Tema Photonics & Optical ETF

Revenue for Q3 was $18.7 million, up about 20% sequentially and 21% year over year. Gross loss was negative $8.1 million on a GAAP basis and negative $7.3 million on a non-GAAP basis. Operating expenses were $66.6 million GAAP and $43 million non-GAAP; non-GAAP OpEx was down roughly 9% sequentially and 29% year over year. Cash and marketable securities ended at $74 million. Management did not provide next-quarter or full-year guidance; instead, it said 2025 financial guidance remains suspended while it works on capital structure and liquidity solutions.

Paul Ricci framed the quarter as pivotal and challenging, with a deliberate repositioning underway. He emphasized forbearance agreements with secured noteholders, paused equity financing programs, and ongoing evaluation of preliminary proposals to buy the company or parts of it. Strategically, he highlighted reduced dependence on volatile automotive lidar, a stronger push into aerospace, defense, industrial, marine, and other non-automotive markets, and growing momentum at LSI. He also said the company will reduce roughly 25% of its workforce by year-end to align costs with a lower-volume environment.

Thomas Fennimore said Q3 revenue benefited from roughly 5,400 Iris sensor shipments versus 4,800 in Q2, higher NRE revenue, and sequentially higher LSI revenue. Gross loss improved sequentially due to a higher mix of NRE revenue, lower inventory purchases after the Volvo pause, and lower warranty expense, partly offset by series production sensor shipments and unfavorable economics. Non-GAAP OpEx was $43 million, down about $4 million sequentially, driven mainly by lower R&D spend and cost actions. He also said free cash flow was roughly negative $48.5 million, compared with negative $53.8 million in Q2, and that the company ended with $74 million in cash and marketable securities.

Analysts focused on strategic alternatives, asking whether management was leaning toward a sale or partial sale; Ricci said the company has interest in assets, business lines, and the entire company, and is evaluating those alongside other financing interests. A question on next-generation product development drew a clear response that HALO work has not been put on hold and continues with critical engineering resources. Another analyst pressed on LSI’s size and value; Ricci described it as a growing, under-recognized asset with deep photonics technology and said there has been strategic interest in it. On platform partners like NVIDIA, he said Luminar continues to work with platform players but had no specific updates.