Cibus (CBUS) Q2 2026 Earnings Call: Markteinführung von Reis verschiebt sich bei sinkenden Kosten auf 2028

Wichtigste Erkenntnisse

• Der Umsatz im Q2 2026 stieg auf 1,0 Mio. US-Dollar von 0,9 Mio. US-Dollar im Vorjahreszeitraum. Im bisherigen Jahresverlauf wuchs der Umsatz um 35 %, angetrieben durch Kooperationsvereinbarungen im Bereich Sustainable Ingredients.
• Kostensenkungen reduzierten die F&E-Aufwendungen um 3,7 Mio. US-Dollar auf 8,5 Mio. US-Dollar und die Vertriebs- und Verwaltungskosten (SG&A) um 1,2 Mio. US-Dollar auf 5,4 Mio. US-Dollar.
• Der Nettoverlust verringerte sich auf 22,1 Mio. US-Dollar bzw. 0,29 US-Dollar je Aktie der Klasse A, verglichen mit 26,6 Mio. US-Dollar bzw. 0,61 US-Dollar je Aktie im Q2 2025.
• Cibus schloss den Juni mit 20,4 Mio. US-Dollar an liquiden Mitteln ab. Das Management geht davon aus, dass damit der geplante Betrieb sowie Investitionen bis Anfang Q1 2027 finanziert sind, vorbehaltlich potenzieller Finanzierungstransaktionen.
• Die erste kommerzielle Markteinführung von Herbizid-tolerantem Reis in Lateinamerika ist nun für 2028 geplant, verglichen mit dem bisherigen Zeitplan für Ende 2027. Das Management rechnet damit, dass die Lizenzgebühreneinnahmen 2028 beginnen und bis 2029 weiter steigen.
• Das Management schätzt, dass voll kommerzialisierte Partnerschaften für Biofragrances 20 Mio. bis 40 Mio. US-Dollar an jährlichem Umsatz generieren könnten, während das maximale Potenzial für Reislizenzgebühren in Nord- und Südamerika 200 Mio. US-Dollar jährlich übersteigen könnte.

Wichtigste Finanzdaten

Geschäfts- und operative Entwicklung

Sustainable Ingredients

Sustainable Ingredients bleibt die Hauptquelle für die kurzfristigen Plattformumsätze von Cibus. Das Unternehmen erhielt im Q4 2025 seine erste Kundenzahlung und erwartet in der zweiten Hälfte des Jahres 2026 weitere Hochlauf-Bestellungen für seine ersten Biofragrances.

Die kommerzielle Produktion hängt weiterhin vom Abschluss der Skalierung, der Vereinbarung von Lieferkonditionen und Preisen sowie dem Erhalt von Produktionsaufträgen ab. Cibus entwickelt zudem weitere Duftstoff-Inhaltsstoffe unter Verwendung desselben Editierten-Hefe-Verfahrens und treibt ein partnerfinanziertes Sojaöl-Programm voran.

Reis-Trait-Lizenzgebühren

Lateinamerika bleibt der Hauptfokus der Reis-Kommerzialisierungsstrategie von Cibus. Das Unternehmen zählt sieben Saatgutkunden für Reis in Lateinamerika und den USA und verhandelt über potenzielle Programme mit weiteren Unternehmen in Lateinamerika und Indien.

Cibus hat seine Rahmenvereinbarung mit Interoc von zwei auf fünf Reis-Traits erweitert und die Partnerschaft damit eher als breitere Trait-Pipeline statt als Einzellizenz positioniert. Die Testung von editiertem Reismaterial, das an Interoc geliefert wurde, ist im Gange.

Das Management schätzt, dass das Potenzial in Nord- und Südamerika 5 bis 7 Millionen Acres adressierbare Spitzenfläche umfasst. Die Markteinführung für Reis in den USA bleibt für 2029 geplant, vorbehaltlich des Zeitplans für die Herbizidregistrierung des Partners.

Breitere Nutzpflanzen-Plattform

Cibus hat die Regeneration aus Einzelzellen bei acht Nutzpflanzen nachgewiesen: Reis, Raps, Weizen, Flachs, Erdnuss, Kartoffel, Zuckerrübe und Maniok. Weitere Plattformen, darunter Soja, befinden sich weiterhin in der Entwicklung.

