Lightwave Logic Inc Aktie

Thank you. Greetings. Welcome to the Lightwave Logic Q2 2026 Financial Results and Business Update Conference Call. [Operator Instructions] Please note this conference is being recorded. I will now turn the conference over to [ Nick Teves ] of Investor Relations. Thank you, Nick. You may begin.

Thank you, Operator, and good morning, everyone. Thanks for joining us today for Lightwave Logic's second quarter financial results and business update call. I'm joined on today's call by Lightwave Logic's President and Chief Executive Officer, Yves LeMaitre, and Lightwave Logic's Chief Financial Officer, Fred Graffam. [Operator Instructions] A replay will be posted to the company's website shortly after the call concludes.

Some of the matters we'll discuss on this call, including statements and our business outlook, are forward-looking, and as such, this call speaks only as of today, August 11, 2026. Such statements may be considered forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The matters discussed on this call are subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties, and these risks and uncertainties could cause actual operating results to differ materially from those expressed in the call.

A more detailed description of the risks our company faces is more fully described by the company under caption risk factors included in our most recent Form 10-K and 10-Q. As always, Lightwave Logic assumes no obligation to update the information presented on this conference call. Lastly, you are cautioned that any time-sensitive information may no longer be accurate at the time of replay listening or transcript reading. With that, I'll turn the call over to Yves.

Hey, good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us. The second quarter of 2026 represented another step forward in our transition from technology development to commercialization. As you'll hear today, we expanded to 5 Stage 3 customers and made excellent progress with our multiple foundry engagements, with the first wafers expected to be delivered this month. But let me start with a bigger picture. AI is being adopted and scaled at an incredible rate. And when something grows this fast, bottlenecks show up everywhere.

The industry talks about the availability of compute, the memory wall, interconnect bandwidth, power supply, power, and cooling. We can debate which one is the biggest constraint at any particular point in time. The more important point is that they are all real, they are all connected, and each one has to be addressed if AI infrastructure is going to keep scaling. For Lightwave Logic, the part of the problem we are focused on is the interconnect. Putting more processors into an AI cluster only helps if those processors can move enormous amounts of data between each other quickly and efficiently.

In simple terms, the network has to keep up with the compute. Today, it simply doesn't. As clusters become larger and denser, copper reaches its practical limits over longer distances, and power consumption becomes a bigger part of the networking problem. That is why optical networking, and silicon photonics in particular, is growing quickly. We are seeing it in actual foundry results, not just in industry forecasts. In their latest calls, GlobalFoundries said its communication infrastructure and data center business grew more than 60% year-over-year, driven in part by optical networking, and that it expects its silicon photonics revenue to more than double in 2026.

Tower Semiconductor reported that its silicon photonics revenue grew by more than 270% year-over-year and said it is targeting a $1 billion annualized run rate in the fourth quarter. Those are significant numbers, and they show how quickly silicon photonics is moving into the mainstream of AI infrastructure. This is a part of the AI infrastructure problem that Lightwave Logic is working to fix. Whether the application is scale-up, scale-out, or scale-across, the industry needs more bandwidth, less power, and smaller devices that can be easily integrated with silicon and manufactured at scale.

Our Perkinamine electro-optic polymers are designed to make silicon photonics faster and more power-efficient with a much smaller footprint. Just as important, they are designed to fit into the foundry and packaging infrastructure the industry already uses. We are not asking the market to build completely new manufacturing systems around us. We are working to make the silicon photonics platform better. Let me now turn to our silicon photonics foundry work with our partners. I am pleased to report that we are making good progress.

We currently have 3 dedicated foundry runs underway. We expect to receive 2 sets of wafers from those programs during this month of August. The third foundry is expected to deliver its wafers in the fourth quarter. We are also preparing a dedicated run with a fourth foundry and working towards a tape-out later this year. Taken together, these 4 programs give us several parallel paths for advancing our technology and supporting our customers. As we discussed on our first quarter call, several of the silicon photonics foundries are under pressure because they are dealing with a combination of very strong customer demand, process development for novel materials, and the need to catch up on capacity investment.

Those pressures have not disappeared. In fact, the growth recently reported publicly by some of the leading players shows just how quickly demand for silicon photonics is increasing. Despite this pressure, 2 foundries are on track to ship wafers to Lightwave Logic this month. Receiving the wafers is an important milestone, but it's not the end of the process. Once the wafers arrive, our team begins the back-end work. That includes depositing the polymer, encapsulating it, preparing the devices for testing, and then completing the characterization work.

We will work closely with our customers throughout that process to confirm that the devices meet their performance requirements and to understand any changes that may be needed. The foundries are learning from these runs as well. The objective is not simply to show that they can process high-bandwidth slot modulators. We are working with them to fine-tune the process, improve yield and device performance, and make the overall manufacturing flow more efficient and repeatable. That work is essential if we want to move from individual prototype runs to qualification and ultimately generate revenues with volume manufacturing.

Our active foundry ecosystem now includes GlobalFoundries, Tower Semiconductor, SilTerra, and a fourth partner that remains unnamed. We believe having several foundry options is important for our customers and for the long-term scalability of our platform. We will continue strengthening these relationships while also looking for opportunities to add new foundry partners in the future. Now let me move to customers. We continue to see strong interest from companies looking for better ways to meet the speed, power, and size requirements of AI networks. Interest is important, but what matters to us is moving this discussion into real programs with real engineering work behind them.

This quarter, a new unnamed Fortune Global 500 customer moved into Stage 3 of our design win process. With the addition of this new customer, it brings our total number of Stage 3 programs to 5. This new customer program is initially focused on scale-across transceivers using coherent modulation. While a lot of the AI discussion is focused on scale-up and scale-out, scale-across is making a strong comeback as a critical part of next-generation AI factories. The practical limits of building ever-larger data centers are forcing operators to connect multiple campuses located a few miles to tens of miles apart into 1 virtual data center.

This requires extensive use of ultra-high-speed optical links, dense wavelength division multiplexing, and coherent modulation. Stage 3 is where the work becomes much more concrete. We are no longer talking only about requirements or running an initial evaluation. We are working with our customers and dedicating resources on prototypes, foundry runs, device processing, and testing. For all of our Stage 3 programs, the job now is to meet the technical milestones required for qualification and eventually Stage 4. The next milestones include the delivery, back-end processing, and testing of chips, as mentioned earlier.

We expect the fourth quarter to be very busy for our customer-facing technical staff and engineering team. In parallel, we are working to turn these technical programs into commercial agreements covering material supply, licensing, and engineering work with volume production as a longer-term goal. One such material supply and licensing agreement is already in place, and we are actively negotiating a new agreement with another customer whose program is the most advanced on the path to productization with the goal of beginning volume production in the second half of 2027.

I want to be clear about the process. These programs take time. Foundry schedules, design changes, packaging, and system testing can all affect the pace. We are pleased with the progress, but we are not going to get ahead of the data or our customers. Our focus is on doing the work, meeting the next milestone, and earning the right to move each program forward. At this point, I would like to welcome Fred Graffam, our new Chief Financial Officer. He brings the type of financial, human, and operational experience we felt we needed to bring Lightwave Logic to the next level. I'm very happy to have him on the team. Fred will take you through our second quarter results and the main financial items for the period. Fred, welcome to Lightwave Logic, and over to you.

