Ideal Power Q1 Earnings Call Highlights

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Ideal Power (NASDAQ:IPWR) reported no first-quarter revenue and a wider net loss, while management emphasized growing commercial activity for its B-TRAN semiconductor technology across AI data centers, energy infrastructure, industrial systems and automotive applications.

President and Chief Executive Officer David Somo said the company’s sales opportunity funnel has increased to more than $300 million, up from about $200 million at the time of its investor business update call at the end of February. He said the opportunities are diversifying across AI data centers, industrial and automotive applications and multiple geographies.

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“While a growing funnel is encouraging, converting it into design wins, production orders, and revenue is the top priority,” Somo said. He added that Ideal Power is working with customers to complete product development and testing to move projects toward volume production orders and revenue.

Commercial Projects Advance Across Data Centers, Grid and Automotive

Somo said Ideal Power’s lead Asia customer project for low-current solid-state circuit breakers, or SSCBs, remains on track for prototype units for 800-volt AI data center and energy grid customer evaluations. Those prototype units are expected to be available in the fourth quarter of 2026, with initial low-volume sales orders expected to support the prototype builds.

The company also began two additional projects with that Asia customer: one for a medium-current SSCB designed for 800-volt DC data centers, energy storage, EV charging and industrial microgrids, and another for a low-current SSCB for smart industrial buildings.

Ideal Power also signed a letter of intent with an industry partner to co-develop a B-TRAN-enabled intelligent SSCB prototype for evaluation by a U.S. hyperscaler in a development environment for NVIDIA’s Rubin Ultra 800-volt DC AI data center power distribution system. Prototype delivery is targeted for the end of the fourth quarter of 2026, with an expected purchase order for the prototype units. Somo said the prototype is also planned to be offered to other U.S. hyperscalers and AI data center operators adopting the NVIDIA Rubin Ultra rack architecture or comparable 800-volt DC systems.

In automotive, the company delivered initial next-generation B-TRAN custom package samples and development kits to Stellantis for EV applications. Somo said Ideal Power remains on track to complete the remaining deliverables under its existing purchase order with Stellantis by mid-2026.

Management Points to High-Voltage DC Transition

Somo framed Ideal Power’s opportunity around a broader industry shift toward high-voltage DC power architectures, particularly in AI data centers and grid infrastructure. He said legacy AC-based data centers were designed for rack power levels of 10 to 50 kilowatts, while next-generation AI workloads are pushing requirements toward 100 to 150 kilowatts in the near term and potentially much higher over time.

According to Somo, the industry’s transition to 800-volt DC architectures is increasing demand for solid-state circuit protection capable of bidirectional current flow, microsecond fault detection and intelligent control. He said traditional mechanical breakers were not designed to support those requirements.

The company also added its first potential solid-state transformer projects to its sales funnel with prospective customers in Asia. Somo said those opportunities are targeting 800-volt DC AI data centers, energy storage systems, EV charging and the energy grid.

First-Quarter Financial Results

Chief Financial Officer Tim Burns said first-quarter cash burn from operating and investing activities was $2.3 million, compared with $2.1 million in the first quarter of 2025 and $2.2 million in the fourth quarter of 2025. The result was below the company’s guidance range of $2.6 million to $2.8 million.

Ideal Power expects second-quarter 2026 cash burn of approximately $2.5 million to $2.7 million and full-year 2026 cash burn of about $10 million to $10.5 million. That compares with 2025 cash burn of $9.6 million. Burns said the expected increase is primarily due to hiring additional sales and engineering personnel.

Cash and cash equivalents totaled $16.4 million as of March 31, 2026. Burns said the company has no debt and a “clean capital structure.”

Ideal Power did not record revenue in the first quarter. Burns said initial orders from companies evaluating its products for possible inclusion in OEM products are expected to be small, with order sizes increasing as customers move through design cycles, qualification and inventory building for commercialization.

Operating expenses were $3.7 million in the quarter, up from $2.8 million a year earlier, driven primarily by higher stock-based compensation and personnel costs. Net loss was $3.6 million, compared with a net loss of $2.7 million in the first quarter of 2025.

Q Highlights

During the question-and-answer session, Somo said Ideal Power is “ready” from a manufacturing perspective, citing relationships with multiple foundries and packaging firms that he said can support the company’s expected sales ramp over the next two years.

He also said Ideal Power continues to make progress toward completing automotive reliability testing this summer. Somo described automotive qualification as a requirement for customers to deploy B-TRAN in vehicles, while noting that customers can continue product development during the qualification process.

Asked about competition, Somo said the primary competing technology in the applications Ideal Power is targeting is silicon carbide MOSFETs, rather than IGBTs, because customers are focused on minimizing losses in systems that conduct power most of the time.

Somo also said the company has ongoing discussions with potential strategic investors, though he did not provide further details. He said potential investment could validate B-TRAN in the market if it comes from a company interested in adopting Ideal Power’s products.

Management said near-term catalysts over the next three to six months could include additional customer agreements, custom development programs and purchase orders. Somo said he expects to provide further updates in August as the company continues its commercialization efforts.

About Ideal Power (NASDAQ:IPWR)

Ideal Power Inc, based in Austin, Texas, specializes in the design and manufacture of advanced power conversion solutions for a range of energy applications. The company's core technology is its proprietary Coupled Power Delivery (CPD) architecture, which enables efficient bi-directional conversion between DC and DC, as well as DC and AC power streams. These solutions are widely applied in renewable energy systems, energy storage, microgrids, and electric mobility platforms.

Ideal Power's product lineup includes bi-directional DC converters, solid-state transformers, and intelligent power controllers.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to [email protected].

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