributor to ozone. There will be more stringent NOx reduction requirements in non-attainment areas. Second, what is the planned utilization of the power generation application? Is the power generation source for primary or backup power, and what are the expected number of operating hours per year of the generating source? Primary power sources and backup power that is expected to run extensively will be more likely to require SCR for NOx reduction. And third, what if the baseline NOx emission of the power generation source? Some rotating internal combustion engines or combustion turbines can be equipped with combustion controls to enable a lower NOx baseline level and possibly eliminate the need for SCR. However, ultimately, the site permit will define the required level of emissions control. Interest in our technology solutions for these applications has continued throughout the recent quarter. And as of today, we are continuing to engage with multiple potential customers representing a sales pipeline of current outstanding project bids of approximately 80 to 100 million dollars for projects integrating our SCR technology with power generation sources to meet emissions control requirements for data centers planned across the U.S. over the next several years. We are continuing to work with our supply chain partners and engineering colleagues to prepare for these opportunities. While the majority of our inquiries over these past few months have been from turbine OEMs, in recent weeks we have had discussions with a variety of different companies that are looking to address the market need for the expedient deployments of reliable power generation as either a permanent solution or as a temporary bridge solution for a gap period. such as waiting for a permanent grid connection. Such companies include those that have access to aircraft engines and are looking to bring these assets into the power generation market, and also system integrators. Additionally, we are finding that the use of smaller engines and turbines is coming into favor, which is generally preferential for fuel tech, as near-term developments require power generation in support of bringing data centers online sooner rather than later, and lead times for large gas turbines are expanding to periods of five to seven years or more. We see this expansion of interest from these parties as an exciting opportunity, and we will continue to investigate and pursue both conventional and non-traditional sources to ensure that our technology offerings enhance the benefits of temporary and long-term power generation solutions. For our dissolved gas infusion business, We had a very successful exhibition of DGI at the Water Environment Federation Technical Exhibition and Conference, or WEFTEC, in Chicago last month and generated significant interest in the technology. We are continuing an extended demonstration of DGI in a fish hatchery in the western U.S., which we expect will last until the end of Q1 of 2026. We are continuing discussions with multiple other end markets of interest, for DGI including pulp and paper, food and beverage, chemical, petrochemical, and horticulture. As discussed last quarter, we have been looking to expand our network of sales representatives in support of DGI, and we did add one additional representative during the quarter to augment the work being done by two existing firms. We expect to continue to build this network as we experience further interest in DGI. As we look ahead to the balance of 2025, Based on our effective backlog and pending contract awards, the APC business development activities that we are pursuing, and our previously noted expectations for FuelCam, we are expecting revenues for 2025 to be approximately $27 million, which represents an 8% increase over 2024. This is a base case outlook and excludes any material contributions from APC, from data center contract awards, and any material impact from the new business development activities for Fuelchem. In closing, I'd like to thank the entire FuelTech team for their continued dedication to advancing our strategic objectives and our shareholders for their ongoing confidence and support. We look forward to keeping you apprised of our progress as we move forward towards the end of 2025 and into 2026. Now I'd like to turn the call over to Ellen for her comments on our financial results. Ellen, please go ahead.

