SenesTech, Inc. Stock

Good afternoon, and welcome to the SenesTech Reports Second Quarter Fiscal Year 2026 Financial Results Conference Call. [Operator Instructions] Please note this event is being recorded. I would now like to turn the conference over to Robert Blum with Lytham Partners. Please go ahead.

All right. Thank you very much, Megan, and thank you all for joining us today to discuss SenesTech's Second Quarter 2026 Financial Results. Again, this is for the period ended June 30, 2026. With us on the call today are Michael Edell, the company's President and Chief Executive Officer; and Tom Chesterman, the company's Chief Financial Officer. As the operator indicated, at the conclusion of today's prepared remarks, we will open the call for a question-and-answer session. [Operator Instructions]

Before we begin with prepared remarks, we submit for the record the following statement. Statements made by the management team of SenesTech during the course of this conference call may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 as amended and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 as amended, and such forward-looking statements are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements describe future expectations, plans, results, or strategies and are generally preceded by words such as may, future, plan or planned, will or should, expected, anticipates, draft, eventually, or projected.

Listeners are cautioned that such statements are subject to a multitude of risks and uncertainties that could cause future circumstances, events, or results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements, including the risks that actual results may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements as a result of various factors and other risks identified in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

All forward-looking statements contained during this conference call speak only as of the date in which they were made and are based on management's assumptions and estimates as of such date. The company does not undertake any obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of the receipt of new information, the occurrence of future events or otherwise. With that said, let me turn the call over to Michael Edell, President and Chief Executive Officer. Michael, please proceed.

Thank you, Robert, and good afternoon to everyone joining us today. I appreciate you taking the time. This is my second earnings call as President and Chief Executive Officer, and the tone of today's discussion is meaningfully different from last quarter. In May, I described the strategy we have begun putting in place and the early indicators that gave us confidence in the direction. Today, we can point to a full quarter of measurable commercial results. The strategic changes are working and in several important areas, they are working faster than we had planned.

Stepping back for a moment, the past year has been a transformation of this company from a primarily research-focused organization into a revenue-driven business with a clear strategy for sustainable long-term growth in a category that we are creating. The headline numbers are all very positive. Revenue increased 56% sequentially to a company record of $770,000. E-commerce revenue increased 186% to another record of $511,000. Amazon revenues increased 473% to a record $349,000 and our first full quarter of having this being managed in-house.

Direct-to-consumer subscription revenues increased 89% to another record of $104,000. And gross margins reached another company record of 73.6%. First half revenue reached another record of $1.26 million, up 14% year-over-year. Each of those results is important, but what excites me most is that they are connected. They reflected -- they reflect on a commercial model built around direct consumer relationships, data, analytics, recurring revenue, stronger brand control, and just a disciplined channel strategy.

Q2 was the first full quarter in which we directly managed our Amazon and other e-commerce channels from beginning to end. During the quarter, Amazon established new records across major platform categories, performance categories, including total orders, subscription revenue or non-subscription revenue, total revenue, and subscriber counts. Amazon revenue has now grown every single month since we assumed direct control middle of February, culminating in a record June of $148,000.

June was also the strongest e-commerce month in the company's history with a total e-commerce revenue of $206,000. We now control the customer experience, advertising strategy, pricing, promotions, subscription programs, and the data that comes from each of these transactions. We can see what's working, make changes quickly, test new messages and offers, and allocate marketing dollars with much greater precision. But it's not simply a better Amazon model, it is the ideal operating model that we need to rapidly scale.

Importantly, the e-commerce momentum broadened beyond Amazon. Non-Amazon e-commerce, which is primarily our own senestech.com Shopify channel, saw revenues increase 31% sequentially to $155,000, and we ended the quarter with a record number of Shopify recurring revenue subscribers. In July, we also completed the launch and redesign of the SenesTech website on the schedule we have previously communicated. The new site places Evolve and rodent birth control at the center of the customer experience. It is designed to make the product easier to understand, easier to purchase, easier to reorder whilst also providing a strong platform for digital marketing and subscription growth, customer education, and commercial B2B lead generation. If you have not done so yet, please take a look at the new site. We think you'll be impressed.

Subsequent to the quarter end, July provided another encouraging data point for the e-commerce strategy. E-commerce revenues for July reached a record $245,000, up 19% from the $206,000 in June, and subscription revenue achieved a new record at $52,000, up 22% from the $43,000 in June. Subscription growth remains one of the most important components of the strategy. The Evolve product is not intended to be a one-time purchase. It is designed to become part of an ongoing rodent management program. Subscription revenue increased 89% to a record $104,000 in Q2 2026 compared to $55,000 in Q1 of 2026 and increased 142% compared to $43,000 in Q2 of 2025.

Combined subscriber counts across Amazon and the company's e-commerce site increased 117% to new record levels, further strengthening the company's recurring revenue base and increasing revenue visibility. That creates more predictable revenue, improves customer lifetime value, and provides evidence that customers are incorporating the product into a recurring program. We are still early on, but the direction is exactly what we want, more customers, greater retention, more repeat purchasing, and larger recurring revenue base.

There is a bigger strategy beyond the e-commerce results. The SenesTech is creating an entirely new category of rodent fertility control. Before we can meaningfully scale the B2B opportunities that we have available to us, we needed to build the awareness of the evolving ContraPest brands, educate the market further, establish credibility, and create demand. E-commerce is how we accelerate that process. Every customer review, educational campaign, digital advertisement, subscription, and repeat order does 2 jobs: it generates consumer revenue today, and it makes the brand more recognizable, understood, and trusted when our sales organization engages with a pest management company, a municipality, commercial operator, agricultural customer, big retailers, or distributors.

Our growth strategy is, therefore, built around 3 priorities that reinforce another -- each other. First, we use e-commerce to build the Evolve and ContraPest brands, establish the category, and create a growing recurring revenue base. Second, you grow B2B with both Evolve and ContraPest through a professional sales organization focused on targeted vertical markets. Third, expand our addressable opportunity through new products, new services, and separate initiatives. We designed them to build one on the other with customer awareness and data supporting B2B growth and with services and partnerships deepening customer relationships across the platform.

Turning to B2B. Reported revenue was $259,000 for the quarter. The sequential comparison requires some context because the first quarter included an $81,000 international order carryover from 2025. So if we actually exclude these one-time events, core B2B revenue actually increased by 11%. Tom will walk through the full comparison in a moment.

In June, we were proud to present that Jack Karabees is our new Executive Vice President of Sales and was brought in to lead the effort. Jack's mandate is to build a professional commercial organization with clear vertical ownership, qualified pipelines, better forecasting, stronger follow-up, and accountability for conversion. We're moving away from a broad approach, which in every prospect, was treated the same. Each market now has different business challenges, buying criteria, decision-makers, and sales cycles. Our sales process needs to reflect those differences. We have already begun adding to the team with a new regional sales manager and a Director of Marketing, both joining in July.

To further support that strategy, we are developing dedicated sales presentations, ROI models for each vertical, case studies, technical support materials, and adjust the industry-specific messaging for each priority vertical. We do not want to lead only with product features or science. The science does matter, and it is a critical differentiator, but customers ultimately make purchasing decisions based on business outcomes and solving problems. Our objective is to demonstrate how Evolve and ContraPest can reduce damage, disruption, support sustainable objectives, improve pest management performance, and deliver measurable long-term value.

We are concentrating our resources across 8 strategic verticals: third-party e-commerce, pest management, commercial, agri-business, zoos, sanctuaries, government, retail, and international markets. Each represents a meaningful opportunity, but we will prioritize our efforts and resources based on the results we see in each vertical as we build out the new B2B organization. As we identify the greatest opportunities and strongest customer adoption, we will increase our investment and resources in those areas while continuing to build the foundation across the remaining markets.

Third-party e-commerce partnerships with leading online retailers and marketplace extend the reach of the Evolve brand well beyond our own channels. In retail, the consumer demand we are proving through e-commerce is what supports potential expansion into national, regional, and specialty retail partners. Pest management is one of our highest priority verticals. Evolve and ContraPest are designed to complement integrated pest management programs rather than trying to replace them, which lets pest management professionals expand their service offerings, generate recurring and greater revenues, and differentiate themselves in an increasingly competitive market.

Commercial and agri-business customers can use fertility control to protect facilities, infrastructure, stored commodities, and operating continuity. Zoos and sanctuaries require solutions that fit sensitive animal environments. In government, we are starting to see cities and municipalities where demand continues to grow for environmentally responsible approaches that align with integrated pest management initiatives and help communities address public health concerns. Over time, that opens the door to state and federal agencies, military installations, public housing authorities, and other public institutions.

Internationally, we will continue to favor experienced local partners who can lead the regulatory approval process while we contribute to the scientific, technical, and commercial expertise. That model lets us generate revenue supporting these partners through the approval process, and it establishes the commercial relationships that position us for launch once approval is attained.

The value of a vertical approach is that it allows us to convert broad interest into very specific economic proof. The agricultural deployment we discussed in July is a good example, a 400-acre Texas operation. On-site observations indicated an estimated 80% reduction in rodent activity together with a substantial decline in damage to underground irrigation infrastructure. That is the kind of result that we can support that can support a compelling case study and ROI discussion. The customer is not simply buying a product. The customer is addressing damage, maintenance cost, and operational risk. Our job is to identify more opportunities with that profile and turn them into larger repeatable commercial relationships.

We also launched our assessment services in July and have actually completed our first deployment. This is an important extension of the strategy because many customers simply don't have an objective baseline of data regarding the size, location, or severity of an infestation. These services are focused first on our B2B market verticals where professional assessments deliver the most value. And over time, we will evaluate simplified versions for our direct-to-consumer business. Our program combines trained field personnel with track plates, track tunnels, and a proprietary AI technology that we have launched. We can conduct an on-site assessment, identify areas of activity, establish a measurable baseline, and provide reporting that helps the customer understand the severity of the problem before selecting a treatment program.

From there, we can offer implementation support based on this assessment. This can include a customized rhythm management plan, recommendations for the placement of our Evolve and ContraPest products, assistance with deployment, and ongoing monitoring to measure progress and optimize results. These services will generate additional revenue with limited incremental infrastructure, improve product placement and efficacy, strengthen customer confidence, and help us build a proprietary database of customer and performance results over time.

Strategically, they also moved SenesTech from being viewed as only a product company toward becoming a trusted expert in rodent population with products and services. Partnerships and disciplined market expansion remain a third element of the strategy. Our direct e-commerce infrastructure gives us a much more efficient platform for launching related products and reaching new customers. Internationally, we expanded distribution into Bermuda through our partner, Animal and Garden House, adding to activity in the U.S. Virgin Islands and Belize. Our approach is to work with capable local organizations that can support regulatory and commercial execution without requiring a disproportionate amount of capital from SenesTech.