Thank you, Yves, and good morning, everyone. I'm very pleased to have joined Lightwave Logic at this important stage in the company's evolution and to be speaking with you for the first time today. While I am still early in my tenure, I have been highly encouraged by the strength of our technology, the caliber of our team, and the significant market opportunity ahead as the industry seeks solutions to increasing bandwidth and power efficiency demands. My initial focus has been on understanding the business, our customer engagement and commercialization priorities, and ensuring the finance organization is well-positioned to support the company's next phase of growth.

Working closely with Yves and the leadership team, I am focused on disciplined execution, capital allocation, and transparent communications with our shareholders. Drawing on my experience in public company finance, strategic transactions, and investor relations, I look forward to helping advance our strategic objectives and effectively communicating our progress to the investment community. I look forward to meeting with many of you in the months ahead and discussing our progress. With that, let me turn to our financial results for the quarter.

During the second quarter of 2026, the company maintained a strong balance sheet while continuing to invest in technical development, manufacturing readiness, customer engagement, and infrastructure initiatives that support product commercialization. Revenue for the quarter was approximately $33,000 compared with $26,000 in the prior-year period. As of June 30, 2026, the company had approximately $100,000 of deferred revenue that will be recognized upon achievement of certain milestones under an existing joint development agreement. Net loss was $6.6 million, or $0.04 per share, compared with a net loss of approximately $5 million, or $0.04 per share, in the second quarter of 2025.

Our operating expenses continue to reflect targeted investments to advance technology readiness and support future commercialization, including research and development, intellectual property expansion, foundry ecosystem integration, manufacturing scale-up activities, customer engagement, and organizational infrastructure needed to support long-term growth. Research and development expense for the quarter was approximately $3.9 million, compared with $2.6 million in the prior-year period, reflecting continued investment in device performance, reliability, qualification, and integration activities.

General and administrative expenses for the quarter was approximately $3.4 million compared with approximately $2.3 million in the prior-year period, primarily reflecting investments in personnel, systems, and processes designed to strengthen the infrastructure necessary to support future growth and commercialization. We ended the quarter with $95.9 million in cash, cash equivalents, and marketable securities, providing significant financial flexibility to execute our strategic priorities. Cash used in operating activities was approximately $9.9 million during the first 6 months of 2026, compared with $7.3 million in the prior-year period, reflecting continued investment in fabrication runs, prototype device development, manufacturing capacity, and commercial expansion.

Capital expenditures totaled approximately $1.5 million during the first 6 months of the year, and were focused on supporting production readiness and strengthening our IT infrastructure. In summary, we remain focused on aligning our investments with the company's commercialization priorities and long-term value creation strategy. During the second quarter, we strengthened the organization through targeted hiring, increasing headcount by 25% sequentially, particularly in areas critical to manufacturing scale-up, test engineering, and commercial development.

We also invested in equipment and clean room expansion to enhance Perkinamine manufacturing capabilities and expand quality control processes while continuing to strengthen our IT and systems infrastructure. Collectively, these investments are enhancing our operational readiness, supporting customer engagement activities, and positioning the company to capitalize on our commercial opportunities. Looking ahead, we remain committed to maintaining a strong balance sheet while deploying capital thoughtfully to support commercialization and long-term value creation. We believe our financial position and operational investments provide a solid foundation to execute against our strategic priorities and support future growth. With that, I will turn the call back to Yves.

Thank you, Fred. Before we go to questions, I want to come back on the 5 priorities we set for 2026 to give you a straightforward view of where we stand. Our first priority is to move our Stage 3 programs closer to qualification and Stage 4. The important change here is that more of these programs are moving from planning into execution. We now have 5 customers at Stage 3, and several are approaching the point where foundry-built devices can be tested against specific customer requirements. The wafer deliveries expected in August and the fourth quarter should give us a much clearer technical picture and set up the next decision with those customers.

The second priority was commercialization. We are building the commercial framework alongside the engineering work instead of waiting until the qualification is complete. One material supply and licensing agreement is already in place, and discussions on the second are active with the customer furthest along toward a product. The conversation is increasingly about how we move together through qualification and into production, not simply whether the technology is interesting. The third priority was to reduce foundry risk and give customers credible manufacturing options.

Access to silicon photonics capacity and support for a novel material were major constraints when we began. Today, we are working across 4 foundry relationships at different stages of execution. Each run builds process knowledge, gives customers more flexibility, and helps make polymer integration a repeatable process rather than a one-off engineering exercise. The fourth priority was to extend platform performance at 200 Gbps, 400 Gbps, and beyond. The opportunity is also broadening. Beyond scale-up and scale-out, we now have a Stage 3 scale-across program using coherent modulation.

These applications place different demands on the modulator, but they all require higher bandwidth, lower power, and a smaller footprint. Our next foundry devices will let us test those advantages in customer-relevant designs and manufacturing flows, not only in the lab. Our fifth priority was to prepare the company operationally for a potential production ramp beginning in 2027. Our expansion plans for Perkinamine production in Denver are progressing well, with new staff being trained and new equipment being commissioned to increase our batch size and overall production output.

If I had to summarize our current position today, I would say that the different parts of the strategy are coming together. Customer programs, foundry execution, device performance, and commercial discussions are increasingly converging. We are not at the finish line, but the next steps are concrete, measurable, and much closer in front of us. Our job is to execute them well. I want to finish by thanking our employees for the work they put in every day, our customers and foundry partners for working through these programs with us, and our shareholders for their continued support. We appreciate it. With that, I will turn it back to [ Nick Teves ] and Fred and I will take your questions.

Thank you, Yves. When we announced this call, we invited investors to submit their questions ahead of time. We'd like to thank those investors who took the time to do so, and we appreciate your continued engagement. What are the biggest bottlenecks inside the foundry ecosystem today? Is it capacity, process development, yield learning, packaging, or test availability?

Excellent question. We talked earlier about the current business pressure on foundries for building bare silicon photonics chips. They must increase capacity, establish new production sites, transition to 300-millimeter wafers, and bring in new materials such as electro-optic polymers. We should also take a look at what we call BEOL at Lightwave Logic. It means back-end-of-line integration of Perkinamine on a bare silicon photonic chip. We have mentioned in earlier calls that this process is currently done in-house at Lightwave Logic in Colorado, but that we are engaged with external partners in outsourcing this step for high-volume production.

This is an important project for Lightwave Logic in 2026 and 2027. We are working with 1 of our lead customers to build a scalable back-end production line so we can scale the production across all aspects of the final product: the Perkinamine production, front-end silicon photonics production, and the back-end-of-line process.

Does the current cash balance provide enough runway to reach the targeted production ramp, assuming no major change in the development timeline?

Thanks for the question. We strengthened our balance sheet through capital raises completed in late 2025 and early 2026, positioning the company to support its commercialization objectives and planned scale-up activities. We continue to closely monitor our progress and align operating and capital investments with key business and development milestones. With no debt and approximately $96 million in cash and marketable securities at the end of the second quarter, we believe we have the financial flexibility to execute on our current organic growth strategy.

