Release Date: August 19, 2024
For the complete transcript of the earnings call, please refer to the full earnings call transcript.
Positive Points
- Remark Holdings Inc (MARK, Financial) secured a significant contract with the Clark County School District for implementing weapon detection technology, valued at $45 million over nine years.
- The company successfully completed a POC at one of the largest European railway systems, leading to current contract negotiations.
- Remark Holdings Inc (MARK) showcased its AI solutions at the New York City Smart City Expo in collaboration with Oracle and NVIDIA, leading to additional POCs.
- The company completed a successful POC for migrant centers in a major US sanctuary city, leading to preparations for broader deployment.
- Remark Holdings Inc (MARK) is introducing a new SaaS product, the Remark Fast AI training platform, which offers cost-effective and efficient AI model training and testing.
Negative Points
- Remark Holdings Inc (MARK) reported an operating loss of $3.2 million for the second quarter of 2024, although this was an improvement from the previous year's loss.
- The company reported a net loss of $5.3 million or $0.12 per diluted share for the second quarter of 2024.
- Cash balance at the end of June 2024 was only $0.4 million, indicating potential liquidity issues.
- The company used $6.1 million of cash in operating activities during the second quarter of 2024.
- Remark Holdings Inc (MARK) had to resolve outstanding events of default regarding its debt agreement with Mudrick Capital Management by exchanging nonconvertible notes for convertible debentures.
Q & A Highlights
Q: Can you provide more details on the recent contract win with the Clark County School District?
A: (Kai-Shing Tao, CEO) The contract involves implementing weapon detection technology in the Clark County School District, the fifth largest school district in the US. This milestone is expected to lead to future opportunities within Clark County and other similar-sized districts. The contract value is projected to meet or exceed $45 million over nine years as we expand our Smart Safety Platform.
Q: What other markets do you see potential for Remark AI's technology?
A: (Kai-Shing Tao, CEO) Beyond school districts, we see potential in public venues, government facilities, and private enterprises. We are already conducting a proof of concept (POC) with one of the largest subway systems in the US and have completed successful POCs in European railway systems and US migrant centers.
Q: Can you elaborate on the new AI training platform introduced in the second half of 2024?
A: (Kai-Shing Tao, CEO) The Remark Fast AI training platform is a SaaS product designed to train and tune computer vision models, such as fire and smoke detection and unauthorized personnel detection. It offers AI training infrastructures and zero-shot sample annotation, reducing the need for extensive human labeling. The platform provides a permanent license with no extra costs for model retraining or upgrades.
Q: How is Remark AI leveraging partnerships with Microsoft and Oracle?
A: (Kai-Shing Tao, CEO) Remark AI has migrated to the Microsoft Azure platform, preparing our Smart Safety Platform for marketplace readiness. We aim to capture $400 million in business with Microsoft over the next five years. With Oracle, we will be featured in the Oracle AI Pavilion at the upcoming Oracle Cloud World, showcasing our AI Smart City Platform.
Q: What are the financial highlights for the second quarter of 2024?
A: (Theodore Botts, Independent Director) We reported $3.7 million in revenue from the Clark County School District project. Our operating loss decreased to $3.2 million from $4 million in the same quarter of 2023. Net loss for the quarter was $5.3 million, down from $5.9 million in Q2 2023. Our cash balance increased to $0.4 million from $0.1 million at the end of 2023.
Q: What steps have been taken to resolve outstanding debt issues?
A: (Theodore Botts, Independent Director) In August 2024, we resolved all outstanding events of default regarding our debt agreement with Mudrick Capital Management by exchanging existing nonconvertible notes for convertible debentures.
Q: What are the future plans for Remark AI in the hospitality industry?
A: (Kai-Shing Tao, CEO) We are partnering with a global hotel hospitality brand to provide AI-powered solutions for personalized guest services, intelligent chatbots, predictive analytics, and automated workflows. This partnership aims to revolutionize guest experience and operational efficiency across the brand's properties worldwide.
Q: How is Remark AI positioning itself in the Smart City market?
A: (Kai-Shing Tao, CEO) We showcased our AI Fire and Smoke Smart City and Smart Agent Solutions at the New York City Smart City Expo with Oracle and NVIDIA. This has led to additional POCs to help top US cities become modern Smart Cities. We are also negotiating contracts following successful POCs in European railway systems and US migrant centers.
For the complete transcript of the earnings call, please refer to the full earnings call transcript.