Alan Albrecht | Chief Financial Officer

Thank you, Vince, and good morning, everyone. For the quarter, consolidated revenues declined slightly to $7.5 million from $7.9 million in the prior year period due to lower APC segment revenues partially offset by higher fuel chem segment revenue. APC segment revenue declined to $2.7 million from $3.2 million primarily related to the timing of project execution on existing contracts. As expected, FuelChem had a solid quarter with revenue improving to $4.8 million from $4.6 million. Consolidated gross margin for the third quarter rose to 49% of revenues from 43% in last year's third quarter due to increases in both FuelChem and APC segment gross margins. Fuelchem gross margin increased to 50% compared to 49% in the third quarter of 2024 due to an increased volume of sales activity combined with relatively flat segment administrative expenses. APC segment gross margins expanded significantly to 47% in the third quarter compared to 35% in the prior year period as a result of product and project mix that included a higher proportion of ancillary revenue consisting of spare parts and service revenue, which represents a higher margin contribution to traditional capital project margins. Consolidated APC segment backlog as of September 30, 2025, was $9.5 million, up from backlog of $6.2 million at the end of 2024. Backlog at September 30th included $4 million of domestically delivered projects and $5.5 million of foreign delivered project backlog. We expect that approximately $7.1 million of current consolidated backlog will be recognized in the next 12 months. SG&A expenses were flat at $3.2 million in the third quarter. As a percentage of revenue, SG&A expenses rose to 43% from 41% in the prior year period, reflecting lower consolidated revenue in the current period. For 2025, we continue to expect SG&A expenses to increase modestly from prior year as we focus on the development of our infrastructure in support of our business segments. Research and development expenses for the third quarter of 2025 rose to $450,000 from $361,000 in the prior year period reflecting our ongoing investment in water and wastewater treatment technologies, notably our DGI systems and the site demonstration previously referenced by Vince. Our investment in DGI will continue throughout 2025 to support ongoing site demonstrations and other growth initiatives as we ramp up towards commercialization. During the third quarter, we delivered profitable results with positive operating income, net income of $303,000 or one cent per share compared to a net income of $80,000 or zero cents per share in the prior year period. An adjusted EBITDA was $228,000 compared to an adjusted EBITDA loss of $35,000 in the prior year period. Lastly, moving to the balance sheet, our financial condition remains very strong. As of September 30, 2025, total cash and investments was $33.8 million, comprised of cash and cash equivalents of $13.7 million, and short and long-term investments of $20.2 million. Net cash provided by operating activities was $4.6 million for the nine months ended September 30, as compared to a use of cash totaling $1.8 for the same period in the prior year. Shares outstanding at quarter end were approximately $31.2 million, equating to cash per share of $1.08. Working capital was $26 million, or $0.83 per share. Stockholders' equity was $41 million, or $1.31 per share, and the company continues to have no outstanding debt. We remain greatly confident in our ability to maintain a strong financial position and to fund our short and long-term growth initiatives for our Fuel Chem, APC, and DGI business segments. I'll now turn the call back over to Vince.

Vince Arnone | Chairman, President & Chief Executive Officer

Thanks very much, Ellen. Operator, let's please go ahead and open the call for questions.

Operator | Conference Operator

Thank you. We'll now be conducting a question and answer session. If you would like to ask a question, please press star 1 on your telephone keypad. A confirmation tone will indicate your line is in the question queue. You may press Start 2 if you'd like to remove your question from the queue. For participants using speaker equipment, it may be necessary to pick up your handset before pressing the Start keys. One moment, please, while we pull for your questions. Our first question comes from the line of Amit Dayal with HC Wainwright. Please proceed with your question.

Amit Dayal | Analyst, HC Wainwright

Thank you. Good morning, guys. Good morning. To begin with, hey, hey. This acquisition, do you need to make any additional investments to meaningfully monetize this acquisition? And just in terms of the timeline for you to see any sort of contribution from this IP, should we expect anything coming in this year itself, or is this more of a 2026, 2027 type situation?

Vince Arnone | Chairman, President & Chief Executive Officer

Okay, so... Two questions there as I answer your first question at this point in time. I don't expect that we may need to make a significant amount of incremental investment here internally to capitalize on the IP that we've acquired. We are familiar with the technologies that we have brought in-house. And so at this point in time, no, I'm not anticipating any sort of significant investment required to monetize. Your second question is we are going to get at least some small contributions relatively quickly from some of the aftermarket opportunities that will come our way from the very large installation base that Walco, Inc. does have in place and that they've built historically over the past three decades. So we will see some near-term benefits as it as incremental to our aftermarket business. But obviously, we would like to see some larger scale benefits in terms of capital project awards as we move into 2026 and beyond. So specifically, we will see some near-term favorable impacts from an aftermarket business, but those won't be what I would call extraordinarily material. As we move into 26, we'll look to capitalize on utilizing that IP to pursue some capital project awards. But from our perspective, this was an easy decision and a very solid strategic investment for us to make as we look to continue to build out our APC portfolio of solutions for our end markets here in this country and the remainder of the world.