What factors are considered when establishing licensing agreements and technology transfer agreements? Based on public information and standard industry examples, what should investors expect from these agreements in dollar terms?

Well, we cannot comment on a specific dollar value per agreement. Ultimately, it will depend on our pricing agreement for materials, one-time or recurring licensing fees, and royalties over the period of the contract. Most importantly, the value will be created by the success of our customers' products and their ability to win market share and volume allocation with the end users, who are typically hyperscalers and AI networking companies.

From a physics standpoint, is it possible that Perkinamine is the only viable material with the performance characteristics to advance CPO in all 3 applications: scale-up, scale-across, and scale-out?

We are certainly not in a position to make such a bold statement. We have said that electro-optic polymers exhibit unique characteristics such as ultra-fast bandwidth, efficient electro-optics conversion, and extremely compact size. These attributes bring value to a variety of applications. For instance, scale-across is pushing the bandwidth limit, while scale-up needs tiny modulators, lowest power, and integration with silicon.

Competition is fierce, and the industry's brightest minds are assessing all kinds of materials and solutions. At Lightwave Logic, we are fortunate to work with some of the industry leaders to demonstrate the value of Perkinamine in scale-up, scale-out, and scale-across applications. We will continue to report our progress towards design wins and volume production.

Back in January of this year, you showed a slide indicating more than 15 customers in Stage 1 and 2, yet we have not seen or heard about any of them moving to Stage 3. Why is this?

Good question. We have announced a new customer reaching Stage 3 today, and our pipeline of customers in Stage 1 and 2 remains strong. There are a couple of important points to consider in bringing new customers to Stage 3. First, the results of ongoing and planned wafer runs at our foundry partners will increase the confidence of certain target customers who are relying on specific foundries for their silicon photonics chips. In addition, while our technical team has expanded, we have intentionally focused on executing key programs in chip design and production for our leading customers.

Thank you, Yves and Fred, and thank you again to everyone who sent your questions. I'd like to turn it over to you, our operator, to conclude this conference call.

Thank you. This concludes today's teleconference. You may disconnect your lines at this time. Thank you for your participation.

Ladies and gentlemen, greetings, and welcome to the Lightwave Logic Q1 2026 Financial Results and Business Update Conference Call.

[Operator Instructions]

It is now my pleasure to introduce your host for today, Ryan Coleman, Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

Thank you, operator, and good afternoon, everyone. Thanks for joining us today for Lightwave Logic's first quarter 2026 financial results and business update call.

I'm joined on today's call by LightwaveLogic's President and Chief Executive Officer, Yves LeMaitre. Please note that this call is in listen-only mode for the duration of the call and that a replay will be posted to the company's website shortly after the call concludes.

Some of the matters we'll discuss on this call, including statements and our business outlook, are forward-looking, and as such, this call speaks only as of today, May 13, 2026. Such statements are may be considered forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The matters discussed on this call are subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties, and these risks and uncertainties could cause actual operating results to differ materially from those expressed in the call. A more detailed description of the risks our company faces is more fully described by the company under the caption Risk Factors included in our most recent Form 10-K and Form 10-Q. As always, Lightwave Logic assumes no obligation to update the information presented on this conference call. Lastly, you are cautioned that any time-sensitive information may no longer be accurate at the time of replay listening or transcript reading.

With that, I'll turn the call over to Yves.

Good afternoon, and thank you for joining us today. We appreciate the continued support of our shareholders, partners, employees and everyone following Lightwave Logic as we advance our mission during one of the most transformative periods in technology history.

The world is currently experiencing a profound AI revolution. Artificial intelligence is no longer an emerging concept. It is becoming the foundational driver of innovation, productivity and global economic growth. From hyperscale data centers to edge computing and next-generation AI factories, AI is reshaping how information is created, processed, transmitted and consumed. At the center of this transformation is a growing challenge, the need for dramatically faster, more efficient and scalable data movement. AI connectivity is becoming just as critical as computing-powered cells.

As AI models grow exponentially in size and complexity, traditional and electronic interconnects are approaching their physical limits and need to be replaced by photonics solution. This is where the convergence of semiconductors and photonics becomes essential. The future of AI infrastructure will depend on technology that can deliver higher bandwidth, lower power consumption, increased density, and scalable manufacturing solutions.

As demonstrated by major financial investments in several optical and semiconductor companies and the high M&A activity in the sector, Photonics is recognized as a critical technology for the next generation of AI networking architectures. And we believe that Lightwave Logic is uniquely positioned at the intersection of these 2 worlds. Our Perkinamine, electro-optic polymer platform was designed precisely for this evolution by combining the scalability of semiconductor manufacturing with the performance advantages of advanced photonics. We believe that Lightwave Logic is positioned to help address some of the most important challenges facing AI infrastructure over the coming decade.

Over the past year, we have remained focused not only on advancing our technology, but also on strengthening execution across the company. We recognize the importance of credibility, transparency, and disciplined operational progress. We have worked hard to restore confidence through measurable execution, technical advancement, stronger ecosystem engagement and a continued focus on commercial readiness.

While we are satisfied with the meaningful progress we've made, we also recognize that our work continues. Our commitment remains clear to demonstrate steady and sustainable progress across the technical, commercial and operational dimensions of the business.

First, let's take a look at our progress towards commercialization and revenue generation. Our primary target market keeps expanding rapidly. If we compare the updated market opportunity to what we presented about a year ago, evolution is quite significant, and we believe it reflects the extraordinary acceleration taking place across AI infrastructure and optical networking markets. A year ago, our TAM for 2028 analysis highlighted approximately $24 billion in combined addressable markets across AI, data center and telecom application with a serviceable addressable market or SAM estimated at approximately $1 billion to $2.5 billion for electro-optic polymer modulators depending on the level of integration. At that time, the industry was already recognizing the importance of photonics and high-speed interconnects, but the scale and urgency of AI-driven infrastructure demand had not yet fully emerged.

Over the last 12 months, however, the market environment has evolved dramatically. Today, AI has clearly become the primary driver of networking infrastructure. The rapid scaling of large language models, AI clusters, XPU to XPU communications and co-packaged optics architectures has materially increased projected bandwidth requirements across the industry. That acceleration is reflected directly in our updated TAM analysis. Our AI and data center combined optical transceiver TAM alone in 2028 has expanded from approximately $17 billion to approximately $47 billion, driven by a substantial increase in projected deployments of 1.6 terabit and 3.2 terabit transceivers and co-package optics operating at 200 gigabits per second and beyond per lane.

In addition, the demand for high-speed coherent or coherent light pluggable transceivers is now fast growing with DCI or scale across intercampus connections. As a result of these industry dynamics, our estimated serviceable addressable market has also expanded meaningfully from approximately $1 billion to $2.5 billion previously to an estimated range of approximately $2 billion to $4 billion today.

Let's look in more detail at our progress on the customer front. We continue to see encouraging growth in customer engagement and market traction as industry participants increasingly evaluate novel materials to address the performance and power challenges associated with AI networking. In particular, the performance, size and manufacturing challenges of indium phosphide-based EML transceivers for scale-out and thin-film lithium niobate modulators for scale across continue to open new doors for electro-optic polymers.

