FREMONT, Calif., May 02, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Complete Solaria, Inc. ("Complete Solaria" or the "Company") (NASDAQ:CSLR) today published its Q1'24 results, to be presented via webcast today, May 2, 2024 at 5:00 p.m. EDT. Interested parties may access the webcast by registering here, or by visiting: https://investors.completesolaria.com/news-events/events. Q1'24 and Q2'24 forecast summary (based on non-GAAP results unless noted): Q1'24 revenue was $10.0 million, half of Q4'23, despite our $17.8 million backlog The revenue drop is due to a shortage of working capital to buy panels The working capital crunch is due to the unresolved loan situation with Carlyle Q2'24 revenue will also be limited by working capital to the $8-11 million range Gross margin was 24% – despite 2x reduced revenue – with Q2'24 forecast at >30% Headcount is now sustainable at 109 employees, down from 428 in June ‘23 All remaining employees have now been awarded retention stock options Q1'24 opex is $5.5 million (peak Q2'23, $12.9 million) with Q2'24 forecast at $3.6 million Sales commissions dropped to 31% from 38% in Q4'23 Our January '24 $5.0 million equity funding will cover operations to July ‘24 Fellow Shareholders:Our revenue, earnings and cashflow for Q1'24 and Q4'23 are given below, compared with prior-quarter Q3'23 actual results. See our 10K filing (here) for the 2023 full-year report. 1. Reconciliation to GAAP attached. 2. Includes funding of $19,500 in Q3'23 (deSPAC), $8,145 in Q4'23 (Maxeon asset acquisition), $5,000 in Q4'23 (TJR Equity), and $5,000 in Q1'24 (TJR Equity). We are reporting two quarters here because while our 10K filing met SEC reporting deadlines, it was close enough to the end of Q1'24 that we decided to combine reports. 2023 was our first full year report, which relied on a physical audit, as well as audits of the prior years 2020, 2021 and 2022. The good news is we are now fully SEC compliant. The bad news is that all these audit fees cost us $5.54 million in 2023, a cost we expect to be below $1.9 million in 2024. The four blue circles in the financial data illustrate the benefits of our vigorous cost reductions. Despite the working capital crunch that cut revenue in half from $20.7 million in Q4'23 to $10.0 million in Q1'24, we also cut our operating losses in half – from ($12.2) million in Q4'23 to ($6.2) million in Q1'24 – because our cost-reduction measures more than compensated for the lower revenue. The red circles show that with only $10 million in revenue in Q1'24, we achieved 24% gross margin – about the same as the 25% gross margin we posted six months earlier in Q3'23 – but on $24.6 million or 2.5 times the revenue. Organization ChangesOn April 29, the Company announced that T.J. Rodgers would assume the role of CEO (here) to drive fund raising and M&A. The board thanked prior CEO Chris Lundell for his stewardship during hard times. He will also remain on the board. Various press releases clearly state (here) Rodgers's objectives as CEO: "I'm not willing to work for Carlyle for free anymore – in fact, I'm not willing to work for Carlyle at all." "I will step down as CEO when one of two endpoints occurs: success, when we are on a solid economic footing and growing rapidly – or failure, when I believe that the chokehold our private equity debt holders have on us will prevent the Company from ever being successful." The Company named CFO Brian Wuebbels, who also holds an MBA and a degree in mechanical engineering, as its new COO. The Company is currently searching for a new CFO to work in its Salt Lake City headquarters. During the quarter, Complete Solaria re-organized into three product lines that run all operations. They are California, Rest of U.S. (ROUS), and New Homes & Starbucks (for whom the Company has upgraded 33 outlets in the U.S. and has another 42 contracts). Starbucks Solar Awning Rodgers said, "My semiconductor experience taught me that driving companies with a product-line organization is the best way to get employees involved in the business. To do this requires a change to a more complicated matrix organization structure, which we have installed, but is still embryonic." As shown below, the Company made its final reduction to 109 employees in Q1'24 for both cost cutting and efficiency reasons. We have installed a business process called "the requisition auction" that requires CEO approval to add each new employee after a staff meeting debate on which VP needs a new employee the most. Even at the reduced $10.0 million revenue level achieved in Q1'24, Complete Solaria's annualized revenue of $367,000 per employee per year compares very favourably to that of much bigger solar companies – and there is ample room to double that figure. Rodgers stated, "Our employees now hold stock options, granted using a formal merit-based ranking system, with a potential option gain that is designed to be significant to each individual. Silicon Valley dominates the S&P 500 (nine of the top 10, counting Microsoft) because its employees are significant owners of their companies, not because there are a lot of billionaires there. Yet, with its literal trillions of dollars, New York's highest ranked company on the S&P 500 is J.P. Morgan, a 153-year-old company ranked at No. 11. I believe that amazing fact is due to the strategy of N.Y. private equity firms to ruthlessly drive high-interest loans (our Carlyle loan agreements contained 84 and 55 pages), contrasted with the strategy of Silicon Valley venture firms to fund entrepreneurs, help them grow and not only tolerate but expect broad and significant employee stock ownership." Fab Inventory Down to Target of 2000 Jobs – Fab Cycle Time Down 3xThe Fab inventory graph ...