Das Unternehmen rechnet damit, im Q3 2026 editiertes Rapsmaterial aus seiner Nährstoffeffizienz-Kooperation (Nutrient Use Efficiency) mit dem John Innes Centre zu versenden. Zudem baut es Feldversuche zur Reduzierung von Schotenplatzern in Großbritannien aus und berichtete, dass Versuche zur Raps-Herbizidtoleranz der zweiten Generation das erwartete Toleranzniveau reproduzieren.

Zu den regulatorischen Entwicklungen gehörten neue EU-Vorschriften für Pflanzen, die ohne fremde DNA optimiert wurden, Entscheidungen zur Gleichstellung mit konventioneller Züchtung für Reis-Traits von Cibus in Ecuador und Peru sowie der Abschluss der FDA-Prüfung für sein Alfalfa-Trait mit verändertem Ligningehalt.

Prognose des Managements

• Die vorhandenen liquiden Mittel reichen voraussichtlich aus, um die geplanten Betriebsausgaben und Investitionen bis Anfang Q1 2027 zu finanzieren, unter Ausschluss möglicher Finanzierungstransaktionen.
• Cibus strebt beim Ausstieg aus dem Jahr 2026 eine hochgerechnete Netto-Mittelabflussrate von etwa 35 Mio. US-Dollar oder weniger an.
• Weitere Hochlauf-Bestellungen für Biofragrances werden für die zweite Hälfte des Jahres 2026 erwartet.
• Es wird erwartet, dass die Lizenzgebühren für Reis in Lateinamerika 2028 einsetzen und sich bis 2029 weiter aufbauen, wenn die Anbaufläche und die Kundenakzeptanz steigen.
• Das Management plant, den Abbau von Nicht-Kernkosten fortzusetzen und gleichzeitig in Technologie, KI und Personal zu investieren, die mit priorisierten Kommerzialisierungsprogrammen in Zusammenhang stehen.

Risiken und Beobachtungspunkte

• Die Markteinführung von Reis in Lateinamerika hat sich von Ende 2027 auf 2028 verschoben, was den Beginn des erwarteten Anstiegs der Lizenzgebühren verzögert.
• Die aktuelle Liquiditätsreichweite reicht nur bis Anfang Q1 2027 und versteht sich vor Berücksichtigung möglicher Finanzierungstransaktionen.
• Die Kommerzialisierung von Biofragrances erfordert eine erfolgreiche Produktion im vollen Maßstab, vereinbarte Preise und Lieferkonditionen sowie Produktionsaufträge von Kunden.
• Die Markteinführung für Reis in den USA hängt vom Zeitplan des Partners für die Herbizidregistrierung ab.
• Der neue Regulierungsrahmen der EU ist in eine zweijährige Umsetzungsphase eingetreten, was trotz der positiven Einschätzung der Regeln durch das Management zu Umsetzungs- und Zeitplanüberlegungen führt.

Highlights der Fragerunde mit Analysten

• Trait-Pipeline-Modell: Das Management gab an, dass tiefere Beziehungen zu ausgewählten Saatgutunternehmen den Einsatz beschleunigen und breitere Chancen schaffen könnten, indem mehrere Traits über das gesamte Zuchtportfolio eines Partners geliefert werden.
• Nutzung von Hybrid-Reis: Cibus plant auf Basis des breiteren Potenzials von 5 bis 7 Millionen Acres in Lateinamerika und kombiniert hybridfokussierte Partner mit Kunden, die konventionelle Sorten bedienen.
• Positionierung in Europa: Das Unternehmen gab an, in Europa über Personal für Geschäftsentwicklung mit jahrzehntelanger Erfahrung in der Saatgutbranche zu verfügen, zusammen mit Partnerschaften wie der Kooperation mit dem John Innes Centre.
• Expansion von Sustainable Ingredients: Das Management beschrieb Biofragrances als erste kommerzielle Anwendung, betonte jedoch, dass die Plattform auch andere Spezialöle und -verbindungen unterstützt, einschließlich potenzieller Alternativen zu Palmkernöl.
• Mittelabfluss: Das Management führte das Ziel einer Netto-Mittelabflussrate von etwa 35 Mio. US-Dollar zum Jahresende auf anhaltende Einsparungen, Standortkonsolidierung und gezielte Investitionen in Technologie, KI und Personal zur Unterstützung der Kommerzialisierung zurück.