Following the recently announced acquisition of Polariton by Marvell, we now have 4 major customers, all Fortune 500 or Fortune Global 500 companies at Stage 3 or prototyping of our design win pipeline. We expect 1 or 2 additional Tier 1 customers to reach Stage 3 before the end of the third quarter of 2026.

Today, one of the primary factors affecting the pace of new customer engagement and our progression to Stage 4 or manufacturing is the exceptionally strong demand for silicon photonic wafers and devices. The rapid expansion of AI infrastructure has placed significant pressure on the limited number of foundries capable of supporting advanced silicon photonics manufacturing at scale. As a result, wafer tape-out and fabrication cycle times are longer than normal. This is particularly true for emerging technologies such as electro-optic polymers, where foundries must allocate specialized tools and engineering resources while balancing existing production commitments and capacity expansion.

Despite these industry-wide supply constraints, we continue to make steady progress with our customers. We expect to receive multiple devices from our foundry partners during the third and fourth quarter of 2026. In parallel, we are negotiating a new material supply and licensing agreement with one of our lead customer to support high-volume production, which is anticipated to begin in 2027.

As a background to our increased success with customers, let me highlight a structural technology shift taking place in our industry today, the rapid emergence of silicon photonics as the preferred integration platform for optical interconnects. Over the past several years, the optical transceiver market has evolved from a specialized communication market into a foundational enabling technology for hyperscale cloud and AI. What we are seeing now is that silicon photonics is clearly winning the integration platform transition. Industry forecasts project that the optical transceiver market could grow to more than $70 billion by 2030, representing a very significant growth trajectory over the next several years.

More importantly, silicon photonics is expected to become the dominant technology platform within that market, growing from approximately 23% share in 2021 to an estimated greater than 70% market share by 2030. There are several reasons driving this transition. First, silicon photonics enables higher levels of integration and scalability that align very well with the semiconductor manufacturing ecosystem. As AI clusters continue to scale, bandwidth requirements increase exponentially, the industry needs technology that can support very high-volume manufacturing, tighter integration with electronic ICs and improve power efficiency.

Second, silicon photonics provides a pathway towards co-packaged optics and advanced optical interconnect architectures, which are becoming increasingly important as conventional electrical interconnect solution based on copper encounter power density and bandwidth limitations. The level of strategic investment and acquisition activity we are seeing across the industry strongly validates this transition. Companies including AMD, Marvell, Samsung, GlobalFoundries, Credo and others are making significant investment in silicon photonics capabilities, optical integration technologies and co-packaged optics platform.

These are not isolated developments. They reflect a broad industry consensus that optical integration with silicon will be critical for the future. This trend is highly relevant to Lightwave Logic. Our electro-optic polymer platform is not competing against silicon photonics. It is designed to enhance and enable silicon photonics. We believe our materials can provide meaningful performance advantage in areas such as speed, power efficiency, footprint reduction, manufacturability, while remaining compatible with silicon photonics and semiconductor ecosystems. In many ways, the increasing adoption of silicon photonics strengthens the strategic relevance of our technology because it expands the overall market opportunity for high-performance modulators.

One of the most important developments for Lightwave Logic over the past several years has been the growing adoption and integration of our electro-optic polymer technology within the broader silicon photonics foundry ecosystem. The industry recognizes that scalable deployment of optical interconnect technologies requires compatibility with established semiconductor manufacturing platforms, standardized process design kits and mature foundry workflows. As a result, our strategy has focused on embedding our polymer modulator technology directly into leading silicon photonics ecosystem through partnerships and PDK integrations with organizations such as Tower Semiconductor, GlobalFoundries through the GDS Factory ecosystem and SilTerra with Luceda Photonics.

These integrations are important because they enable designers and customers to access our technology at the foundry of their choice, accelerate development cycles and support future high-volume manufacturing pathways. We believe this represents a significant validation of the compatibility and manufacturing of our platform within commercial silicon photonic infrastructure.

In addition, our recent announcement regarding the advancement of PDK 1.1 further demonstrates continued progress towards expanding functionality, improving design, and supporting ultra-high-speed device architectures. Collectively, these developments reinforce our view that foundries will play a central role, not only in scalable manufacturing, but also in enabling our long-term IP licensing and commercialization strategy. We believe that the current capacity, equipment, and process constraints experienced at various silicon foundries will gradually disappear over the next 12 months as major investments and entry of new players with balance supply and demand both for new design as well as for production requirements.

One quick update on our progress in demonstrating the reliability of electro-optic polymers, not just as a novel material, but also when integrated into full devices. Over the past year, Lightwave Logic has continued to make significant technical progress in demonstrating the long-term reliability and stability of our electro-optic polymer platform, an important milestone for commercial deployment within demanding data center, telecom and AI networking environments. Historically, reliability has been viewed as one of the primary technical challenges associated with organic materials, and we believe our recent results demonstrate meaningful progress in addressing those industry concerns.

As highlighted in our recent technical updates and press releases, our latest generation materials have successfully passed key Telcordia-related stress testing when combined with our proprietary encapsulation approaches, validating projected long-term thermal stability and environmental robustness. Our data indicates excellent resistance to critical degradation mechanisms such as loss of poling efficiency, chromophore decomposition and photo-oxidation under accelerated stress conditions, including high temperature and high humidity environment such as 85 degrees Celsius, 85% reductive humidity testing.

In parallel, we continue advancing both chip level and device level reliability studies to validate long-term operational stability under real-world integration conditions. We believe our recent reliability results at the device level represent another important step towards commercial readiness.

Now let's talk about intellectual property for a minute as we expect this topic to be highly relevant in the future. Electro-optic polymers offer what we believe is a highly compelling alternative to traditional modulator materials such as indium phosphide or InP and thin-film lithium niobate or TFLN. Electro-optic polymers combine several important advantages, very high electro-optic efficiency, ultra-high bandwidth, lower drive voltage, compact device footprints, and the potential for significantly reduced power consumption. In addition, polymer materials can be processed using scalable semiconductor manufacturing techniques and integrating with existing silicon photonics platform.

Lightwave Logic intellectual property strategy is designed to build broad and defensible protection across the entire electro-optic polymer technology stack, expanding well beyond individual materials to encompass device architectures, fabrication processes, integration methodologies, and advanced packaging approaches. Our objective has been to create a comprehensive patent portfolio that supports long-term commercialization, reinforces our strategic position within the silicon photonics ecosystem and enables multiple options for monetization, including licensing and technology partnerships.

Today, our portfolio includes both granted and pending U.S. and international patents covering critical aspects of high-performance electro-optic materials, modulator and device engineering, semiconductor integration techniques, manufacturing scalability and packaging solution. We believe this broad IP foundation is particularly important as the industry moves towards more complex photonic electronic integration architectures where system-level know-how and manufacturability becomes increasingly valuable competitive differentiators. In addition, our recent announcement regarding our engagement with Michael Best further reinforces our commitment to strengthening and expanding our intellectual property position as we continue advancing our commercialization and licensing initiatives.