The quarter also demonstrated that growth can come with improved economics. Gross profit increased 68% sequentially to a record $560,000, while gross margins improved to 73.6%. Gross profit grew faster than revenue, reflecting the contribution of e-commerce and better channel economics, a much more disciplined approach to pricing, and favorable raw material purchasing conditions. The adjusted EBITDA loss also improved sequentially. We need to continue expanding revenue, but we also must do it in a way that creates operating leverage and moves us toward profitability.

So when I think about the next phase, the priorities are very practical. We need to keep scaling e-commerce. We need to improve conversion, subscriptions, retention, and repeat purchasing. We need to use the e-commerce awareness and brand building to help the B2B team close larger and more repeatable opportunities. We need to launch and continue with the assessment and implementation services model with a discipline. We need to develop the materials case studies and return on investment tools that support each of these verticals. And we need to protect gross margin and deploy capital only where we can measure a credible return.

One quarter does not complete the transformation, and I do not want to suggest that it does. But Q2 is the clearest evidence that the strategic trajectory is right. Last quarter, we discussed moving from planning to execution. This quarter, we can point to results, which get me excitement. The excitement is not based on a theory or a single announcement. It is based on record revenue, record channel performance, accelerating subscriptions, a stronger brand platform, improved economics, and a commercial organization is becoming more focused and accountable. Now the work is to repeat it, broaden it, and build a durable growth company around it.

With that, let me turn the call over to Tom Chesterman to review the financial results in more detail. I will then return with a few closing comments before we open the call for questions. Tom?

Thank you, Michael, and good afternoon, everyone. I will provide a brief review of our second quarter financial results and add context around the operating trends Michael discussed. Our Form 10-Q, which will be filed later today, provides a more detailed review of the quarter and the reconciliations of our non-GAAP measures are included in today's press release. Revenue for the second quarter was $770,000, an increase of 23% compared to the second quarter of 2025 and an increase of 56% compared with the first quarter of 2026. This sequential increase is driven primarily by record e-commerce performance during the first full quarter of direct in-house management of Amazon.

E-commerce revenue was a record $511,000, increasing 206% from the prior year quarter and 186% from the first quarter. In-house Amazon revenue part of e-commerce increased 473% sequentially to $349,000 from $61,000. On our own e-commerce platform, revenue increased 31% sequentially from -- to $155,000 from $118,000. DTC or subscription revenue increased 89% sequentially and 142% year-over-year. Amazon was externally managed during the year ago period, so the sequential comparison provides a clearest view of the momentum and benefit of bringing the channel in-house.

B2B revenue was $259,000 compared with $350,000 in the first quarter and $460,000 in the second quarter of 2025. The first quarter amount included an $81,000 international order that carried over from 2025. Excluding that order, core B2B revenue increased 11% sequentially. The prior year quarter included a $180,000 periodic bulk sale associated with the third-party management of Amazon at the time as well as an initial stocking order from a large distributor. Excluding both of these items, what I would characterize as core B2B revenue increased 14% year-over-year.

We believe that these adjusted comparisons provide a clearer view of the underlying B2B trend as the new sales leadership and vertical strategy take hold. By product, Evolve revenue was $662,000, an increase of 27% from the prior year quarter and represented 86% of product revenue compared with a year ago -- 83% a year ago. ContraPest revenue was $107,000, up 2% year-over-year and up 43% from $75,000 in the first quarter. That sequential improvement is an early return on the targeted approach the sales team has taken to the customers in the markets where ContraPest continues to provide the most value.

Gross profit increased 39% year-over-year and 68% sequentially to a record $567,000. Gross margin improved to a company record 73.6% compared with 68.5% in the first quarter and 65.5% in the prior year quarter. That represents an improvement of 510 basis points sequentially and 810 basis points year-over-year and reflects a more favorable channel mix, stronger direct channel economics, continued pricing discipline, and favorable raw material costs.

More importantly or importantly, gross profit grew faster than revenue, which is a key indicator of the operating leverage we are working to build. Total operating expenses were $2.4 million compared with $2 million in the prior year quarter. The current quarter included $270,000 of severance costs as well as continued investment in e-commerce, brand development, sales capability, and other commercial initiatives. The net loss improved sequentially to $1.8 million when compared to $2.1 million in the first quarter and decreased -- and when compared to -- I'm sorry, and decreased when compared to the $1.6 million in the second quarter of 2025. The sequential improvement was driven by an increase in revenue and record gross profit.

Adjusted EBITDA loss, a non-GAAP measure, improved 15% sequentially to $1.4 million compared with $1.6 million in the first quarter and increased when compared with $1.2 million in the prior year quarter. The reconciliation in today's press release adjusts for severance, one-time legal costs, stock-based compensation, depreciation, interest, and noncash operating lease expense. While the year-over-year adjusted EBITDA comparison reflects the investments we are making in the growth platform, the sequential improvement shows the early benefit of higher gross profit and early returns on those investments.

Turning to the balance sheet. We ended the quarter with $5.1 million of cash and cash equivalents. The cash usage for the quarter was approximately $1.7 million, reflecting elevated raw material purchasing in May as well as severance payments. With those items behind us, cash usage in June declined to $298,000 from $917,000 in May.

Based on our current operating plan, we believe that our cash and cash equivalents as of June 30, 2026, together with current revenue and operating expense levels, will be sufficient to fund our operations for at least the next 9 months. We remain focused on disciplined capital deployment and careful expense management while funding the initiatives that have the clearest potential to generate scalable revenue and attractive contribution margins.

Overall, the second quarter's financial results demonstrate meaningful progress in the quality of the revenue mix, gross margin performance, and sequential operating improvements. The next step is to sustain that performance and translate the commercial momentum into continued improvement in adjusted EBITDA and cash efficiency. With that financial overview, I will turn the call back to Michael for closing remarks.

Thank you, Tom. Last quarter, I asked investors to judge this team by execution. Q2 provides the first clear answer to how we're executing. The first full quarter of an in-house management produced record revenues, gross profit and gross margins reached company records, and the strategy, as we described, is beginning to show up in the financial statements. But this is not a victory lap. Our responsibility is to turn a strong quarter into repeatable business model. E-commerce is more than an online sales channel. It builds our brand and educates the market. The foundation supports require professional B2B sales organization focused on specific verticals and larger customer relationships. Assessment and implementation services can deepen those relationships and make results more measurable. Together, all these elements create a more scalable and diversified commercial platform.

We will continue to measure progress with the operating data, not anecdotes, and we will allocate resources based on what the data supports. I'm very excited because we now have evidence that the model and the strategy can work. We have differentiated products in Evolve and ContraPest brands and a market that needs effective and sustainable options, direct channels that are scaling, and a clear commercial strategy for converting awareness into long-term customer relationships and more importantly, revenue.

For investors seeking additional third-party perspective, Zacks recently published a research report on SenesTech that may be of interest. That report was produced under a sponsored research engagement paid for by the company. There's also a great deal of work ahead, but the organization is moving with speed, focus, and accountability. Our objective is to build on the progress in Q2 and translate it into a sustained growth, improved operating leverage and long-term shareholder value.

Thank you to our employees for their hard work required to execute on this transition and strategy, and thank you to our customers, partners, and shareholders for your continued support. We are excited by the progress and focused on turning the momentum we're seeing into durable results. Robert, we are now ready to open the call for any questions.

Wonderful. Thank you very much, Michael and Tom, for your prepared remarks there. We will now open the call for questions. [Operator Instructions]. We've got a few questions that have been submitted thus far, so we'll begin. First off here, can you speak on more of the new avenues, the key verticals that you have in and which ones you sort of tend to approach first?

We've outlined the key verticals. There are 8 verticals. And one of the first things we did when I started in the position of COO and CEO was take each of the verticals and clearly define them, figure out which of the verticals we were actually driving revenues in and which we had the best opportunity to solve major problems in those verticals. We positioned the verticals, first being third-party e-commerce, second being pest management, third being commercial, fourth being agri-business, fifth would be zoos and sanctuaries. Government would be sixth, retail is seventh and international is number 8. I would also like to comment on some people have asked me why is retail in the seventh out of eighth in terms of verticals? And the reason is, is that big retailers, big box sellers, need to see a clear demonstration of consumer acceptance of product before they want to take the risk and put that product on their shelf. And as we solve that problem, we believe retail is going to be a bigger area of growth for us.

Very good. The next question here. Can you comment on the change in margins from selling via distributor and by direct sales? Do you think this has been financially successful?

It's been very successful. One of the first things I did when I came in as the COO is we stopped doing certain transactions and certain deals with partners that were just not -- didn't have the margins that I felt were reasonable. There was too much discounting, end of quarter promoting that I didn't feel was necessary. And so it took about 5 months to eliminate a lot of those older transactions, older types of deals, and move into the new structure, which is much more straightforward. That's one of the main reasons you're seeing an increase in some of the margins.

Okay. Next question here. Can you elaborate on the B2B revenue increase of 14%, excluding the one-off $180,000 order in the previous period? So the question is, did this achieve your internal targets?

It actually -- the internal targets that we were going for as we moved into Q1 and through Q2, the very first thing was to put in place the methodology and the analytics to actually be tracking the pipeline and what was out there available in the B2B market. That took us pretty much through Q2 to get that in place. So now we have very, very clear visibility on the pipeline, and time frames, and close rates, and other analytics that come as you implement these type of B2B methodologies and processes.

All right. And maybe as a follow-on to that, what is the acceleration in revenue for B2B that we should expect going forward?

I'm not going to give forward guidance on that. But what I will say is to keep in mind that Jack Karabees, who came in as our EVP, only started July 1 in a full-time capacity. So it's only been 2 weeks. Prior to that, he was helping implement these changes in Q1 on a part-time basis. So just to give you an idea of how much we've been able to accomplish without even having all the resources in place to take advantage of the B2B market.

In addition, we only just recently brought on a new Director of Marketing, and that happened just in July 15. And I only took over as CEO May 6. So it just -- it should give you some indication of, really, how fast things are moving in such a short time frame.

Okay. Very good. The next question here is, does the sales team have team members focused by vertical or generalists looking across the verticals that you've identified?

That's a great question. We are territory-based in our setup on the B2B sales side. And what we've learned is that although there are inherent differences in each of the verticals, there's 80% of what you're doing in a particular vertical is consistent across all verticals. The other 20%, in terms of ROI that a vertical is going to achieve, needs to be tailored to that vertical. So we're chopping up the country territory based. Each rep will have, within their territory, the verticals that they're going to cover, but they're being provided materials now from marketing that they can switch between a municipality, and agri-business, a farm, a sanctuary, and so on fairly easily and still be able to be effective in those verticals.

All right. We have a couple of questions, all sort of surrounding the thoughts on your time line to profitability or sort of the general quarterly revenue required to reach profitability.

Again, I can't really speak to forward guidance, but I can tell you that the focus is on driving the monthly run rate and maintaining the gross profit margins that we believe is moving us in the direction of achieving profitability. You have to be increasing the monthly run rates and you've got to be driving revenues in order to be able to pull that off.