Vollständiges Transkript der Telefonkonferenz zu den Quartalszahlen

Vollständiges Transkript der Telefonkonferenz

Ausführungen des Managements

Operator

Thank you for your continued patience. Your meeting will begin shortly. If you need assistance at any time, please press star zero and a member of our team will be happy to help you. Thank you for your continued patience. Your meeting will begin shortly. In the meantime, please press star zero, and a member of our team will be happy to help Please stand by. Your meeting is about to begin. Good afternoon and welcome to the CBIS second quarter 2026 earnings call. All participants will be in a listen-only mode.

After today's presentation, there will be an opportunity to ask questions. Please also note, today's event is being recorded. At this time, I would like to turn the conference call over to Carlo Bruce, Interim Chief Financial Officer. Sir, please go ahead.

Unknown Speaker

Thank you and good afternoon. I would like to thank you for taking the time to join us for CBIS second quarter 2026 financial results and business update conference call and webcast. Presenting with me today is Craig Wischner, our Chief Executive Officer, and Peter Beetham, Co-Founder, President, and Chief Operating Officer. Greg Gochel, Chief Scientific Officer, is available to participate during the Q&A portion of the call. Before we begin the call, I'd like to remind everyone that statements made on the call and webcast, including those regarding future financial results and future operational goals and industry prospects, are forward-looking and may be subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in the call. in the call. Please refer to CBIS SEC filings for a list of associated risks. The conference call is being webcast. The webcast link, along with our press release and corporate presentation, are available on the investor relations section of CBIS.com to assist you in your analysis of our business.

And with that, I would like to turn the call now.

Craig Wichner

over to Craig. Thank you, Carlo, and good afternoon, everyone. This is my first earnings call as CEO, and I want to start with why I'm here. SEBAS has built something rare over 25 years. I joined the SEBAS board because the technology and the people are world class. And I accepted the job of CEO because I believe we can generate revenue at scale. That is my mission. I studied biochemistry and molecular biology at UC San Diego in the city where our labs are today, and I've spent more than 30 years building technology companies and managing investments. Over the last 17 of those years, I've managed organic and regenerative farmland on behalf of investors, where we drove higher returns on assets through the implementation of technology and smarter farming practices.

And we now have over $400 million of pristine cropland in Washington State, California, and Oregon. i know firsthand the pressures that growers are under fertilizer costs more than it used to and every grower i know is looking for a way to get more out of what they can afford that is who cebus serves a grower works with what is in front of them equipment water chemistry better practices in the field The seed is at the top of that list. It is the first decision of the season and the one you cannot take back. And it sets the ceiling that everything else is working towards. Breed innovation has been remarkable in corn and soybeans. For most other crops, it has been far slower because breeding takes years and is unpredictable. Every crop in the world is the product of plant breeding. And at Sebus, we make that part fast and precise.

Tebas is a technology company. We have an IP-protected platform that lets us make precise improvements to seeds and do it in a fraction of the time conventional breeding takes. Think of the genome as information, and think of our platform as the way we turn that information into better outcomes for farmers quickly and efficiently. and precisely. That speed is what our partners pay for. It lowers their development costs and puts their products in the market sooner. What we have built is an iterative and scalable platform. The work we do and the tools and the know-how behind it carry from one program to the next. When we develop a trade in one crop, we are not starting from scratch the next time.

We are building on what we already know, and each program costs less than the last one did. For our partners, that advantage compounds too. It can put them a generation or two ahead of their competition within a decade. This capability is what informs our path ahead. Because the platform is scalable, it allows us to be nimble as we assess market and customer needs. That is the most important idea I want to leave with you today, because it is how I want you to understand CBIS going forward. The same platform, the same foundational work creates value across our business in three ways.

The first is the revenue we are generating today through platform programs where we make edits for partners and share in the value created. Our sustainable ingredients work is the clearest example, and while it is still in the scaling phase, it drove a 35% increase in our revenue year to date. The second is our trait royalty business. This is what we are pursuing with rice, for example, where we earn a royalty on every acre planted with our traits. It begins to scale with our commercial launches, starting in Latin America, and it compounds over time as adoption grows. The third is deepening those same partnerships over time. What we offer a partner is a pipeline of traits, higher yields, resistance to disease, better quality crops for their own customers.

Not one edit in one crop, but a steady supply of improvements across their portfolio. As those relationships mature, we become an extension of their breeding program, and the trust we earn in the first two tiers is what makes that reachable for us. This framework for how we think about and operate our business provides us with the optionality and allows us to match the right model to each market opportunity. In row crops, where a small number of large seed companies dominate, the rational approach is to license our traits to that industry and earn royalties on every acre planted. We become a technology partner that accelerates their pipeline. For partners who are set up to work with us directly, we contract for platform access. As those relationships mature and partners open up their product development roadmaps to CBIS, that partnership deepens.