Finally, let me summarize our financial results. For the first quarter of 2026, Lightwave Logic continued to maintain a strong financial position while increasing investments aligned with our technical development, commercialization activities and strategic growth initiatives. Revenue for the quarter was approximately $29,000, representing a 27% year-over-year increase. Net loss for the quarter was $6.3 million or $0.04 per share compared to a net loss of $4.7 million in the prior year period, while loss per share remained flat year-over-year.

Importantly, our increased operating expenses reflect continued investment in research and development, customer engagement activities, foundry ecosystem integration, intellectual property expansion and organizational capabilities necessary to support future commercialization efforts. R&D investments increased to $3.5 million as we continued advancing device performance, reliability validation and integration activities, while G&A expenses increased primarily due to strategic operational initiatives.

We ended the quarter with a very strong cash position of approximately $75 million in cash and equivalents, providing substantial financial flexibility to support the execution of our strategic road map and long-term growth objectives. Since the end of the first quarter of 2026, we have used up the shelf put in place in August of 2024. As a result, our cash on hand as of May 11, 2026, is approximately $100 million.

In summary, we believe the opportunity in front of us is significant, and we remain focused on building long-term value for our shareholders while positioning Lightwave Logic to play an important role in the future of AI networking and photonic integration.

Now let me turn the call over to Ryan for our Q&A session. Ryan?

Thanks, Yves. When we announced this call, we invited investors to submit questions ahead of time. We'd like to thank the investors who continue to take the time to do so, and we appreciate your continued engagement on these calls.

Our first question, size is important for CPO and TFLN may struggle because it is too big. Does this change the competitive landscape? And does TFLN remain a major competitor today?

Well, first, each one of the AI connectivity subsegments, scale up, scale out and scale across can benefit from the characteristics of our Perkinamine materials. For scale-up and CPO in particular, size is becoming a fundamental constraint due to the limited real estate available at the edge of the XPU or the switch ASIC. For scale-out, power, speed and size are all critical. And finally, scale across is pushing the limits of modulator bandwidth. Electro-optic polymers is one platform that can address all of these applications unlike other technologies such as indium phosphide or TFLN, both having to deal with power, size and high-volume manufacturing challenges.

Polariton was a partner on several projects. Did the Marvell acquisition of Polariton interrupt any of these projects? And do you expect that they'll all be pursued?

Well, as you know, this acquisition just closed, and we make it a rule of not commenting on the specifics of potential or existing customers under NDA. Let me say though, congratulations to Marvell for picking a leader in plasmonic solution. We envision plasmonic to become a critical technology beyond 400G. What I can tell you about Marvell is just like any other customers, we will work very hard to deserve their business going forward, and we are looking forward in engaging with them.

Could you confirm that polymers are compatible with each segment of the AI scale up, scale out and scale across?

Yes. As we discussed earlier, this is one of our main advantages due to the flexibility of the Perkinamine electro-optic polymer platform. As a matter of fact, recently, the scale across market has been very active, and we are following closely the road map for this coherent light, coherent and DCI pluggable solution that are pushing the modulator bandwidth requirements.

And what is the status of the in-house polymer manufacturing equipment personnel and the readiness of a redundant manufacturing source?

Well, this is a very active program here in Denver. We are setting up a new Perkinamine production line, commissioning new equipment and hiring process and production personnel to be ready to ramp production here in Denver. At this point in time, we have not engaged in developing a redundant manufacturing infrastructure.

And the last question, what's the status and progress of the back end of line PDKs, including ALD encapsulation and testing readiness at foundry partners?

Excellent question. We have not talked publicly about plans for expanding our capacity. Today, we are performing in-house back end of line, which is a deposition and encapsulation of the polymers in Denver. We might go to high-volume manufacturing partners in the future. This is a topic we will address in future updates. What I can share at this point in time is that we are talking to multiple partners about this topic.

Thanks, Yves. A brief marketing note before we conclude today's call. The company will be virtually attending the Needham Technology, Media and Consumer Conference tomorrow, May 14. Investors that are interested in meeting with the company should contact their Needham representative. And also a reminder that the Annual Shareholder Meeting will be held virtually next Thursday, May 21, at 10:00 a.m. Mountain Time.

Thank you all again for joining us today. We look forward to sharing our progress and discussing the exciting developments at the company that are underway.

Ladies and gentlemen, the conference call of Lightwave Logic has now concluded. Thank you for your participation, and you may now disconnect.

Greetings, and welcome to the Lightwave Logic's Q4 and Full Year 2025 Financial Results and Business Update Call. [Operator Instructions] Please note, this conference is being recorded.

I will now turn the conference over to your host, Ryan Coleman with Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

Thank you, operator, and good morning, everyone. Thanks for joining us today for Lightwave Logic's Fourth Quarter and Full Year Financial Results and Business Update Call. I'm joined on today's call by Lightwave Logic's President and Chief Executive Officer, Yves LeMaitre.

Please note that this call is in listen-only mode for the duration of the call, and that a replay will be posted to the company's website shortly after the call concludes. Some of the matters we'll discuss on this call, including statements and our business outlook, are forward-looking, and as such, this call speaks only as of today, March 5, 2026. Such statements may be considered forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The matters discussed on this call are subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties, and these risks and uncertainties could cause actual operating results to differ materially from those expressed in the call.

A more detailed description of the risks our company faces is more fully described by the company under the caption Risk Factors included in our most recent Form 10-K and 10-Q. As always, Lightwave Logic assumes no obligation to update the information presented on this conference call.

And lastly, you are cautioned that any time-sensitive information may no longer be accurate at the time of replay listening or transcript reading.

So with that, I'll turn the call over to Yves.

Thank you, Ryan. Good morning, everyone. Thank you for joining us. Let me start with a note of appreciation to our shareholders. Thank you for your continued confidence and long-term commitment. We are building something transformative that requires patience and conviction. To our employees and partners, 2025 was a year of real execution. The progress we made in material science, reliability engineering, foundry integration and customer advancement reflects extraordinary discipline and focus. We are building the company in the right way. 2025 was not a promotional and marketing year. It was an execution year. We moved aggressively from research validation towards structure commercialization. Our Perkinamine electro-optic polymer platform continued to demonstrate high-speed bandwidth, low drive voltage, compact device footprint and compatibility with the silicon photonics and semiconductor ecosystem. The importance of this last point is often underestimated. Our belief is that tomorrow's winning photonic technologies for AI networking must fully integrate within the semiconductor foundry, packaging and testing infrastructure. So we strengthened our reliability data sets, most notably around the challenges faced by previous generation of polymers, primarily temperature stability and photo-oxidation. We advanced our back-end of line process integration with novel solutions for electro-optic polymer deposition and encapsulation that are fully aligned with the semiconductor fab infrastructure, tools and processes.

We deepened our engagement with foundry ecosystem with multiple committed programs by major foundries to add or improve their PDK related to front-end silicon photonics chip design and manufacturing. This was especially important for Lightwave Logic to enable new customer design wins for customers who have already selected their preferred foundry.

Our design win cycle matured meaningfully. We have now 3 programs advanced to Stage 3, prototype to final product in 2025, and we recently added a fourth Fortune Global 500 customer to that list in 2026. Approximately 15 additional engagements are progressing through Stage 1 and Stage 2, and we are hopeful that some of our recent success with new foundries will help accelerate the transition to Stage 3. We are not trying to [ invent ] a market. We are well positioned inside the market that is scaling rapidly.