Okay. Very good. [Operator Instructions] I have a couple of questions here relating to sort of New Zealand, Australia, India, and maybe elsewhere in Asia. Any updates that you can provide more broadly in those areas?

Well we're deploying currently to New Zealand and New Zealand is one of the international -- one of the countries that has some of the most sophisticated programs related to rodent and pest management. So we're doing quite a bit in New Zealand. Australia, we're still going through a regulatory process. We're not doing anything in India or elsewhere in Asia at this point.

Okay. Very good. When will we know if Washington, D.C. will sort of take the ContraPest, Evolve to further use beyond the pilot?

Well, there's different pilots that are going on, but really where we're focused is in Chicago and surrounding areas within Chicago. They're the most forward thinking and advancing in terms of how they're deploying. I believe we're on our fifth deployment now within the Chicago area, and that's where we've been focusing a lot of our attentions because they're the ones that are most forward thinking and moving toward deployment and implementation.

Next question here is, do you feel the retail customer is gaining a better understanding of the product advantages post repackaging efforts and sort of the early digital marketing that's been deployed?

Yes. It became very, very clear to us that the customers, the consumers, were not really understanding how to use the product, and there wasn't the proper expectation on the time frame that the product takes to be effective. Our solution is not one where you can deploy it and see results in 2 days by seeing rats caught in a trap as an example. Ours takes time because you have to get through the cycle of birth for rodents, that's when you start to see the birth control kick in and the population decrease over time.

So the consumers now, what we're seeing because we've redone the packaging, reset the expectation, that's also what we're seeing as an effect with the explosive growth that we've had in the e-commerce side of the business. Customers -- the consumers now are getting it.

Next question here is how and when will new capital be raised as it looks very likely that the capital will be burned before profitability?

Again, I can't give future guidance. What I will tell you is that we're aware of what the company's needs are going to be. But what we wanted to do first was start to demonstrate the execution, which will make any other efforts that we have going forward much, much easier.

Okay. Next question here is, are there any large contracts which you expect to win in the second half of the year, whether it be municipalities, farms, et cetera?

As I've been mentioning and speaking to on the B2B parts of the business, the first thing we did in this transition that I've been describing is really moving our focus on the large-scale projects. We no longer have the team focusing on $500 opportunities. It's not going to get us to where we need to be. So the first thing was work with companies and organizations that have much larger scale to them.

In terms of what the future holds, I will tell you that the -- we've just brought on new team members into the B2B professional sales team. That team is growing, but we're going to need another 2 quarters to really demonstrate some of this of what I'm describing in terms of larger deals.

All right. Next question here is the Caribbean seems a strong target market. Are there other international markets also characterized by strong potential?

Well, we're working -- as we've been describing, there was a lot of focus put on international markets, that just spent a lot of time and a lot of resource with no revenue in the near term. And we've shifted that focus to finding the right partners in those international markets that are willing to step up and pay for the regulatory process required for that country. So instead of going in and trying to get regulations and regulatory within a particular international market, we don't even look at it unless the partners will it to step up to the plate and fund that effort.

All right. And what looks to be our final question here is, since the National Park Service trials in D.C. and the New York City trials were reportedly successful, will orders likely be forthcoming?

The New York City trials and certain service trials that were in D.C., some of those trials were not run with our assistance. These were certain surveys and trials that were run independent of who -- of our efforts and our support within those. So I don't anticipate anything coming from D.C. or New York City at this particular point in time. I believe that the other areas within Illinois, and specifically around Chicago, is really where the growth is going to come on the municipalities.

Very good. I'm showing no further questions. So with that, Michael, I will turn the call back over to you for any closing remarks.

Well, again, I want to just thank everybody for your patience and your focus and working with us as we turn this company into a real market for us in this category. And we're just very, very excited about what we see in the future.

The conference has now concluded.

Good afternoon, everyone, and welcome to the SenesTech Reports First Quarter Fiscal Year 2026 Financial Results Conference Call.

[Operator Instructions] Please note, today's event is being recorded. At this time, I'd like to turn the conference call over to Robert Blum with Lytham Partners. Please go ahead.

Thank you very much, Jamie, and thank you all for joining us today to discuss SenesTech's first quarter 2026 Financial Results is for the period ended March 31, 2026.

With us on the call today are Michael Edell, the company's newly appointed President and Chief Executive Officer; and Tom Chesterman, the company's Chief Financial Officer. At the conclusion of today's prepared remarks, we'll open the call for a question-and-answer session.

As mentioned, if you are listening through the webcast portal and would like to ask a question, you can submit your question through the Ask a Question feature in the webcast player. Before we begin with prepared remarks, we submit for the record the following statement.

Statements made by the management team of SenesTech during the course of this conference call may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 as amended and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 as amended, and such forward-looking statements are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.

Forward-looking statements describe future expectations, plans, results or strategies and are generally preceded by words such as may, future, plan or planned, will or should, expected, anticipates, draft, eventually or projected. Listeners are cautioned that such statements are subject to a multitude of risks and uncertainties that could cause future circumstances, events or results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. including the risks that actual results may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements as a result of various factors and other risks identified in the company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

All forward-looking statements contained during this conference call speak only of the date in which they were made and are based on management's assumptions and estimates as of such date. The company does not undertake any obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of the receipt of new information, the occurrence of future events or otherwise.

With that said, let me turn the call over to Michael Edell, President and Chief Executive Officer. Michael, please proceed.

Thank you, Robert, and good afternoon to everyone joining us today. As this is my first earnings call with SenesTech Investors as President and Chief Executive Officer, I wanted to start by saying how excited I am to be formally joining the company. I accepted this role as CEO with SenesTech because my conviction in the products and markets is strong.

However, my conviction in our ability to dramatically scale this business is even stronger. The work now is to translate product strength into commercial execution at scale. That is the central priority of this management team. Although I have just been appointed CEO, I'm not coming into this business cold. I began working closely with SenesTech mid-2025, initially in a consulting capacity to evaluate the business and build a strategic plan focused on commercial growth.

In October, I became the Interim Chief Operating Officer to lead implementation of that strategic plan. Over the past several months, we have been taking a hard look at the business and making practical changes designed to create a more scalable, more accountable and more data-driven operating model. Those changes are not theoretical. We have streamlined operations. We have prioritized direct-to-consumer revenue as a core growth engine. We have moved the direct management of our Amazon account for the Evolve brand.

We have restructured B2B processes and the sales organization to improve discipline, pipeline visibility, forecasting accountability and focus. We have advanced work on packaging, digital marketing efforts, subscription, customer education and our own e-commerce platform.

The goal across all of these initiatives is quite simple: make the product easier to understand, easier to buy, easier to deploy and easily to reorder. The direct-to-consumer channel is central to that strategy.

During the first quarter, direct-to-consumer revenue increased 42% to a record $194,000 despite the disruption associated with moving the Amazon operations in-house. That is an important result because the Amazon transition was a deliberate strategic move. It was not just a channel change. It changed what we can see, what we can control and how quickly we can respond.

By managing Amazon directly, we gained better access to customer behavior, advanced advertising performance, subscription data, pricing visibility, media buying efficiency and just overall channel economics. We can learn faster, we could test faster, and we can improve conversion faster. We can test new products and new packaging more quickly, and that is the type of operating model that we need.

We consider Amazon as a key pillar to our sales strategy. There was a short-term disruption as we transition away from third-party e-commerce management and as existing third-party inventory continue to move through the channel. That was to be expected, but the early data after the transition are highly encouraging.

April was the first full month completing, following the completion of the Amazon transition, and e-commerce sales increased 163% to a record $146,000 compared with approximately $55,000 in April of 2025.

Amazon retail sales of the Evolve brand were approximately $96,000 in April, while sales through our own SenesTech website were approximately $50,000. We began taking control of advertising execution in mid-February, completed the broader transition in March, and the early trend is exactly the kind of signal that we want to see. We are now moving to improve our website sales platform as well, that being the second pillar in our strategy.

Product like Evolve is not a onetime novelty purchase. It is intended to be part of an ongoing rodent management program. That is why recurring revenue is so important to our strategy with subscription revenue being a core part of the new direct-to-consumer strategy. We are now seeing meaningful evidence that this was the right focus.

In just the first quarter, subscription revenue increased 44% to a new record at $56,000 compared with just 39,000 in the prior year period, and subscriber counts increased more than 50%. Then in April, subsequent to the quarter end, subscription-based revenue increased 198% year-over-year to approximately 36,000, another record. Subscription-based customers increased 109%.

Those are still early numbers, but they are important proof points. They indicate the product stickiness, the customer engagement and the potential to build a more predictable recurring revenue-based model.

Now we need to build on that. We are tracking weekly sales, new-to-brand sales, subscription metrics, conversion metrics, media ad buying performance and customer behavior. We have reactivated our Google advertising in April to begin collecting search data support online revenue.

We are continuing to redesign our e-commerce website at senestech.com with a focus on reducing friction, simplifying navigation, improving conversion and supporting subscription growth. We are also refreshing our packaging to improve shelf visibility and simplifying the consumer message. The updating packaging prominently features rat birth control messaging because we want the customers to immediately understand what makes this product different. We do not want ambiguity at the point of a decision. We want clarity.

The same principle applies to our B2B business, the third pillar to our commercial strategy. We believe there are large opportunities across pest management, agriculture, municipalities, distributor, commercial customers, national retailers and other professional channels. By capturing those opportunities requires focus and discipline. It is not enough to have a long list of prospects. We need a qualified pipeline clear ownership, better forecasting and a standardized sales process.

Over the past several months, we have restructured the entire B2B team and processes around those objectives. We are concentrating resources on the largest and highest impact opportunities within each vertical while providing accountability around pipeline and forecast accuracy.

Here again, we saw early proof in the quarter. B2B revenue increased 57% to $298,000 compared with approximately $190,000 in the first quarter of last year. We continue to see municipal deployment activity across major urban markets, including Chicago, Boston, Washington, D.C., New York and New York City. The previously announced 12-month New York City rat contraception pilot program is expected to conclude this month, and we look forward to those results.

We are also continuing to support distributors, pest management professionals, commercial customers and agricultural opportunities where the product can fit into a broader integrated pest management program. We will remain selective and disciplined, deemphasizing the smaller or longer-term opportunities, but we believe the B2B opportunity is significant.

In addition, the work that we are doing with our focus on direct-to-consumer will bring more brand awareness, which will support our continuing efforts in the B2B. We are already seeing an increase in inbound opportunities and leads from these efforts.

Product expansion is another part of building a broader commercial platform. We plan to expand the Evolve brand with additional woven control products that can broaden our offering and strengthen our position in the category. We are also advancing launch readiness around potential related products such as an attractant and repellant products.