That is what the scalability of our platform gives us, the flexibility to leverage a singular project into a broader opportunity. set that may cover an entire crop or ingredient strategy in a time-bound, predictable, and resource-efficient manner. Again, I joined the SEBAS board nine months ago, so I came in knowing the company. Over the past two months as CEO, my conviction has grown. I've spent most of my time with our teams, and what I've found is traits and programs built up over 25 years across many crops, much of it closer to product than most people would expect. Peter will take you through where those stand. I am reviewing every program, every expense, and every opportunity with a simple lens. What drives near-term revenue, what strengthens the balance sheet, and what unlocks the value we have already built? We will run this company with capital discipline.

We are prioritizing resource allocation and increasing our investment in technology and AI to make our team more productive. Before I hand it over, I want to thank Peter for welcoming me to the team and for the capabilities he continues to add to it as President and Chief Operating Officer. Peter is a co-founder of this company, and he has led it through multiple phases of growth. My plan builds directly on the foundation that he and many other members of the company have built. the team created. With that, let me hand it to Peter to walk through our commercial progress. Peter?.

Peter Beetham

Thanks, Craig, and good afternoon, everyone. It is great to have Craig step in to lead Seavis as our new CEO. We are really fortunate here to have a farming industry leader, a scientist and a financier to lead SEBAS to the next level. I want to spend my time building on what Craig said by showing you how his vision supports our near-term commercial interests this quarter and how those approaches can translate to the amazing opportunities ahead of us as we work to deepen our industry partnerships. If I distill the quarter into one idea, it is that the conversations we described earlier this year are converting into commercial steps. Seed companies are coming to us not for a single edit in a single crop, but for an ongoing relationship where SeedBus functions as an editing engine across their breeding programs. What does that mean in practice? We are delivering value for customers in ways that weren't possible before.

A seed company brings us its own elite variety. We edit it and return it improved in that same variety. We have now done that repeatedly repeatedly. and across crops. We previously improved 10 customers' canola and winter oilseed rate lines with six returns. We've transferred our herbicide tolerance traits into elite rice germplasm. We've delivered three improved rice lines to a United States customer. And we've edited rights material and delivered it back to our first Latin American customer, Interrock.

Every one of those represents the building blocks of value and our goal is to confirm the 12-month turnaround of edits for all crops, just as we've done in canola. So let me go deeper into our two priority near-term programs, sustainable ingredients and rice. In Craig's framing, these are the first two tiers. The standard ingredients is generating platform program revenue today, and rice is a trade royalty business that scales when our customer launches in the field. Starting with sustainable ingredients, which continues to generate R&D revenue, this program includes gene-engineered yeast to produce oils that consumer product companies need. For instance, take fragrance ingredients, the molecules that give a product its scent. made in a fermenter rather than pumped from petroleum or extracted from harvested plants. This program is generating revenue and it is a proof point for the platform model.

We received our first customer payment from this program in the fourth quarter of 2025. We're now in a commercial ramp-up phase with our consumer product partner. Revenue steps up when four things happen in order. First, our partner confirms the ingredient performs in their product. Second, we produce it at full commercial scale. Third, we agree supply terms and pricing. And fourth, our partner places commercial production orders.

We are past the first. We continue to expect additional scale-up orders of our initial biofragrances in the second half of 2026. are also developing additional fragrance ingredients using a similar edited yeast and the same process that produced the first biofragrances. Each one starts from work we have already done, so it reaches the partner faster than the preceding product did. The opportunity here is meaningful. When fully commercialized, we believe our biofragrance partnerships could represent up to a $20 to $40 million annual revenue opportunity to Sebus. Just as important, this revenue is a near-term bridge that builds while our expected rice royalty ramps. And it demonstrates something I think is underappreciated. The same core capability that develops herbicide tolerance in rice is creating commercial value in the consumer products industry. One platform, multiple markets. We also continue to advance our Loric Oils program in soybean, funded by our Consumer Packaged Goods Partner.