But before we dive into an update of our customer engagements and the market, I'd like to briefly review our select financial results. Now for the full year 2025, revenue was approximately $237,000, primarily from licensing and nonrecurring engineering compared to $96,000 in 2024. Net loss was approximately $20.3 million or a loss of $0.16 per share, an improvement from $22.5 million or a loss of $0.19 per share in 2024.

Our R&D investment was approximately $11.5 million compared to $16.8 million in the prior year, and our G&A expense was approximately $9.5 million compared to $6.4 million in the prior year. In December of 2025, we completed a public offering, raising approximately $32.8 million in net proceeds through the issuance of 11.6 million shares of common stock. The transaction strengthens our balance sheet and contributed to our year-end cash position of approximately $69 million, roughly double the $34.9 million we had at the end of third quarter. In January of 2026, we exercised the over-allotment portion of the offering, adding another $4.9 million in cash. So based on our operating plan, we believe we are funded beyond December of 2027. We are managing capital deliberately. Every dollar is allocated towards commercialization readiness.

Now let's move to the customers. The customers' programs deepened in 2025. Stage 3 engagements currently involve primarily wafer level tape-outs, followed by chip processing and testing with possibly iterative design optimization. This is where real technical programs conversion into commercial agreements begins. We are supporting customers inside foundry environments, not just in isolated R&D settings.

Regarding specific customer updates, one of our Tier 1 customers is focused initially on 1.6 terabit per second transceivers operating at 200G per lane. In January, we launched a full wafer tape-out with them at a new silicon photonics foundry and expect chips to come back in Q2 2026 for processing and testing.

Another Tier 1 customer is seeking a next-generation material suitable for CPO packaging that can operate at higher temperature to enable new packaging processes. We launched this program in 2025, and it is a key priority for our chemistry design team in 2026. In parallel, we're also planning a foundry run over the next few months with that customer to validate the custom modulator chip design required for CPO.

Our third and most recently announced Tier 1 customer will design and build silicon photonic chips with embedded modulators at a state-of-the-art silicon photonics foundry, where it will be the first implementation of EO polymer modulators.

Finally, our long-time customer and partner, Polariton continues their steady path to bringing Plasmonics to commercialization. Plasmonics is an exciting new technology that has the potential to accelerate the path to 800 gigabits per second modulation. Our focus there is to support their prototyping efforts and device packaging reliability programs. We have made excellent progress in 2025 in terms of customer acquisition, and our goal is to continue that in 2026. As previously disclosed, 2026 revenue is expected to be driven primarily by material supply and NRE activity. Volume production and licensing revenues are not anticipated until 2027 at the earliest. That time line is deliberate. Qualification cycles in this industry are rigorous as they should be, given the performance and reliability requirements of these applications. We are taking a disciplined approach, working through the necessary validation and integration steps to ensure long-term success. Our focus is on building durable, repeatable revenue streams supported by qualification and design wins, not pursuing short-term or opportunistic revenue.

Let's step back to the industry context. According to LightCounting Research in 2018, the share of silicon photonics in the optical transceiver market was 10%. It jumped to 33% in 2024 and for the first time, is expected to be the dominant technology in 2026. Silicon photonics is winning the integration platform battle for hyperscale and AI networking. Why? Because of CMOS compatibility, including for advanced packaging, because of providing a scalable foundry infrastructure, because it is aligned with the ecosystem, because of the supply chain maturity and the cost efficiency. Alternative technologies such as [ 35 ] materials or lithium niobate remain relevant, but the ecosystem center of gravity and momentum are clearly with silicon photonics. Our strategy is simple. We enhance silicon photonics. We do not compete against it. Electro-optic polymers allow silicon photonics to reach higher bandwidth with lower power per bit. This is precisely what AI infrastructure requires. As you know, at Lightwave Logic, we operate as a fabless material and IP platform. Scale comes first to foundries for the front-end silicon photonics chip production. Throughout 2025, we worked diligently at expanding the number of foundries that are able to process the modulator structures required for electro-optic polymer reference design. This was a gating factor in enabling customers already committed to certain foundries.

Earlier this week, SilTerra, a pioneer in silicon photonics foundry services, announced the availability of a high-speed modulator platform based on EO polymer through the process design kit, or PDK, from Luceda Photonics. SilTerra, Lightwave Logic and Luceda Photonics successfully completed a wafer tape-out earlier in 2026. Device characterization and performance validation are expected in mid-2026. With SilTerra, GlobalFoundries and 2 other unnamed partners, we now have agreement in place with 4 major foundries with wafer runs either underway or scheduled for the first half of 2026. An additional 3 foundries are under consideration, and we intend to onboard them as our process engineering resources become available.

Regarding our back-end processes currently performed in Denver, Colorado, we initiated a production ramp-up program in 2025, focused on supporting multiple wafer size and improving yield, cycle time and equipment efficiency. We are also identifying industrial partners to potentially outsource this portion of the manufacturing process for future high-volume production. This is a result of manufacturing discipline. We are preparing for scalable integration, not boutique deployments.

Now let's talk about the market. According to LightCounting's January 2026 report, Ethernet optical transceivers of 100G and above and CPO reached approximately $16.5 billion in revenue in 2025. The market is projected to reach approximately $26 billion in 2026. This corresponds to a 60% growth rate for both '25 and '26. AI clusters are expected to consume roughly 80% of Ethernet transceivers and CPO through 2031. This is not incremental growth. This is a structural shift in terms of infrastructure expansion. The speed road map is also accelerating. 1.6 terabit per second transceivers revenue are expected to reach USD 1 billion in 2026 and 3.2 terabits per second optics volume production will begin in 2028.

CPO or co-packaged optics is also moving into early deployment. NVIDIA has announced its first CPO products last year with InfiniBand products entering the market in the first half of 2026 and Ethernet in the second half of 2026. Vendors are now targeting approximately 5 picojoules per bit at 200G per lane. Power efficiency is becoming the gating constraint. Shrinking size is now critical, in particular for CPO. The ability to easily incorporate photonics materials into semiconductor packages is a must. This is exactly where polymer-enabled modulation matters. Growth might moderate beyond '26 and '27, but the base level of optical demand remains structurally higher than pre-AI cycle. This is a multiyear expansion. As a result, our Perkinamine polymer ramp strategy is disciplined. 2026 focuses on expanded qualification test, material supply scaling, yield and performance improvement, materials characterization data set expansion. If design wins conversion to production occurs, 2027 would represent the earliest meaningful volume phase. So to prepare, we are scaling polymer synthesis capacity, strengthening our process controls, enhancing our supply chain readiness and refining our production economics. We are preparing for scale responsibly. Technology alone does not create durable companies, operational discipline does. So in 2025, we maintain effective internal controls, we strengthened our IP protection, we built deeper systems integration expertise. We are building the company infrastructure required to support long-term licensing and material supply at scale. Our 2026 priorities are clear: number one, advance Stage 3 programs towards qualification milestones and Stage 4; number two, convert technical engagements into structured commercial agreements; number three, broaden and strengthen the electro-optic polymer-ready silicon foundry ecosystem; number four, continue performance optimization at 200G, 400G per lane and beyond; number five, prepare operationally for a 2027 production ramp transition. Execution, conversion, scale readiness. AI infrastructure is not slowing. Bandwidth requirements are not slowing. Power constraints are tightening. Silicon photonics is scaling and it needs better modulators. This is where Lightwave Logic fits.