Now the idea is not to dilute the mission. It is to strengthen the ecosystem around the core fertility control solutions that give customers more tools to deploy with a complete program. I would note again, full control over Amazon and our own e-commerce website now gives us a very efficient launch platform for these potential new products, which have not been in place historically.

We are also improving how field activity, sales support, regulatory and product development work together. The field and sales teams have been reintegrated, generating higher quality B2B opportunities to drive near-term revenues.

Internationally, we're putting more structure around opportunity vetting to focus on opportunities that could produce near-term revenues. We shipped initial stocking orders to New Zealand and Bermuda during the quarter, and we will continue to pursue international opportunities where the regulatory process can move efficiently with limited incremental cost. Where a market requires significant regulatory investment for long periods of time, we will generally require local partners to assist us or fund that process. That is a disciplined approach to expansion.

The first quarter also demonstrated the importance of operating discipline. Gross margin improved to a company record 68.6% compared with 64.5% in the prior year period. That reflects improved production efficiency and reduced reliance on discounted sales activity. We need to grow revenue, but we also need to protect the economics of the business as we grow. That is how we build a durable company, not just a bigger one.

But when I think about SenesTech's future, I think in very practical terms. We need to sell more products. We need to improve conversion. We need to focus on subscriptions for recurring revenue. We need to build, repeat, purchasing behavior. And we need to win larger B2B opportunities. We need to make Amazon, our own website at senestech.com, our distributors, the municipalities, pest management professionals and commercial customers working together as a coherent growth strategy. And we need to measure progress with real operating metrics, not anecdotes. That is the vision I want investors to understand. We are building a more scalable, data-driven recurring revenue business around a differentiated product in a market that needs better solutions for overall pest management.

We have a lot of work ahead of us, and I do not want to overstate early results. but I am very encouraged by what we are seeing. The record April e-commerce momentum, the record subscription growth, the B2B improvement, the record gross margins and the stronger operating infrastructure all point in the same direction.

SenesTech is entering a new phase defined by commercial focus, execution discipline and accountability. And my job is to drive that every single day.

With that, let me turn it over to Tom Chesterman to review the financials in more detail, and then I will come back with a few closing comments before turning over the call to your questions. Tom?

Thank you, Michael, and good afternoon, everyone. I will provide a brief review of our first quarter 2026 financial results and add context around the operating trends that Michael discussed as I can. Note that we will be filing our 10-Q later today for a more detailed look at our results to date.

Revenue for the first quarter was $493,000, an increase of 2% compared with $485,000 in the first quarter of 2025. This result should be viewed in the context of our transition from third-party management to direct management of Amazon sales for the Evolve brand. That transition was substantially completed in mid-March.

While it created short-term channel disruption, as Michael mentioned, it gives us greater control over customer data, advertising performance, pricing visibility, subscriptions and overall channel economics, which we believe will drive growth and profitability into the future.

Direct-to-consumer revenue increased 42% to a record $194,000 compared with $137,000 in the prior year period. Of that, subscription revenue increased 44% to a record $56,000 compared to approximately $39,000 last year, while subscriber counts have increased more than 57%, these metrics support our view that recurring revenue can be a larger component of the business over time.

Note that the year ago metrics exclude the third-party e-commerce revenue as we want to provide a clear understanding of the growth we are seeing. Third-party e-commerce revenue in the year ago period was $158,000. We expect that third-party e-commerce revenue has strong potential for growth, and we expect future announcements about expansion in this area.

B2B revenue increased 57% to $298,000 compared with $190,000 in the first quarter of 2025. We saw continued traction across distributor, municipal, professional and commercial channels. We're also improving process discipline in the B2B organization with a greater focus on standardized sales processes, pipeline validation, forecasting accuracy and larger dollar opportunities within the targeted verticals.

Subsequent to quarter end, April provided an encouraging early proof point for the e-commerce transition. E-commerce sales increased 163% year-over-year to approximately $146,000 and increased 47% compared to March. Amazon retail sales of Evolve products were approximately $96,000 and sales through the senestech.com website were approximately $50,000.

Subscription-based revenue also increased 198% year-over-year in April to approximately $36,000. While April was only one month, the early data supports the strategic rationale for direct management of our e-commerce channels.

Gross profit increased 8% to $338,000 compared with $313,000 in the prior year period. Gross margin improved to 68.6%, another company record compared with 64.5% in the first quarter of 2025. This margin improvement reflected improved production efficiency and a lower reliance on discounted sales activity. We view this as an important indicator of the underlying economics of the business as we scale. This becomes manifest when gross profit dollars are growing faster than top line revenue.

Operating expenses reflected, among other factors, severance costs, onetime legal costs and other extraordinary onetime items associated with the organizational transition and strategic restructuring currently underway.

First quarter 2026 results included approximately $443,000 of onetime expenses as mentioned above. On a pro forma basis, adjusting for these items, adjusted EBITDA loss, a non-GAAP measure, was $1.6 million compared with $1.5 million in the prior year period. Reconciliations on these non-GAAP measures are included in today's press release.

Turning to the balance sheet. We ended the first quarter with $6.8 million of cash and cash equivalents. Based on our current operating plan, we believe this provides operating runway into the third quarter of 2027. We remain focused on managing expenses carefully while supporting the commercial initiatives that we believe can drive higher quality revenue growth over time.

With that financial overview, I will turn the call back to Michael for closing remarks.

Thank you, Tom. I want to close by bringing the discussion back to the central point, which is our focus in driving revenues with product that we know works and how we can disrupt this category. We have a product we believe in.

We have a market that needs better options, and we have clear evidence that customers are engaging with Evolve through the direct-to-consumer channels, that subscription behavior is building, that Amazon become a more effective channel under our direct management and that B2B opportunities are beginning to move with more discipline.

But the company will not be defined by belief alone. It will be defined by execution. That means increasing revenue through channels where we can see the customer, understand performance and control the economics. It means improving conversion on Amazon and our own e-commerce website. It means increasing the number of subscription customers and retaining them.

It means using the website redesign, packaging refresh, paid media, social efforts and customer education to reduce friction. It means going after the largest and most attractive B2B opportunities with a validated pipeline and accountability to the sales process. It means supporting municipalities, pest management professionals, agricultural customers, distributors and commercial accounts with a clear value proposition and better field support. It means expanding the Evolve platform in ways that make sense for the customer and for the company's economics.

I'm very encouraged by the April data, but I view it as just the starting point. We need to convert early momentum into repeatable performance. We need to make every dollar of marketing, every customer interaction, every sales meeting and every product initiative contribute to growth. That is the standard I am setting for the organization.

SenesTech's mission is to create cleaner cities, more efficient businesses and healthier communities through effective and sustainable pest management solutions. That mission is powerful, but it must be matched with disciplined commercial execution.

As CEO, my commitment is to bring that discipline to this business every day. We will focus resources on the highest impact commercial opportunities, improve sales execution, build scalable operating processes and hold ourselves accountable to those metrics that matter.

Thank you to our employees, our customers, our partners and our shareholders for your continued support. We are very excited about the path ahead, and we are focused on turning the opportunity in front of us into measurable growth.

Robert, we're now ready to open the call for questions.

Very good. Thank you very much, Michael and Tom, for your prepared remarks there. [Operator Instructions] First one is, given the early results from April, is it fair to expect Q-over-Q quarter-over-quarter revenue growth and a reasonable chance at record revenue?

Thank you, Robert. I believe that from the results that we're already seeing and what we've talked about bringing in and direct control over our D2C efforts, I do believe that we can see reasonable growth quarter-over-quarter. And I do believe that we will continue to break records.

All right. Very good. Next question here is, are you seeing any expansion internationally, especially with the Hantavirus breakout?

Thank you, Robert. That's a very interesting question. I think the Hantavirus really points out the potential risks involved with rodent or rat infestations. Obviously, our position is one to where we think we have a solution that can take care of rodent infestations long term. Related to the international parts of our business, as I mentioned before, we really want to focus in international, on those countries that we can make an impact short term.

A lot of the regulatory requirements for certain parts of the world can take anywhere from two to three years to get through those processes. So, unless we have a partner in place that's going to support and bear some of those costs, we are going to focus only on those international opportunities that could bring in short-term, near-term revenues.

All right. Very good. Next question here, sort of broadly relating to the New York City test or trial there. What sort of announcements do you expect them to make relating to the results? Really anything more that you can add related to New York City?

There's nothing I can really speak to today on the New York City test or the trials at this point because we're getting prepared to announce some of the data and some of the results from the various areas that we've been testing.

I would say that longer term, these types of solutions and these types of pilot programs require those partnerships in a city like New York that are willing to not only implement these types of pilots, but do all of the necessary work that is necessary beyond just the Evolve products because it's all about the environment that an area is creating for pests like rats. So, we want to make sure that it's a unified approach and an approach that is one where we have buy-in from the partners that we're working on at a trial or a test like New York City.

Okay. Very good. Next question here is, can you please explain the rationale behind the direct-to-consumer focus?

Thank you. The direct-to-consumer focus, the company historically has led with B2B options. And I think what the company found and learned very, very quickly is the brand aware, without brand awareness, it's very hard to drive partner business if the consumers are not aware of the product. That is especially true in large brick-and-mortar retailers. So, implementing the changes that we are leading with D2C is going to create significant brand awareness. It's going to create significant success and exposure for the brand and the wins there, which then will carry over into the B2B efforts that we have going on right now.

All right. And sort of an extension of that, discuss sort of the reviews regarding Amazon, quality control, sort of the broader work that's being done to ensure customers sort of understand how the product is utilized.

That's a great question. And it's been one of the main focus for us in our online presence is to really educate the consumers on how the product works, how it's going to be impactful, how long is it going to take. It's not a matter of just simply putting our product out in the field. It really is a matter of deploying it in a manner that is going to be successful for the environment that it's being used in. So, education is a key part of that effort. I think historically we've not provided as much information, whereas now we're going to be providing significantly more information and trying to set the proper expectations for a long-term solution to solve this problem.

Okay. Next question here is, were these changes that are being discussed already sort of in effect under your prior role? Or did they become more of a priority once Joel Fruendt retired?

It really was an early priority as I had come in initially as a consulting effort to really help understand what was driving the business and what the strategic focus and strategic plan should be. We started to implement those changes very, very quickly. And a lot of those changes were started back in Q4 and really took final shape as we moved into Q1 of this year. That's why we've been able to see some of the incredible results of, that you're seeing right now just in Q1, very, very early, but pretty significant in terms of the results we're seeing.

Okay. Very good. Our next question here is SG&A remains high for the level of revenue this quarter, including the sort of onetime severance and legal that were discussed there. Is there a plan to optimize SG&A to better match the levels of the business?

That's a great question. And I'm going to let Tom take that question, so he can speak more specifically to the amount of onetime out of the norm costs that we were dealing with as we were in this quarter.

Yes. Thanks, Michael. I think it's important to view these as part of the investment we're making in this strategic transition. We're bringing in new personnel to cover, to have new skills, et cetera. We've taken out of the picture some litigation and other legal issues that were frankly just distracting to the business.