It is the second partner-funded program inside Sustainable Ingredients, running on the same soybean platform we are building for other traits. Turning to rice, Latin America is the primary thrust of our near-term rice efforts, and it represents the bulk of the roughly $200 million annual addressable royalty opportunity across the Americas. over a combined 5 to 7 million peak addressable acres. As we've shared previously, we have seven rice seed company customers across Latin America and the United States, and we continue to advance discussions with additional seed companies in Latin America and India. We are updating our guidance on initial commercial launch timing for rice in Latin America from late 2027 to 2028. With our customer Federos on track and our customer Interox strategically focusing on hybrid varieties with the potential to be used in the future. for a limited launch in 2028 as well. During the quarter, we advanced development on both of our rice herbicide tolerance traits, including field trials of an improved first-generation trait, and worked to identify the specific genetic changes responsible for dramatically increasing herbicide tolerance and seed fertility in that trait. Importantly, testing of the traits we transferred to Interrock's rice seed in May is underway.

In August, we expanded our framework with Interoc from two rice traits to five. That This changes the shape of the relationship as we continue toward a definitive commercial agreement. Instead of licensing one trait into a customer's variety, we're working toward being a trait pipeline powering their varieties. That is the model we intend to build with C-Companies, and it is why we say speed is our product. In the United States, our launch is paired with our partner All Bars herbicide registration timeline, and our current planning targets a 2029 launch. That work towards this launch remains on track. Beyond our two priority programs, the same platform is generating interest across a broader set of crops and trades.

SEBAS has demonstrated regeneration from single cells toward enabling crop platforms in eight crops. Rice, canola, wheat, flax, peanut, potato, sugar beet and cassava and additional crop platforms including soybean are in development. This is where Craig's third tier begins to take shape. Taking this work and the operational platforms we've built to existing partnerships to determine where we can accelerate their innovations. These conversations are developing in part because of a harmonising regulatory environment, which has put the whole industry back into focus. Nutrient Use Efficiency is our program with the John Innes Centre, a leading plant science institute in the United Kingdom. The work is focused on how the roots of a plant take up the nutrients in its environment. and it targets the whole fertilizer package rather than nitrogen alone.

We expect to send them edited canola material in the third quarter of this year. And to reinforce our single-trait, multi-crop approach, this trait has potential application across rice, wheat and canola. We have two canola programs in the United Kingdom. The first is Resistance to the Light Leaf Spot, a fungal disease that erodes canola yields in Europe. And that work is funded by a UK government research program run by DEFRA, the British Agricultural Department. The second is also a yield enhancer that targets pod shadow reduction, which keeps seed pods from splitting open and dropping their seed before harvest. Following two years of encouraging field trials in England in our customers' own varieties, pod shatter reduction is moving to expanded trialling there.

It will be planted under Britain's new precision breeding rules, which apply in England to treat gene-added crops the same as conventional. ones. One more result from our canola work. Our second generation herbicide tolerance trait has progressed and this year's trials are repeating the level of tolerance to the HT2 herbicide we would expect for a novel weed management solution. Solutions for managing hard to control weeds in canola provide farmers with important options. can help to reduce the total herbicide package needed that in turn reduce cost and chemical usage. The takeaway is that our platform is performing across multiple crops and increasingly complex traits, and every one of these programs is available for partnership. Together, they represent the optionality Craig described. Finally, the regulatory environment continues to work in our favour at a moment when it matters.

In June, the European Union finalised new rules that generally treat most crops improved without adding foreign DNA the same as conventionally bred crops rather than as GMOs. Those rules entered into force in July and now enter a two-year implementation period. This is a milestone for our industry and the recognition comes from one of the world's largest and most stringent agricultural markets. States like Disease Resistance and our pod shadow reduction work in canola and oilseed rape are expected to qualify under the same conventional breeding treatment. Our first planned submission under the new framework is pod shadow reduction in winter oilseed rape. Within Latin America, Ecuador and Peru have both confirmed that our first and second generation herbicide-tolerant rice traits are equivalent to those developed through conventional breeding. Separately, the United States Food and Drug Administration has completed its review of our altered lignin alfalfa trait and issued a letter stating it has no further questions.

In the United States, USDA APHIS has determined that our traits are not regulated articles, subject to its biotechnology regulations. Those decisions span now three continents and they underpin the launch timelines I've described today. And with that, let me hand it back to Carlo for the financial review. Carlo?.