2025 strengthened our foundation, 2026 is about disciplined execution. We remain confident in the AI opportunity before us and committed to building long-term shareholder value.

Let me turn the call back to Ryan to moderate our Q&A session.

Thanks, Yves. When we announced this call, we invited investors to submit their questions ahead of time. We'd like to thank those investors who took the time to do so, and we appreciate your continued engagement on these calls.

Our first question is, company presentations for nearly the past 12 months have indicated that the back end of line process is ready for transfer to a foundry. What specific milestones remain to complete the technology transfer and is transfer dependent on PIC completion with Stage 3 partners and progression to Stage 4? Also, has Lightwave Logic achieved acceptable yields with its wafer scale pulling and encapsulation of modulators?

Yes. Thanks, Ryan. Good question. As I indicated earlier, we intend to proceed with our back end of line process and capacity expansion in Denver to support prototyping and final product qualification. We're also continuing process development in Denver to match the semiconductor industry road map, including migration to, for instance, large or larger wafer sizes. In parallel, we intend in 2026 to bring 1 or 2 external foundry partners to bring high-volume manufacturing scale to our back-end of line process.

And our second question, are you able to provide guidance on production volume requirements for 2026? And can you comfortably meet that requirement?

Yes, we are planning for success. So we have made aggressive assumptions related to our ability to win share in 2027 and 2028 in order to determine the volume production of Perkinamine as well as the floor capacity, the number of technicians and the production equipment that will be required at our facility in Englewood, Colorado, close to Denver. My experience in the AI data center market shows that immediately after closing a design win, the ability to ramp-up production is so critical. So you do not want to be caught flat-footed when the time comes for a significant increase of polymer production. We have a good model of yield capacity and equipment required to achieve our production target in 2027.

And our next question, can shareholders expect to see an EOP modulator-based pluggable transceiver prototype completed this year?

Well, obviously, our customers are working diligently at bringing silicon photonics PICs to the market in the form of photonics engines for transceivers or CPO. We participate to these programs of suppliers of materials and PDK, but we do not control the full transceiver program. So we will continue to update you on our progress towards Stage 4 throughout 2026.

And regarding the products we are working on with Tier 1 partners, when a product is finalized or rolled out, do we expect to see joint press releases? Or how can shareholders expect to be updated regarding their progression?

Well, as we did hopefully today, I mean, we will provide visibility to our shareholders on our progress through quarterly financial and business update calls like the one today. Now when it comes to endorsement of Lightwave Logic by customers, it is in the hand of our customers, and they will decide if and when to issue press release or public announcement.

And our last question, regarding the SilTerra announcement, what specific performance metrics will be validated for the mid-2026 device characterization? Were there any limitations or yield constraints identified during the early 2026 tape-out? And can you talk about the announcement and how it fits into your broader foundry strategy?

Yes. Thanks for that question. I mean this tape-out is a really important milestone that will validate both a number of key design and performance parameters for 200G and 400G modulators, but it will also confirm or help confirm optimal foundry process and equipment capabilities. And most of the test results for this specific tape-out at SilTerra are expected by mid-2026.

Thanks, Yves, and thank you again to everyone who sent questions. I'd like to turn the call back over to our operator to conclude this conference call.

Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for your participation. This does conclude today's teleconference. You may disconnect your lines, and have a wonderful day.

Greetings. Welcome to Lightwave Logic's Update Conference Call. [Operator Instructions] Please note this conference is being recorded as of today, November 25, 2025.

I will now turn the conference over to Ryan Coleman of Investor Relations. Thank you, and you may begin.

Thank you, operator, and good afternoon, everyone. Thank you for joining us today for Lightwave Logic's update call. I'm joined on today's call by Lightwave Logic's Chief Executive Officer, Yves LeMaitre. Please note that this call is in listen-only mode for the duration of the call, and that a replay will be posted to the company's website shortly after the conclusion of this call.

Some of the matters that we will discuss on this call, including statements and our business outlook, are forward-looking, and as such, this call speaks only as of today, November 25, 2025. Such statements may be considered forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The matters discussed on this call are subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties, and these risks and uncertainties could cause actual operating results to differ materially from those expressed in the call.

A more detailed description of the risks our company faces is more fully described by the company under the caption Risk Factors included in our most recent Form 10-K and 10-Q. As always, Lightwave Logic assumes no obligation to update the information presented on this conference call.

And lastly, you are cautioned that any time-sensitive information may no longer be accurate at the time of transcript reading or replay listening.

With that, I'd like to turn the call over to Yves.

Thanks, Ryan, and thanks to all of you who joined this call. As I'm approaching my 1-year anniversary with Lightwave Logic, I would like to take a minute to thank all the Lightwave Logic team members for their flawless execution, deep passion and unrelenting commitment over the last 12 months.

2025 has been a very successful year for the company with significant progress on our path to creating products and commercializing our technology. We achieved multiple and critical technical milestones in making our Perkinamine ready for deployment. Most notably, demonstrating the excellent reliability of our material and compatibility with standard semiconductor processes.

We repositioned strategically Lightwave Logic, as a specialty materials and licensing company, expanding our potential customer base while creating the opportunity for an attractive long-term business model. We have continued to build a stronger foundation for Lightwave Logic, hiring skill, technical and operational talents while reinforcing our executive leadership team.

Planning for success requires us to plan for the expansion of our polymer production in 2026 and continue to add engineering resources to address the increase in number of customers, projects and also interfacing with more semiconductor foundries. We have a strong financial foundation with a robust cash balance, no debt and a tight expense and budget control process to allow for intelligence and timely deployment of capital.

Throughout 2025, we have gained excellent customer traction as reflected by the announcement published this morning and the one from a few weeks ago. We are very fortunate to have gained the trust of 2 Fortune Global 500 companies. For our team, this was fantastic news after many years of working on getting the technology ready, we are now able to turn our platform into full products by working hand-in-hand with customers.

Frankly, we didn't have much time to celebrate our achievements, as engaging with such high profile and demanding customers ratchets up the pressure and workload on our team. This is what we have been waiting for and the source of incredible motivation and energy for Lightwave Logic. Our focus is now entirely on the successful execution of this program and the continued expansion of our customer base. I will supply more detail about our commercialization progress in a few minutes.

Let me first summarize some of the key financial metrics of the company as published in our recent 10-Q filing for the third quarter of 2025. Revenues for the quarter were $29,000 with a total operating expenses of $5.2 million. The weighted average number of shares for the third quarter was $129.6 million shares. The net loss for the quarter was $5.1 million or approximately $0.04 per share. Net cash used in operating activities for the 9 months ending September 30, 2025, was $10.4 million.