So yes, there was a bit of what I would call investment in the SG&A in Q1. The focus here is now that we've gotten those things kind of out of the way, we're able to provide a more streamlined SG&A. That's one of the reasons why we wanted to make sure that we put in as much detail about those onetime expenses to provide a more normalized view of what the burn rate would look as we move forward.

So yes, there is a plan to optimize SG&A. We needed to take these expenses in Q1 in order to make this transition and make it well and make it quickly. So we can then move on to all of the growth initiatives that Michael has been talking about.

All right. Our next question here. [Operator Instructions]. Michael and Tom, there's a follow-up here pertaining to Hantavirus. Has there been an uptick in incoming inquiries regarding the heightened Hantavirus awareness?

Yes. There's been a significant uptick in search for options looking to solve rodent and pest-related problems. we have seen an increase in uptick.

Okay. Very good. Next question here. Is there any update on sort of the brick-and-mortar, Home Depot, other brick-and-mortar companies moving from online to in-store?

That's a great question, Robert. What I will say about Home Depot and other brick-and-mortar retailers is something I mentioned early on. The large retailers are not in the business of promoting a product. They're in the business of selling product. And so what they look for in a brand is the brand awareness. And our people, our consumers is going to come into their store, understand that product, look for that product, ask for that product and then purchase that product in store.

I think historically, as I mentioned before, we didn't have the proper focus in creating brand awareness through our D2C and through Amazon, which is one of the main focuses that we have been talking about on this call and through this quarter. I do believe there is quite a bit of opportunity in the large brick-and-mortar retailers, but we have to demonstrate clearly to them that these consumers are looking for this type of product and can expand their revenues in that category.

Very good. Again, just a quick reminder, everyone. [Operator Instructions] Another question here. Has there been any thoughts on capital structure and valuing the company equity? Is there any update on when the company might get close to self-funding or being able to adjust the cap structure, so it's not purely equity funded?

Yes, Robert, thanks again. This is also a great question. I'll take the first part of this and then turn it over to Tom. What I'd like to emphasize is the fact that we are extremely focused on driving revenue. Revenue solves a lot of problems and the type of revenue such as recurring revenue, subscription and so on is even better. And the goal is to reduce the burn so that we're incrementally over time, moving closer and closer to that breakeven point. And so I think if we have a focus on revenue, it solves a lot of problems.

Tom, you could answer or chime in addition on this question.

Yes. I think the two points I would make. I mean, one is to echo Michael's point, which is to say that what we're trying to provide here is as much information about the vector we're following in terms of the revenue growth and the profitability growth that allows us to move towards that. As we look at the capital structure, though, the second part, we are already looking at other options besides equity.

We do use equipment financing for all of our capital equipment purchases, and we are getting closer and closer to the point at which the, we can utilize debt for more cash flow management purposes. And this, again, gets back to the quality of the revenue as much as predictable as it can get, that provides the cash flow information that the lenders need in order to provide debt financing as opposed to solely relying on the shareholders.

All right. Very good. And next question here is regarding subscriptions. I think you just touched a little bit on this, Michael, but really talk about why the subscriptions are an important part of the business going forward.

Thank you. That, again, is a great question, one we have been focused on. Since I got involved with the company as a consultant very early on, it became very clear to me that the product is a consumable product, that it is a repeatable product, and it was just absolutely perfect for establishing a recurring revenue. Recurring revenue and subscription business allows us to have a lower cost for customers.

So the customer acquisition on onetime purchases and bringing in new customers into the funnel is quite a bit more expensive than those customers that are on a regular subscription model or a subscription revenue. So we think it's going to be absolutely critical to our business to really focus and grow that.

The side result of that is that the happier subscriber customers that you have and the more stickiness you create creates a very, like a flywheel effect, and it's creating a lot of momentum for the business. And you can see that just through these results that we've been talking about on the D2C side of the business.

All right. This will be the last question, it appears. I'm showing no further questions after this in the queue. Congratulations on the quarter and the successful transition. Again, a follow-up on the Hantavirus. The company seems to have a generational marketing opportunity to enter the conversation to build awareness around the product. Have you considered a different approach towards marketing and social to capitalize as one of the only pure rodent plays in the market?

Great question. I will tell you this, the, historically, a lot of the efforts for social media and being able to market to these types of opportunities has not really been focused. We're bringing in new teams like we brought in teams to manage and as we're managing the Amazon efforts and as we're doing on our own website, you'll be seeing quite a bit over the next quarter of all of the new path, the new approach to the social media and social markets that we're going to be advertising on and posting to. So yes, we are going to be moving more in that direction to capitalize on those markets and those channels.

All right. Very good. Well, I'm showing no further questions. So with that, Michael, I will turn it back over to you for any closing remarks.

Yes. Thank you, Robert. Thank you, Tom. I want to thank everybody for participating and taking the time out of your day to listen to what we have to say. We're very excited about the future, and we look forward to more updates as time marches on. But have a great day, and thank you.

The conference has now concluded. We thank you for attending today's presentation. You may now disconnect your lines.

Good afternoon, and welcome to the SenesTech Reports Fourth Quarter and Fiscal Year 2025 Financial Results Conference Call. [Operator Instructions] Please note, this event is being recorded.

I would now like to turn the conference over to Robert Blum with Lytham Partners. Please go ahead.

All right. Thank you very much, operator, and good afternoon, everyone. Welcome to SenesTech's year-end 2025 financial results conference call. Joining us today are Dr. Jamie Bechtel, Interim Executive Chair; and Tom Chesterman, Chief Financial Officer. Joel Fruendt, the company's President and CEO, was unable to join us today.

Earlier today, the company issued its financial results press release for the year ended December 31, 2025. As the operator indicated, at the conclusion of today's prepared remarks, we will open the call for a question-and-answer session. [Operator Instructions]

Before we begin, I'd like to remind everyone that today's call may include forward-looking statements within the meaning of federal securities laws. These statements are based on current expectations and involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those described. Please refer to the company's SEC filings for a discussion of these risks. The company undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements, except as required by law.

All right. With that said, let me turn the call over to Dr. Jamie Bechtel. Jamie, please proceed.

Thanks, Robert. Thank you, operator. Thank you to everyone who's joining us today. I'm Dr. Jamie Bechtel, and I'm the Chair of SenesTech's Board. As we recently announced, Joel Fruendt is retiring following several years of leadership at SenesTech. On behalf of the Board, I want to thank Joel for his contributions and for helping position the company for the next phase of growth.

To support continuity during this transition, the Board created the role of Interim Executive Chair, and I was asked to step into that position to help ensure alignment between the Board and management while the CEO search is underway. The transition is planned and orderly, and the business continues to move forward without interruption. The Board has initiated a formal search process to identify the company's next CEO. Our focus is on finding the right leader to help scale the business and build on the progress that has been made.

In the meantime, the Board remains closely engaged with management and focused on execution. Our directors bring experience across areas such as e-commerce, international markets, finance, strategic growth, which we believe will be valuable as the company continues to expand. Importantly, the company's core strategy remains consistent. We are focused on delivering our current initiatives, scaling the areas where we are seeing traction and maintaining discipline in how we allocate resources. We will continue to keep shareholders informed as the leadership transition progresses.

With that, I'll turn the call over to our CFO, Tom Chesterman.

Thank you, Jamie. I'll begin with a summary of the year's performance and key developments before reviewing the financial results in more detail. Overall, 2025 reflected continued progress in expanding our commercial reach and strengthening our business model. For the year, revenue increased 20% to approximately $2.2 million compared with $1.86 million in 2024.

It's important to note that the fourth quarter included an approximately $200,000 temporary revenue impact associated with the company's transition to directly managing the Evolve Rat and Evolve Mouse on Amazon. Excluding that transition effect, full year revenue growth would have been closer to 30%. That transition represents an important step in our e-commerce strategy. Directly managing Amazon allows us to improve product presentation, optimize marketing performance using platform data and retain a greater portion of the revenue generated through that channel.

E-commerce continued to be our fastest-growing segment. For the year, e-commerce revenue increased 88%, driven by strong growth on Amazon and our direct-to-consumer website. Even with that temporary transition impact, e-commerce now represents more than 1/2 of our total revenue. And now that we have direct control of Amazon selling activity, we can better tailor the message and accelerate growth much, much further.

Beyond e-commerce, we continue to expand activity across several additional verticals. In municipal markets, interest in fertility control approaches continue to grow as cities evaluate alternatives to traditional rodent control methods. Programs such as the rat contraception initiatives in New York City, Chicago and elsewhere reflect this broader shift towards integrated pest management strategies.

The Chicago neighborhoods deploying Evolve continue to reorder and expand deployment. New York City will soon conclude their trial of Evolve, and we are already in discussions with potential deployment partners so as to be able to move quickly.

Internationally, we expanded our footprint during the year with regulatory approvals and new distribution relationships. Evolve received regulatory approval in New Zealand, and we shipped the initial stocking order to our exclusive partner, Evicom. We've expanded distribution activity in Belize through the Belize Raptor Center. And we have other areas with potential regulatory approval pending as well.

On the retail side, where decision-making is a longer process, we have made multiple presentations to some of the largest brick-and-mortar retailers about stocking Evolve on their shelves. I should point out that success on Amazon and the press around municipal deployment feeds well into the retail decision-making. We laid the groundwork last year. This is the year when we'll see the benefit of that work on the top line and the bottom line.

Finally, I should mention some of you have been concerned about our legal dispute with Liphatech. I'm pleased to say that this dispute has been resolved in a manner satisfactory to all involved. All litigation has been dismissed and cannot be reinstated.

Turning to the financial results in more detail. For 2025, gross margin improved to 62.5% compared with 54.1% in 2024. This reflects improved product mix and the growing contribution from e-commerce channels. The company reported a net loss of $6.4 million compared with $6.2 million in 2024.

The 2025 results include approximately $631,000 in one-time legal expenses, some of which associated with Liphatech, and $135,000 in non-cash operating lease expense. Excluding these items, the adjusted net loss for the year would have been approximately $5.6 million. Adjusted EBITDA loss for the year improved to $5.3 million compared to $5.8 million in 2024.

From a liquidity standpoint, the company ended the year with $8.6 million in cash and short-term investments, which we believe provides a solid operating runway as we continue executing our strategy.

As we look towards 2026, our focus remains on maintaining financial discipline while investing in areas where we are seeing traction, including e-commerce expansion, municipal adoption and continued validation of our technology. At the same time, we are managing operating expenses carefully and prioritizing investments that support measurable commercial progress. And importantly, we're also maintaining the flexibility for the company's next CEO to help shape that longer-term strategy.

With that, operator, we're ready to open the call for questions.

