In a flash note published yesterday, Stifel confirmed that Smart Eye’s Q3 results clearly show it is taking at beating at the hands of the global leader Seeing Machines.
Stifel analyst Peter McNally confirmed what well researched investors already know; that the auto industry is in a tough place, particularly for Smart Eye. Regarding Smart Eye, he commented: “Automotive revenue shows a slight dip (-1.5% q/q) to SEK 32.4m and is therefore similar to last quarter, which was flattish also. Part of the reason for being flattish is a transition away from services (NRE) to licences, which grew 100% y/y to an undisclosed amount.”
For those who still think Smart Eye is a contender for the automotive crown, McNally’s killer punch is that: “On a like-for-like basis, Seeing Machines Automotive revenue (excluding Aerospace) in FY24 was well over $60m versus Smart Eye’s $11.4m (Q323- Q224), so it still looks like Seeing Machines is well ahead.”
According to McNally, two more take-aways from the results were, firstly: “Commentary on growth in Automotive licences is positive saying the growth rate should increase in Q4 and ‘even higher growth in 2025.’ Clearly this suggests that they see adoption is increasing, which is good news for the industry, but we still think they are playing catch up at this stage as their revenues are significantly lower.”
Secondly, “Smart Eye is also suggesting that volumes will pick up in Q4 in Aftermarket, which somewhat agrees with Seeing Machines’ expectation of a ramp in volumes in its fiscal H225 (Jan-Jun 2025).”
Having listened to the Smart Eye presentation, I found the reluctance of the company to state the number of cars on the road with its technology a telling indication that it has been bested in autos by Seeing Machines. Smart Eye once used to boast of having 1m cars on the road but, as Seeing Machines approaches 3m by the end of this calendar year, the Swedish company has yet to announce hitting 2m, preferring to use the opaque terms ‘design wins’ and ‘models’.
Of course, do your own research.
The writer holds stock in Seeing Machines.