As of September 30, our cash balance was USD 34.9 million, up $12.8 million from the end of June 2025. A as we used part of our $100 million shelf registration from July 2024 to strengthen our balance sheet during favorable market conditions. As of November 5, 2025, a total of $69.7 million remained available under the July 2024 share registration.

As you know, our CFO, Jim Marcelli will be retiring from the company at the end of 2025, and I want to thank him for his long service and dedication to Lightwave Logic and wish him a very happy retirement. We are in the process of recruiting a new CFO and are actively interviewing candidates with the right experience and skills to help get the company to the next level.

Now let me spend a few minutes talking about our progress with customers. On November 4, we announced that a Fortune Global 500 company had reached Stage 3 of our previously outlined design win cycle. After several months evaluating Lightwave Logic, Perkinamine platform and testing our ability to process silicon photonics chips produced at a third-party foundry, this customer decided to kick off a formal product plan and engineering program. We are now actively working with them to design, build, process and test. A new batch of silicon photonics chips aimed at transceiver applications for data centers and AI networking.

In parallel with this design effort, we are preparing for the volume production of Perkinamine, front-end silicon photonics back-end processing of polymers and chips. Earlier today, we announced the launch of a technical program with the second Fortune Global 500 company. This is probably our most technically challenging program to date, but also such a selling opportunity as it is targeted at one of the applications forecasted to grow fastest over the next 5 years. 400G CPO or copackage optics, for scale-up and scale-out networks.

This is an excellent opportunity for us to demonstrate that electrooptic polymers can deliver the right performance, high yields and scale to high volume while being fully compatible with the semiconductor industry road map. We believe that organic materials can eliminate the fundamental issues of contamination and incompatible processes that crystal materials such as lithium niobate create when they introduced into silicon wafer fabs.

For this application, and over the first half of 2026, Lightwave Logic will develop a custom variant of its Perkinamine electrooptic polymer material, optimized for the unique requirements of co-packaging of silicon photonics with electrical ICs. We are working with our partner across multiple technical areas for simulation and design to testing and preparing a new PDK or process design kit for the integration of Perkinamine silicon photonic chip.

Please note that our entering to Stage 3 of the design win cycle for this customer is only provisional at this stage as we need to execute successfully on several technical milestones over the next half year to formally launch a product together. The reason why this program is so meaningful for Lightwave Logic is that the semiconductor industry is now embracing silicon photonics and developing new tools and processes to co-package and assemble electrical ICs and photonic ICs. The technology that we show the path to a smooth and seamless integration in the semiconductor foundries will emerge as a winner. Our recent report from research company like counting shows that silicon photonic is winning this battle. With more than 50% of the transceivers to be built in 2026 will be based on silicon photonics, quickly replacing traditional laser technology.

We believe that silicon photonics augmented with our Perkinamine is in a superior position to be that winning platform. In addition to the customers mentioned, like Lightwave Logic is also expanding its semiconductor foundry relationship adding another unnamed silicon photonics foundry with capability to produce chips compatible with our Perkinamine platform. This engagement is incremental to the company's existing collaboration with Advanced Micro Foundry, AMS recently acquired by GlobalFoundries.

The AMS acquisition is another proof point of the major investment in silicon photonics, now driven by the semiconductor giants. Mastering the integration of silicon and optics is at the forefront of the industry road map. As we approach the conclusion of 2025, I again want to thank the Lightwave Logic team, its partners and customers for the significant progress we achieved this year. It is, however, just the beginning of our journey towards building a successful and profitable business.

Now let me turn the call to Ryan for the Q&A session.

Thank you, Yves. Before we get into Q&A, we'd like to cover a few housekeeping items. Going forward, we will be hosting regular quarterly investor update calls that are in sync with the publication of our financial results and the filing of our 10-K and 10-Q. Also, our annual shareholder meeting will be held virtually in May of 2026 using video conferencing as opposed to in-person in Denver as in prior years. Throughout the year, we plan to continue to participate in various investor conferences and events in order to maintain a close relationship with our shareholder community.

With that, our first question that we received, can you update the numbers for the pipeline? How many potential customers are currently in Stages 1 and 2? And are you updating your guidance to have 3 to 5 customers in Stage 3 by the end of this year?

Thanks. We will continue to announce customers as they reach Stage 3 of our published design win cycle. It is an important metric to measure our progress towards commercialization. We currently have about 15 potential customers in Stages 1 or 2. However, each of them still requires a significant amount of technical work to reach Stage 3.

With our success in 2025, we are now prioritizing the best prospects amongst the customers in the pipeline. We also must take into account the cycle time needed to get samples of chips out of the foundries, which can sometimes gate our transition to Stage 3, all good problems to face.

And our next question, in what businesses are our partners that move from Phase II to Phase III involved? Is it solely AI and data center companies? Or are there other businesses be it automotive, telecom or others that are going into Phase III?

Yes. All of our disclosed customers, partners are planning to use Perkinamine for AI network or data center connectivity applications. This is a large market, fast growing and an excellent opportunity to demonstrate the value of our electronic polymers. Other exciting markets such as quantum and consumer electronics remain on our radar, but the company's focus stays on relentless execution in the AR market.

And the next question. Can the company comment on its partnership with Polariton and competitive position with other organic materials and polymer suppliers.

Thank you for that question. Polariton is an exciting and innovative company trying to be first to market with a disruptive technology called Plasmonics. The optical industry is closely watching their progress regarding our position as a supplier, we have no exclusivity with respect to the supply of materials. And we will continue to do our best to win their trust and deserve the business by delivering better and more reliable products and our competition.

At this point, I would expect that internal revenue forecast should be available. Are you in a position to share any of these projections with the investor community? And are we seeing any revenue coming in from customers in Stage 3 and if that might be reflected in Q4 results?

I will reiterate what I've said throughout this year based on the typical design win cycle time line and our current engagement I expect our first production revenues to happen in 2027. And revenues in 2026 will come from prototypes or engineering programs.

And our next question, because of companies suddenly showing interest in the 200 gigabit materials, which was mentioned by Dr. Blum, 1 would expect that the sand is going to rise from earlier statements in the year. has the same changed from the latest update?

Yes. Thanks for that question. What is happening in the industry forecast is interesting. Since the time we published our TAM, SAM estimate back in May, pretty much all industry analysts have significantly increased their forecast through 2025. Just one data point to illustrate that trend. The like counting report, very much the reference for optical transceivers and CPO market in AI networking, they recently tripled their forecast for 1.6 terabits per second transceivers in 2028 between the April and October 25 reports.

And then lastly, what is the acquisition of AMS by GlobalFoundries ultimately mean for Lightwave Logic, if anything?

Well, I love it. I think it is a perfect illustration of what we have said for a while. Photonics and semiconductor will not continue to live side-by-side. The winning solutions will be the technologies that deliver performance and integration between the 2 worlds.

The semiconductor giants are now taking the lead in defining the road map with huge investments in silicon photonics for that very reason. With our polymers, silicon photonics gets an extended life at 400G and beyond, while delivering the full value of optics and electronics integration.

Thank you, Yves, and thanks again to everybody who sent their questions. Thanks for joining this conference call. A replay of this call will be available shortly on the company's website. Thank you.

Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for your participation. This concludes today's teleconference. You may now disconnect. Have a wonderful day.