All right. Thank you very much, Jamie and Tom. We'll go ahead and begin the question-and-answer session. [Operator Instructions] First question here. Given that 2025 revenue growth would have been 30%, excluding the impact of transition to directly managing Amazon sales, should we expect similar growth rate in 2026 or could this be higher?

That's a great question. Yes, absolutely, it can be higher, and that is, in fact, what we're aiming for is we want to accelerate growth in the areas where we can and make sure that we maximize that growth as long as it remains profitable.

All right. Our next question here, what are likely to be the contributors to 2026 revenues? Amazon and D2C, pest management professionals networks, municipal orders or international expansion in New Zealand, Belize and beyond?

So it will definitely be a mixture of all of those. But let me walk through kind of how each of them looks as we're moving forward. I mentioned the e-commerce and Amazon, particularly. This is an area where, with Amazon, we were not managing it directly, we were using a third party. And so we were not really in full control of the message and the rate of spend.

As we begin taking over Amazon and also working on improving our own website, we know that further investment in the messaging and in the ad campaign will drive sustainable and increasing growth. So definitely, we expect to see a strong growth in that area.

Municipal certainly is an area of growth. There have been a number of successes in that area. All eyes are on New York right now, where we have a trial underway. We don't know exactly what their deployment plans will be. We'll see that when the request for proposals come out, but we do see that as a growth area.

Retail is an area where it's -- we have not yet seen the growth that we would hope. But when you see growth in that area, you see it's a very, very explosive area. And to give you an example, we've made multiple pitches to brick-and-mortar retailers. We've worked with them on their website. We've worked on trials. And at some point, one of them is going to say, all right, let's go ahead and send 1 pallet to 200 stores, 1 pallet each. That's a $2 million order. So the growth there can be very, very explosive in that segment.

International continues to look very good. There are a number of areas internationally where they have a similar need to improve their rodent management techniques, and they seek alternatives to traditional methods like Evolve, like ContraPest, et cetera. So we definitely do see some improvement there.

We've mentioned before, Australia is nearing the conclusion of the regulatory review. So we're expecting an answer from them shortly. There are other jurisdictions as well. So in closing, it really is a combination of a variety of shots on goal, as Joel used to put it.

Right. Very good. Our next question here is what kind of follow-up should we expect from the 2 field validations in urban areas? What level of revenue should we expect from these 2 areas?

Well, I'm not quite sure what the second one is that they're talking about. The one right now with the trial has all eyes on it is in New York. And as I mentioned, that trial will be concluded sometime in the spring. We don't know what their deployment will be, so we can't give you a good sense of how much revenue or how quickly.

In the other areas, such as Chicago, they've already begun the deployment in Chicago in a number of neighborhoods and areas. So that will expand as additional neighborhoods come on into the program.

All right. The next question here is why have all the social media accounts, Facebook, for example, been quiet since December of 2025? Talk about the marketing department employment there.

Yes. Jamie, actually, why don't you take this one?

Thanks, Tom. Robert, that's a great question. The marketing team is absolutely still in place. Over the past few months, we've been focused on strengthening our core commercial efforts, customer outreach, sales enablement, channel and partnership development rather than prioritizing social media. Social media will definitely pick back up as we roll out a couple of initiatives this year, but the team has actively been working on growth and brand positioning. So you'll see a more structured communication cadence as we launch our new milestones this year.

All right. Very good. Next question here. And I think, Tom, you've addressed this in your prepared remarks, but I'll see if there's anything to add on to it. What is the status of the court case of Liphatech versus SenesTech?

So that case has been settled. It's been settled as the lawyers put it to the satisfaction of all parties. The results were immaterial to our -- both financially and operationally. So at this point, we consider it a past issue.

Okay. And a bit of a follow-up on that. You guys mentioned in the prior quarter that you had incurred $100,000 of one-time legal costs due to the Liphatech IP infringement and NDA violations. It says here, I noticed that the one-time legal fees in this quarter came to $275,000. Let's see here, can you, I guess, expand upon and clarify this cost and whether it's expected to recur going forward?

So let me take the last part first. No, it should not recur now that we have successfully concluded that litigation issue. It's -- litigation is very expensive these days. And so it takes quite a bit to defend oneself from charges or allegations. So unfortunately, it did end up costing us quite a bit in terms of legal expense. But it was an investment well worth it given the positive outcome.

Okay. Following up on a question on legal fees. Could you provide more granularity and how much of those fees during this last year related to financing?

The legal fees which were expensed do not have anything to do -- are not classified as operating expense. Those would be part of the cost of the financing. So you would not see any legal cost of financing in the income statement.

Okay. Next question here is, what is the status of product registration in Australia?

Yes. As I mentioned, we with our partner, have submitted all the necessary information. The regulatory authorities have gone through it. They expect to be able to produce an answer to us as our partner says, in the spring. I don't have any more precise dates than that, but we are expecting a response from them. We're expecting a positive response.

Okay. Our next question here is how much revenue do you expect from Belgium during the coming 2 years?

We actually do not have any direct input or insight into Belgium. We have no partner that's in Belgium. So it really is more a matter of as we look at the European market and our distributors there, what are we selling to them? And whether it's in Belgium or somewhere else, I really don't have a whole lot of insight into that.

Okay. Next question. Can you break out the SG&A, which is up? How much is sales and how much of the G&A? And there will be a follow-up to that.

So the -- we are at the conclusion of this call scheduled to file our 10-K. So all of the detail of the SG&A and R&D expenses will be in the 10-K. So I would encourage you to -- our investors to look at that, read that. And if you have any questions on that, follow-up with us. We'd be glad to go into it as much as we need.

Next question here is what are the new international opportunities?

Well, unfortunately, I can't really comment on them until we have signed agreements in place. So I'm going to have to let you wait for our press releases. As we sign them, we will let our investors know.

Okay. Very good. Next question here is, how likely is it that Evolve Bait gets to brick-and-mortar during the first half of 2026?

So we are already in some of brick-and-mortar, but not much. I think that given the time frame in which they make their decisions that it may not be likely until at least the end of the second quarter, but it's more likely in the second half of the year for retail in a big way.

Okay. Our next question here is what municipalities besides New York City are evaluating Evolve?

Well, that's the biggest trial that's been out there. Baltimore concluded their study and has been deploying Evolve there. Chicago didn't. They went right past the study, at least in the neighborhoods, but they're -- the City of Chicago continues to be assessing fertility control. I don't know of -- there are I'm sure others that are doing trials that are not necessarily formal trials, but that would be a level of detail that I wouldn't have readily available right now.

All right. The next question here is on how is the agricultural sector working out?

It's working out quite well. There are -- we've talked about some of the successes in the past in the almond groves in the West. Those deployments go well. They're expanding those as well. We continue to work on some of the crop issues like sugarcane. We continue to see actually some expansion as well into poultry. That's another area of growth. And we're beginning to see actually some -- an interesting area, irrigation. It turns out that rats are very destructive to irrigation equipment. So we're seeing some progress in that area as well. So it's going well, very well.

All right. Another follow-up here, and I'm not sure if there's anything that could be added here, but how soon will you know about the trials in the New York City program? And what's the potential market for that?

Yes. Unfortunately, as I've mentioned, the trial will be ending this spring. I believe it's the middle of the second quarter. We don't know what they're going to be doing immediately after that. But we have begun discussions with some people that are expecting to bid on whatever comes out. These are large pest management organizations that would like to be able to respond to New York's requirements. So we've already begun those discussions as to how to best be flexible and nimble when the information does come out.

Okay. Our next question here. How has the e-commerce business been when it comes to Home Depot and Lowe's?

So these are areas where they're really almost trials before they make their decisions about their shelf placement. We are focusing, as has been mentioned before, our own e-commerce program on Amazon now and on our website. So these programs have not been a huge e-commerce per se push, but rather are ways of continuing the discussions with them. So at this point, they're nowhere near the size of what we're seeing in Amazon or on our own website.

Okay. Our next question here. Are there any new species you anticipate in 2026 or 2027, such as ground squirrels, gophers, et cetera?

Well, I'll let Jamie comment on this, but I will also kind of mention that from my perspective, I think the rodent market is the rat and mouse market has enough potential that we could be quite successful maximizing those opportunities. But Jamie, you're one of our lead scientific types. Any comment there?

I'll just add that the technology is really exciting because it's broadly applicable, especially to mammalian species. And while there's a lot of opportunity out there, I second Tom with the idea that we're going to remain very focused and deliver what's in front of us with extraordinary discipline.

All right. Thank you for that, both. Our next question here is, will evolverodentbirthcontrol.com be available in the future? Someone noticed that the site was down.

I will have to look into that to understand why it's down. I wasn't aware of that, but I'll look into that immediately. We own it. It should be up.

All right. Very good. Our next question here, what qualities is the Board looking for in the next CEO to improve profitability or the -- I'm sorry, the probability of successful commercialization?

Jamie, that sounds like a question for you.

It does, doesn't it, Tom? Robert, thanks for that. That's a great question. We're looking for a leader who can take the company through its next phase of growth. That means someone who has a strong commercial instinct, experience scaling a business, the ability to build and lead high-performance teams.

Just as important is operational discipline, someone who can translate strategy into consistent execution. The opportunity in front of us is significant, exciting and significant. So we want a CEO who can bring both that strategic vision and the day-to-day rigor necessary to capture that vision.

All right. A question here discussing cash runway implies, obviously, losses at its current revenue levels. Is there any reason why improvement should not be expected?

There's no reason why improvement should not be expected and sought after. But the attorneys tell us to be very conservative in how we disclose things in the 10-K and on the press releases about such matters. So we take the most conservative approach in terms of that disclosure. But yes, improvement should be expected.

Okay. Next question here is on inventory. Inventory grew 25% year-over-year, which is relatively high compared with the quarterly revenue. Is the current inventory reflecting anticipated demand from newly expanded locations or slower than expected inventory turnover?

It is the former. It's trying to make sure that we are ready for that surge demand I mentioned. If we do get a call from a retailer saying we want the pallets in every store, we want to make sure that we have that inventory available to fulfill.

All right. Next question here is, why was Joel not able to be on the call today?

Robert, thanks -- sorry, go ahead, Tom.

I was just going to say, Jamie, you probably should take this one.

That's exactly how aligned we are, Tom, and that's the answer to the question, right? We have a really strong leadership team in place. As I mentioned earlier, there's continuity in this transition, and we're all fully engaged in communicating progress and executing on the strategy. So while Joel wasn't on today's call, the team is completely aligned, and we're moving forward.

All right. The next question here is what other target markets will SenesTech focus on this year? Will there be increased focus on the agricultural sector, for instance?

Yes. To some extent, I've already answered that. It's going to be all of the markets that we've talked about before. We're going to be going after all of them. They each have a different strategic approach identified as to how we will address them, what the pacing will be. But there's -- these are the markets that we're focused on now, the specific verticals that we've talked about in past calls.