Amit Dayal | Analyst, HC Wainwright

Understood. And then for the data center type opportunities, are you working with any folks in the value chain from a distribution perspective? or are you directly approaching some of these entities with your solutions?

Vince Arnone | Chairman, President & Chief Executive Officer

So as we've discussed a little bit previously, we are the back end of the solution to your power generating source. So we are typically brought into the equation for the data center build out from one of the engine or turbine OEMs. That's generally how we're brought in. And so we're looking to work with those parties to try to bring ourselves into the opportunity that's there. As I noted in my script, so recently we have been contacted by some other parties that are looking to enter this space that are what I would call non-traditional players. I mentioned a company that manages aircraft engines. They maintain, they lease, and so on and so forth. very large organization, but they're looking to repurpose some of their aircraft engines to be applicable to generating power for data centers. So that's a new entrance that we're trying to work with to bring our solution to the opportunity. And we have been contacted recently by some of the integrators as well that are looking to package a solution and bring that solution to the end customer. So So now it's the OEMs, it's some new market entrants, and some integrators as well. And so we're expanding our, call it our method of opportunity, our method of supply chain to get into this data center marketplace.

Amit Dayal | Analyst, HC Wainwright

Understood. And then, you know, from a pipeline perspective, you know, how big is the pipeline already? I don't know if you can share, caller, on that. But I'm just trying to see if, you know, you have already started to include some of this data center opportunity from a pipeline perspective.

Vince Arnone | Chairman, President & Chief Executive Officer

So, from a pipeline perspective, we have eight to ten opportunities that we are pursuing today, and those opportunities are worth 80 to 100 million dollars in total. That's what we're sitting on today. Those opportunities are broken down into different categories. A couple of them are commercial, and we would expect to have finalization on those opportunities either before the end of the year or early in 2026. The majority of the remainder are what I would call more initial inquiry, a budgetary inquiry in nature. whereby a customer comes to us and they're looking to evaluate how they're going to make a proposal to their end customer, and we give them a budgetary quote. So in total, as I said, 8 to 10 opportunities valued at $80 to $100 million in total.

Amit Dayal | Analyst, HC Wainwright

That's amazing. That's all I have, Vince, for now. I'll take my other questions offline.

Thank you. Vince Arnone | Chairman, President & Chief Executive Officer

Thanks, Amit.

Operator | Conference Operator

Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Ankur Sagar, who's a private investor. Please proceed with your question.

Ankur Sagar | Private Investor

Hi, good afternoon. Thank you for taking my questions. Vince, thank you for elaborating on the factors for the data center opportunity. As you listed, I mean, there is an immense shortage of these gas turbines and Some of the entities have even just started using aircraft engines, which require emission control. And it's been on the news, for example, like XAI, which is a large hyperscaler, which really put this whole setup with gas turbines quickly, but then had to go back and and get a permit for refitting these turbines with SCR. So there is a lot happening and you're involved in this, but anything you can share from a timeline perspective on when do you expect sort of like in any of these pipeline opportunities to come to fruition?

Vince Arnone | Chairman, President & Chief Executive Officer

Yeah, so as I just mentioned in my comment to Amit, Two or three of these contract opportunities we consider to be commercial opportunities, and we would expect to have a response on them, again, late this year or sometime in Q1 at the latest on those two to three. The remainder need to progress a little further relative to the project development phase. And so I can't offer timelines on that as we sit here today. But with the two or three that are indeed commercial, I would expect some sort of conclusion on them here within this next few month time frame at the most.

Okay. Ankur Sagar | Private Investor

Yes. And then these couple, two or three that you expect some response before that, are these more like where they will convert from pipeline into orders or Or these are also like platform opportunities where you are retrofitting your solution with some other vendor, whether it be a gas turbine or OEM or integrator, where you can probably have more than just the two orders or anything.

Vince Arnone | Chairman, President & Chief Executive Officer

Can you clarify your question one more time between the two different? Before I give you an answer, if you don't mind, please.

