Aerovironment Inc (AVAV) SEC Filing 10-Q Quarterly Report for the period ending Saturday, October 30, 2021

Exhibit 99.1

​

​

AeroVironment, Inc. Announces Second Quarter Results and Resets Guidance for Fiscal 2022

​

ARLINGTON, VA, December 7, 2021

​

“While we achieved second quarter and first half results in line with our expectations, headwinds to our business have intensified in recent months, requiring us to reduce our full year outlook,” said Wahid Nawabi, AeroVironment president and chief executive officer. “The negative impact from supply chain delays, extended procurement cycles due to the global COVID-19 pandemic, slower decision making in Washington tied to Continuing Resolution related budget uncertainties and staffing shortages have prevented us from realizing the growth and bottom line results expected at the start of this fiscal year. We are diligently working to manage expenses and other challenges in light of our revised outlook but are realistic regarding the lack of visibility within this ongoing environment.

​

“Nevertheless, we made progress during the quarter and are executing on a strategy to deliver long-term improvement in our operating performance. We have begun to demonstrate synergies within our three recently acquired businesses, exemplified by the recent integration of Switchblade 300 with the Jump 20 Medium Unmanned Air System. At the same time, our impressive team continues to deliver on new product development, including the launch of the i45 N Mantis gimbal, providing superior intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (“ISR”) for night-time operations. Furthermore, we saw traction across other growth initiatives within our Tactical Missile Systems segment by securing new orders for our Switchblade 600 and demonstrating sensor-to-shooter operations with NATO.

​

“Despite current market headwinds, we remain well positioned to deliver long term shareholder value through our focus on winning new business leveraging our innovative capabilities and industry-leading technology. While resetting our expectations for 2022, we are taking all steps available to mitigate these challenges going forward, ensuring the company remains on track for a fifth consecutive year of top-line growth and a path to higher investor returns.”

​

FISCAL 2022 SECOND QUARTER RESULTS

​

Revenue for the second quarter of fiscal 2022 was $122.0 million, an increase of 32% from the second quarter of fiscal 2021 revenue of $92.7 million. The increase in revenue reflects an increase in service revenue of $23.9 million and product sales of $5.5 million. The increase in revenue was primarily due to revenue from the Medium Unmanned Aircraft Systems (“MUAS”) segment of $26.5 million and the Unmanned Ground Vehicles product line of $6.5 million, as a result of our acquisitions of Arcturus UAV and Telerob GmbH in February and May 2021, respectively. These increases were partially offset by a decrease in revenue in the Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems (“Small UAS”) segment of $3.4 million and in the other businesses of $1.1 million.

​

Gross margin for the second quarter of fiscal 2022 was $42.5 million, an increase of 4% from the second quarter of fiscal 2021 gross margin of $40.9 million. The increase in gross margin reflects higher service margin of $0.9 million and product margin of $0.7 million. As a percentage of revenue, gross margin decreased to 35% from 44%. Gross margin was impacted by $5.5 million of intangible amortization expense and other related non-cash purchase accounting expenses in the second quarter of fiscal 2022 as compared

1