Until we have sufficiently hit our targets, our own internal targets and external targets in these markets, we don't think that there's a need to expand to other verticals. These are the ones that look like they have the highest potential in the shortest amount of time. And so that's why we've chosen them to focus on.

All right. Our next question here, I think you've addressed some of this, but have there been any new trials or deployments in major cities, specifically on the West Coast, San Francisco, Los Angeles, for instance?

Well, San Francisco has a trial ongoing. We've talked about it before. It's being done with a local pest management company there using some state funding. I'm not aware of any other West Coast formal trials, although there certainly are a number of the smaller municipalities that tend to look at it first before they make their decisions, but those are more informal.

We did have an interesting trial that we did produce some data on at the UC Irvine Housing project, where they have quite a bit of interest in looking at innovative ways of controlling pests. And so that trial did conclude quite successfully. We put out a press release on it earlier, but they were very pleased with the approach and have continued to deploy and expand in that. But I'm not aware of any others that are as formal as that.

Okay. Next question here is, does management attend any -- I guess, this would relate to industry conferences to showcase Evolve?

Well management doesn't necessarily, but the sales department certainly does. Sales is responsible for identifying those conferences and those meetings that have the highest potential for return. They tend to be very, very focused on that return. Is it really going to be something where we get a lot of orders? And these can be both professional organizations, but we also attend some of the, I'll call them, retail or other shows. For example, we were very recently at the Bradley Caldwell show, where they bring in all of their potential customers into one place and presents different companies like ourselves. We've also been to the ACE show. So we're at both kinds of shows. We're also at Pest World. We have had a booth there for a couple of years now. So yes, the answer is yes, we do.

Okay. Next question here. Will the new CEO have incentives built around the price of the company's stock?

I am sure that Jamie is ready to answer this one.

Robert, the short answer is yes. As with most public companies, the CEO's compensation structure, we expect a meaningful portion of that to be equity-based and aligned with long-term shareholder value. The Board's Compensation Committee will finalize the specific structure, of course, but alignment with stock performance will absolutely be a key component.

Okay. The next one, I'm not sure if there's a question in here, but maybe more of a comment. The top agricultural production state California would greatly benefit from expansion of the label for use in ground squirrels with ever-increasing regulations on pesticides, 25B products have incredible potential. So this circles back to expansion into adjacent species.

Yes, I would agree. It's very definitely -- California is not the only area that would benefit from an expansion. There are lots of different pest species that need some work, need better solutions. When we have -- again, when we've managed to demonstrate success in rat and mouse, we certainly would look at that.

I will tell you that there is an issue around ground squirrels. They're not considered the same kind of pest as rodents are. So they have a different regulatory approach that's required there. So there are a few complexities that would need to be worked out before we could really consider that kind of an expansion.

Okay. The next question here is, will you be expanding your sales team?

The short answer is yes, we will. We actually had the sales team in for a kind of a beginning of the year conference not that long ago. We're going to have another one coming up shortly where we're really focused on exactly what resources do we need to maximize the B2B sales effort and whether it be more people. And if so, where and what, how are they focused, what materials are needed, what -- again, all the resources that are necessary to really expand and drive the B2B growth to its maximum potential.

And Robert, before we move on, I just want to add to Tom's answer there that because we brought e-commerce in-house, not only are we going to see a bigger sales force, but we're going to see -- both in the B2C and the B2B profile, but we're going to see a higher ROI on that because we're going to be able to collaborate across those 2 verticals.

All right, fantastic. Our next question here. Can you clarify when the New Zealand order was shipped? And if it was in Q1, how much of the inventory did that eat up? And has it been replaced?

Yes, that shipment was in Q1. And yes, it's been replaced. I think that was all the questions.

I think you hit it there. Next question here is sales working with UC Davis regarding Kern County and other California counties being overrun by rats?

The short answer is, yes, we're focused on that in general. But that is also one of the areas where we think some additional resources might very well be useful. And so as they've been -- one of the things that came out of that sales meeting was looking specifically at different opportunities in California being not only a large market, but also a market which has taken the step to ban or limit the use of certain rodenticides. So there are definitely -- the problem now is fewer solutions, and so even more opportunity for rat birth control.

All right. Tom, a quick asking of clarification on the New Zealand order. Was that revenue recognized in Q1 or was that revenue recognized in Q4 for the New Zealand order?

Q1.

Q1, all right. And as a follow-up to that, how frequently do you expect follow-up orders from New Zealand and for how long?

Well, New Zealand has an initiative, which we've talked about before, to rid itself of predators and other pests, invasive pests. So -- and their target is I think 2050 to complete that. That is a massive, massive multi-billion-dollar undertaking. How exactly they're going to be going through that may change now with fertility control being added.

The -- I think the -- I know Evicom is working with the authorities in New Zealand to really focus on how to best now incorporate rat birth control with the other methods that have been used. So I don't have a forecast for you yet, but it's -- the opportunity there, the need there is tremendous.

All right. Coming back to California here with the question is, do you have any other distributors in California outside of ACE Hardware?

Well, ACE Hardware, we don't consider a distributor. We consider that a retail. But in terms of other distributors, yes, we do. As a matter of fact, with Agricom, Agri-Turf, a couple of the ones that have come across my desk recently. They're focused more in on the agricultural side, particularly poultry. So yes, we do have other distributors there. And of course 2 top distributors in the pest management industry, Veseris and Target Specialty, both of them have a solid presence in California.

All right. Very good. I am showing no further questions. So with that, I will turn it back over to you both for any closing remarks.

Great. Well, thank you all for joining us, and we certainly look forward to being able to update you as frequently as we can on our progress. This is -- as I said in my prepared remarks, last year was a year of preparation of setting the groundwork, setting the foundations. This year is undoubtedly going to be the most exciting year that we have. And you don't usually hear CFOs saying things like that, but I am truly excited for the potential in the coming year. So thank you very much.

Thanks, everybody.

Thank you. That concludes today's conference call. We thank you all for attending today's presentation. You may now disconnect.

Good evening, and welcome to the SenesTech Reports Third Quarter Fiscal Year 2025 Financial Results Conference Call. [Operator Instructions] Please note, this event is being recorded.

I would now like to turn the conference over to Robert Blum with Lytham Partners. Please go ahead.

All right. Thank you very much, operator. And as you just mentioned, thank you, everyone, for joining us to discuss SenesTech's third quarter 2025 financial results, and this is for the period ended September 30, 2025.

With us on the call today is Mr. Joel Fruendt, the company's Chief Executive Officer; Mr. Tom Chesterman, the company's Chief Financial Officer. At the conclusion of today's prepared remarks, we will open the call for a question-and-answer session. [Operator Instructions] Before we begin with prepared remarks, we submit for the record the following statement.

Statements made by the management team of SenesTech during the course of this conference call may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 as amended and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 as amended, and such forward-looking statements are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.

Forward-looking statements describe future expectations, plans, results or strategies and are generally preceded by words such as may, future, plan or planned, will or should, expected, anticipates, draft, eventually or projected. Listeners are cautioned that such statements are subject to a multitude of risks and uncertainties that could cause future circumstances, events or results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements, including the risks that actual results may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements as a result of various factors and other risks identified in the company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

All forward-looking statements contained during this conference call speak only as of the date in which they were made and are based on management's assumptions and estimates as of such date. The company does not undertake any obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of the receipt of new information, the occurrence of future events or otherwise.

With that said, let me turn the call over to Joel Fruendt, Chief Executive Officer of SenesTech. Joel, please proceed.

Thank you, Robert, and good afternoon, everyone. Thank you all for joining us today for our third quarter 2025 conference call. We once again had a very strong quarter with record quarterly revenues driven by the rapid adoption of our Evolve product line, which is showing growth across nearly every one of our key distribution channels and market verticals.

E-commerce continues to be our largest channel, representing more than 50% of our revenue, and was up 55% year-over-year. And as many of you saw, we had a very exciting announcement as our products are now available at lowes.com.

The intersection of our e-commerce and brick-and-mortar retail sales have the opportunity to be a significant growth driver for us moving forward, and Lowe's fits perfectly into that intersection. But as we have been communicating to you for the past year or so, our objective is clearly not to just grow at any cost.

We need to reach profitability and believe we have the pathway to do so in the near term. Yes, high-margin revenue growth will be the easiest pathway there, but efficiently managing our expenses will be an equal part of the equation, and we are doing just that.

During the quarter, we had a robust 43% increase in year-over-year sales. Gross margins continued in the 63% range and operating expenses were down 4% compared to last year and down 12% sequentially. And note that we had more than $100,000 of onetime legal expenses during the quarter that if removed, would have shown even further OpEx improvements.

Overall, our adjusted EBITDA loss, which closely tracks our cash utilization, was the best in our company's history at $1.2 million. This compares favorably to $1.4 million last year and the most recent sequential quarter. With the continued focus on high-margin revenue growth, operational efficiency and cost discipline, we are poised to achieve our profitability objectives.

Given the strong progress we continue to make, we feel very comfortable with the cash position we have, which at the end of September was more than $10 million. We will continue to execute and make incremental progress towards our profitability objectives, and we see a potential path to the future that may not require further equity offerings.

So that's the high-level overview of the quarter. Record revenues, strong gross margins, reduction in our operating expenses, all of those resulting in the best adjusted EBITDA in the company's history. And finally, a strong balance sheet, which will bridge us to profitability.

Okay. Let's transition to a few key activities that took place since we last spoke in August and some items we are working on, which we'll hopefully develop in the months to come. First off, as I mentioned a moment ago, our e-commerce business continues to show strong growth.

Amazon continues to lead the way here with double-digit monthly growth. We continue to focus on being efficient with our advertising spend, ensuring that we don't spend during seasonally slower times for deployment.

To that end, we slowed spend during late July and August, and we revamped our ad spend in early September. We had a highly successful Labor Day special that really boosted our sales in the month of September and should set the stage for a strong Q4 from Amazon as well.

Beyond Amazon, which represents about 50% of our e-commerce revenue, we also are seeing growth from our existing senestech.com websites as well as walmart.com, homedepot.com and tractorsupply.com.

And we had a big announcement about Lowes.com that has started carrying our Evolve Rat product. This expansion represents a major milestone in both consumer accessibility and retail distribution possibilities for the company.

Launching on Lowes.com is a key component of our planned expansion through the broader retail channels. As we have talked about in the past, many retailers start new products on their e-commerce platform to assess overall potential and then transition to having them placed in their brick-and-mortar locations.

We have a compelling case with Lowe's, Walmart, Home Depot and others that as the e-commerce side of the equation gains traction, we may then expand to in-store offerings in the future. We look forward to this being a large opportunity for us moving forward in the near future.

During the quarter, our retail sales were up 254% compared to the year ago period, driven by expanded adoption that more than doubled its coverage with our ACE Hardware customer and follow-on orders from Bradley Caldwell, a wholesaler serving over 8,000 retail locations in the Northeast.