Ankur Sagar | Private Investor

The couple of opportunities that you would see some news or result on before the end of this year, are these also like platform opportunities where your solution will get retrofitted in another company's solution? whether it be an OEM turbine maker or an integrator, where, you know, it will not just be just the two orders that, let's say, you get, but, you know, there's a potential to get more than just the two in 26.

Vince Arnone | Chairman, President & Chief Executive Officer

On Corey's note, thanks for the clarification. To answer specifically, these initial orders, if we're able to bring them to fruition, would be... giving us the ability to expand and participate on additional opportunities that these customers would have prospectively. So yes, if these orders come in-house, I would expect that. It's not going to be an automatic that we're affixed to all of those customers' opportunities prospectively, but it is going to give us a very nice opportunity to expand business with these entities prospectively, and we would expect, then, incremental orders prospectively.

Ankur Sagar | Private Investor

Got it. Okay. One last one. In this, I think, fiscal year, in the last three quarters, I mean, from a cash flow perspective, I think your team has done really well. Your cash on the balance sheet has increased from working capital, done really good. How do you expect Q4 to be from a cash flow perspective?

Vince Arnone | Chairman, President & Chief Executive Officer

I would think as we look to our cash balance towards the end of 2025, I would say flat to slightly down as we look at the end of the year. Q3 is typically our best performing quarter, generally speaking. So we have the opportunity for increased cash flow. And we did have some excellent cash collections in Q3 as well to build the amount. But as we look towards moving in towards the end of 2025, I'd say flat to slightly lower for the end of the year. But still, we're very pleased with our cash balance in terms of where it is today at around $34 million and no debt. It gives us a great platform to be able to evaluate and and assist our potential customer base as we're looking at the landscape of opportunities that we do have. It gives us a lot of flexibility.

Ankur Sagar | Private Investor

Yeah. All right. Great. Thank you for taking my questions.

Vince Arnone | Chairman, President & Chief Executive Officer

Thank you, Ankur.

Operator | Conference Operator

Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Richard Grulich with REG Capital Advisors. Please proceed with your question.

Richard Grulich | Analyst, REG Capital Advisors

Thank you. Vince, last quarter in conference call, you mentioned a global sales pipeline of, I don't know, 75 to 100 million. Was that including the data center opportunities that you've been talking about today?

Vince Arnone | Chairman, President & Chief Executive Officer

No, actually, that number would not have included the data center. Actually, that number was the data center opportunity more specifically, and we would have had, call it, more regular, ordinary, recurring APC business opportunities that would have been another $10 to $20 million in pipeline on top of that number. So today, as I'm talking about 8 to 10 opportunities for $80 to $100 million, that's data center opportunities only. We have an additional pipeline of what I would call more standard APC business that is another $10 to $20 million on top of that amount.

Richard Grulich | Analyst, REG Capital Advisors

Okay. Thank you for clarifying.

Okay. Thank you. Vince Arnone | Chairman, President & Chief Executive Officer

My pleasure.

Thank you. Operator | Conference Operator

Thank you. There are no further questions at this time. I'd like to turn the call back over to Mr. Arnone for any closing remarks.

Vince Arnone | Chairman, President & Chief Executive Officer

Thank you, operator. I'd like to thank everyone who joined the call today. We were indeed pleased with our results for Q3. We are very excited about our outlook as we look to end 2025 and move into 2026. The APC landscape of opportunities is indeed the best landscape that we have seen in several years as a company. Our goal as a team is to capitalize on that opportunity. For our chemical technologies business, this year we're looking at our best performance with that business segment since 2022. And with the very solid opportunity of bringing on another coal-fired unit as we look to end this quarter and move into 2026, we have a wonderful outlook for 2026 for our chemical technology segment as well. So very pleased with where we are sitting today as a company. Again, thank the FuelTech employee team. Thank our shareholder base. Everyone have a wonderful day.

Thank you. Operator | Conference Operator

Thank you. This concludes today's call. You may disconnect your lines at this time. Thank you for your participation and have a wonderful day. jsPDF 3.0.3 D:20260606090138-00'00'