Beyond e-commerce and retail, we continue to see adoption of our solutions within the municipal markets as well. During the third quarter, municipal revenue grew 139% year-over-year, driven by expanded deployments in New York City, Chicago and Baltimore, reflecting increased adoption in diverse urban settings.

In September, we announced that Evolve Rat Birth Control would be deployed in another of Chicago's special service areas, this time, SSA #48 or the Old Town area. The new initiative led by the Old Town Merchants & Residents Association is focused on improving sanitation and public health in one of Chicago's most historic and vibrant neighborhoods.

Planned deployments include strategic alleyways throughout the SSA, which spans key commercial and residential areas. SSA #33 or The Wicker Park Bucktown Special Service area of Chicago has expanded deployments in their area as well.

We are working with the other 53 SSAs as they seek to implement an Evolve program. On a recent visit to Wicker Park Bucktown, a customer remarked, we've now seen in a week the rat activity we used to see in a day. It's good to have such simple articulation of Evolve's efficacy.

These current programs continue to focus on controlled deployments in high-impact areas, laying the groundwork for potential large-scale expansion. And further, the overall awareness of these municipal deployments continue to have a positive impact on other channels such as retail, e-commerce and pest control distribution.

In New York City, our rat contraceptive pilot program is showing exceptional results. Our team has been in New York supporting the deployment, where they continue to note 100% consumption of Evolve. We are working with New York City for reorders to advance the trial. In addition, we are working with local distributors to arrange for long-term supply to the city.

While many of the headlines come from e-commerce channels such as Amazon, Home Depot, Walmart, Lowe's, et cetera, or our deployments in hardware retailers like ACE Hardware or municipal deployments in New York City or Chicago, the continued utilization of our solutions from pest management professionals or PMPs continue.

Representing nearly 20% of our third quarter revenues, PMP revenue was up 72% sequentially from the second quarter as a wide variety of PMP partners are leveraging the unique attributes of fertility control across a wide range of customer applications, including theme parks. One of these theme parks is internationally known and is now in their third monthly order cycle.

Our diverse distribution channel was clearly demonstrated during the quarter with near across-the-board growth from our various market verticals and distribution channels. With multiple shots on goal, each of which has shown stable growth and strong upside characteristics such as a large deployment of a major retailer or a large-scale deployment in municipal area, we feel very good about the future.

Before I turn to Tom to review the financials in more detail, with the growth we expect, we have taken important steps to make sure we are structurally ready to meet this growth. Last quarter, we took the important step to increase our production capacity to meet future demand. We have officially completed our move into our new larger facility in the Phoenix area with new automotive capabilities designed to increase efficiency.

So with that being said, let me turn the call over to Tom to review the financials in more detail and will then make a few closing comments before we turn it over to your questions. Tom?

Thank you, Joel. Let me take a moment to expand on the numbers in the press release and a few points that Joel mentioned in his earlier remarks.

On the revenue line, total revenue for the second (sic) [ third ] quarter was $690,000, which was an increase of 43% from Q3 of last year and up 10% sequentially. Breaking it down further, Evolve revenue increased 77% and accounted for 85% of our third quarter sales.

ContraPest decreased approximately 31% and accounted for 15% of our Q3 sales. While down from a year ago period, ContraPest was basically flat from Q2 as there are still a number of loyal ContraPest customers.

Looking at it from the vertical break in, e-commerce was clearly our largest contributor coming in at 54% of our overall Q3 sales. Overall, e-commerce was up 55% compared to our Q3 of last year and up 6% sequentially. As Joel mentioned, we dialed down unprofitable ad spend over the summer vacation period and re-ramped it up on Labor Day.

We continue to see Amazon growth at double digits monthly. Our second largest vertical is pest management professionals or PMPs, which accounted for 19% of our Q3 sales and was up 29% year-over-year and up 72% sequentially.

Municipal sales, while still a relatively small percentage of total sales, saw a 139% increase from the year ago quarter, driven by new deployments in Chicago and New York. Brick-and-mortar sales were up 254% year-over-year, driven by the expansion of ACE Hardware and Bradley Caldwell. Other contributors during Q3 were in the areas of agribusiness, commercial as well as zoos and sanctuaries.

One item to point out is that we had very nominal revenue during the quarter from international sales. The groundwork has been set, and we simply need to wait for progress in terms of approvals, et cetera. We have communicated previously that this is a process, and we believe we are making good progress.

Turning to gross margins and gross profits as a whole. For the third quarter, gross margins remained strong at 63%. The transition to the new facility will continue to show efficiencies and improvements in gross margins.

Looking at it from a gross profit dollar perspective, gross profit was $433,000 compared to $315,000. More broadly speaking, the higher gross margins of Evolve continue to be a key driver to our improved financial performance.

On the OpEx line, operating expenses were down 4% compared to last year and down 12% sequentially. As Joel mentioned, we had more than $100,000 of extraordinary expenses during the quarter that if removed, would have showed even further OpEx improvements.

We continue to focus on being as efficient as possible within our expense structure, focusing on profitable ad spend and the overall cost structure. The revenue growth, improved gross profit dollars and decreased OpEx resulted in our lowest adjusted EBITDA loss in the company's history as we focus on achieving our goal of profitability.

For the quarter, adjusted EBITDA loss was just $1.2 million and excluding the extraordinary items, would have been $1.1 million. Coinciding with the improved bottom line results is a balance sheet cash balance that has the ability to allow us to reach profitability without proactively raising any additional dilutive capital.

Clearly, the ramp of revenues is the biggest unknown, but at the current sequential pace of growth in gross margin and OpEx structure, there is clearly a path where we do not need to proactively raise additional dilutive capital.

I'll remind everyone that we do have additional capital potential if we need it, including 2.2 million short-term warrants outstanding at $5.25 per share, which, if exercised, would potentially bring in more than $11.4 million, and we have an ATM that is currently dormant.

Let me now turn the call back to Joel. Joel?

Thanks, Tom. The adoption of our Evolve rodent birth control solution continues to be a game-changing solution, which has significantly opened up the addressable market opportunity for us.

We have numerous shots on goal for continued steady sequential growth with outsized opportunities for what I would define as transformational growth that has the ability to quickly catapult us to profitability. We feel very good about our broad approach to expanding adoption of Evolve and the results to date are reaffirming our strategies.

With a large addressable global market that has shown regulatory tailwinds in our favor, a first-mover advantage in rodent birth control, a diverse and scalable go-to-market strategy that is producing results and a lean focused growth strategy which balances revenue growth with operational efficiencies, I couldn't be more excited about the position SenesTech is in today.

As always, I thank you all for your interest in SenesTech. With that, I'm happy to open up the call to questions. Robert, let me turn the call over to you to see if there are any questions in the webcast portal.

Great. Thank you very much, Joel, for your prepared remarks there. [Operator Instructions] All right. We have a few questions here, gentlemen. The first one is, will we see the company's products in Lowe's brick-and-mortar stores?

And I'd say the answer to that is we are in discussions with them. The first step was the e-commerce, and -- but we're also talking to them about doing a test deployment in about 100 stores. So stay tuned. I think the expectations of that would be sometime at the end of Q2.

Okay. Very good. Next question here is, do you have visibility on PMP-driven sales? What kind of growth are you expecting from this channel?

Well, PMP is certainly a key growth channel for us and one of our massive market verticals. We've had 20% -- account for 20% of our sales, which was up significantly over the last quarter and the year ago period.

So we see that growing at significant levels as we go along, as more of the customers, the pest control operators become aware of that birth control is indeed another part of an integrated pest management program. And we're starting to see that by the reorders that we're getting.

All right. Very good. A couple of questions here on e-commerce. I think you addressed some of this in your prepared remarks, but how much of the revenue of the $690,000 was from e-commerce?

Well, it accounted for 54% of our quarterly revenue. That has been consistent with some of the other quarters that we've had in the past.

All right. Expanding on e-commerce here. A question here is Evolve is priced much higher than other rat control products on Amazon. With your big margins, you have lots of room to cut price. Is that part of your sales strategy going forward?

Well, what we did is we've positioned Evolve kind of in the middle of the pricing pack with different rodenticides that are out there. We monitor that closely. And we think that when there's -- the time is right, and we may have to discount a little bit in order to gain some large orders, we're willing to do that. But we're really comfortable where our price point is now. And I think our double-digit growth on Amazon monthly is proof of that.

All right. Very good. Next question here. There's actually a number of international questions. I'll try to summarize a few of these. First off here, could you give just sort of basic general details on your progress in the international markets?

Yes. Great news from New Zealand. We got the official approval for New Zealand. New Zealand has a program where they want to limit out pests by 2050, rodents and a couple of other pests. We got the approval there. We have our distribution set up there.

So we're in the process of working on, okay, what does that order look like that we're shipping to New Zealand. And we have a number of those areas. We have now 18 exclusive distributors who are all working every day to get those country approvals. And it may take a little bit longer than what we would like.

Sometimes in countries, it takes a little bit longer than others. But we know that once we get approvals in the countries that the container load orders are going to follow there. And so we're really excited about that. We're being very patient. And at the same time, we're pressing forward. So we expect many more country approvals over the course of the next 3 months.

All right. Very good. I hope that, that addressed most of the questions that were on here internationally. [Operator Instructions] Next question pertains to the legal expense. Any additional color that can be provided on that?

Tom, do you want to take that? Okay. It looks like Tom is not on. We have some legal expense. We have -- go ahead.

I'm sorry, I had my mute on, sorry about that. Yes, as we've disclosed in our filings, we are being sued by Liphatech, a rodenticide manufacturer that we did some joint research with a while back. They claim we violated our nondisclosure agreement and infringed on their IP.

We can't really comment specifically on the litigation, but I will say this. I mean, their assertions are baseless. It's bordering on ridiculous.

And to some extent, I think the SenesTech and rodent birth control in general is beginning to scare the poison companies. They're now realizing that Evolve may hurt their business, and they're doing what they can to stop us. So I suppose that's a positive signal for our future in a strange way.

All right. Very good. Next question here is, could you give an estimate on how much revenue is expected from recent field trials that started in Somerville and Cambridge? Anything you can add on to that?

Well, I think it's too early to project revenues. All I can say is this is that those trials are going very well and that they're looking for a long-term solution. And we're very confident that as we have the positive results from these trials, that the orders will follow.

It's very similar to the third monthly order in a row from one of the large theme parks. They try it out, they do their own internal work to make sure that it's something they want to use. And then once they realize that this is a way to end infestations, the orders will follow. And we think that there's going to be some really good things coming from both of those areas.

All right. Very good. Well, I am showing no additional questions here or topics. So I guess with that, Joel, I'll go ahead and turn it back over to you for any closing remarks.

Well, thanks, everyone, again for being on the SenesTech earnings call. We've been working hard. I think you can see by the results that a lot of our legwork is starting to pay off, and we're expecting even better things going forward. So thank you for your time and look forward to talking to you again after the post of the year.

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