Unknown Speaker

Thank you, Peter. Looking at our financials for the second quarter, cash and cash equivalents as of June 30, 2026, was 20.4 million. We were pleased that our quarterly cash usage declined approximately 19% on a sequential basis and 31% on a year-over-year basis. taking into account the impact of implemented cost-saving initiatives, and without giving effect to potential financing transactions that CBIS may pursue from time to time, we expect that existing cash and cash equivalents are sufficient to fund planned operating expenses and capital expenditure requirements into early in the first quarter of the next year. quarter of 2027. Moving to our operating results for the second quarter, revenue was 1 million for the quarter compared to 0.9 million in the year-ago period. the $6 million against $2 million, an increase of 35% earned under our collaboration agreements for the Sustainable Ingredients Program. The figures are small today and the trajectory is the point. Research and development was 8.5 million compared to 12.2 million in the year-ago period. The decrease of 3.7 million is primarily due to the cost reduction initiatives. SG&A expense was $5.4 million compared to $6.6 million in the year-ago period.

The decrease of $1.2 million is primarily due to the same cost reductions. Combined, RM&D and SG&A operating expenses declined by nearly $5 million year-over-year. It's also worth noting what sits below the operating lines. Non-cash royalty liability interest expense to related parties was 9.5 million for the quarter compared to 8.7 million in the year-ago period, reflecting interest accruing on the royalty liability balance. That is the largest single driver of the gap between our operating loss and our net loss. These reductions reflect the cost discipline that is now central to how we run the company. As Craig noted, the team is conducting a thorough review of our cost structure and capital allocation, and we'll plan to share more on our next call.

Non-operating income, net, was income of 0.2 million, compared to a nominal expense in the year-ago period. The increase is driven by partner funding for work she has performed and the fair value adjustment of the company's liability-classified common warrants. Net loss was $22.1 million for the quarter, compared to $26.6 million in the year-ago period. Net loss per share of class A common stock of 29 cents compared to 61 cents in the year ago period. The improvement of 32 cents is primarily driven by the cost reductions I described, as well as a year-over-year increase in weighted average shares outstanding. With respect to our net cash usage, we are now targeting a net cash usage run rate exiting 2026 of approximately 35 million, reflecting continued cost discipline while making additional investments geared toward growth initiatives such as technology and personnel. Now I would like to give you some added color on how we expect the RISE Royalty streams to build. scale with acres planted, so the ramp follows our commercial launch.

As our Latin American seed partners bring traded rice to the market, we expect royalties to start flowing in 2028 and to build further through 2029 as adoption expands into additional acres and additional customers. To put that in context, at peak volumes across our combined rice acreage opportunity, we have described a royalty opportunity of over 200 million annually. Heading from the first acres planted in 2028 to that scale is a multi-year ramp, and we will continue to update you on our progress in our quarterly updates. The bigger picture is straightforward. Our cost discipline is showing up in the numbers. Our near-term revenue is building in the first two tiers Craig described. The platform programs we have in place today and the potential of the Rise Royalty business as it scales in the coming years. are all oriented towards Craig's vision of strengthening our financial foundation with sound strategy. And with that, let me now turn it back to Craig for his closing remarks.

Craig Wichner

Thank you, Carlo. CBIS is a rare technology protected by more than 500 patents and patent applications and validated through demanding regulatory pathways with a clear path to value across the three tiers I described. Eight platform programs, a royalty business that scales with Rice, and deepening partnerships. Our team is a great partner. job is to execute against that framework, and that is exactly what this team is focused on. I took this job because I believe this platform can generate revenue at scale. That belief has not changed. With that, operator, let's take some questions.

Operator

Thank you. If you would like to ask a question, please press star 1 on your keypad. To leave the queue at any time, press star 2. Once again, that is star and 1 to ask a question. And we will pause for a moment to allow everyone a chance to join the queue. We'll take our first question from Matthew Venezia with AGP Alliance Global Partners. Please go ahead. Your line is open.

Fragen und Antworten

Matthew Venezia

Hey guys, thanks for taking our questions and congrats on the progress this quarter. I was wondering if you could speak a little bit more on the model of becoming sort of a trait machine for specific seed companies, rather than licensing your traits to big agricultural conglomerates and what the economics.

Craig Wichner

and moat you guys have there are. Great. Hey Matt, thanks so much for joining. Thanks for your question. This is Craig Wishner here. The question was the trait machine pushing forward with the trade machine on a more focused basis rather than just broadly across the enterprise. We are certainly continuing to provide our technology and our solutions across the industry. What we're adding here is the ability to really provide a competitive advantage for specific key partners in specific geographies by crop and partner. What we're – Interoc, for example, in rice, we have a nice broad platform of – on the technology.

We have a number of partners in the market and in the crop, and what Interoc is excited about. to have a pipeline of traits going into rice to really give them a strong competitive advantage for that. That allows us to really focus our efforts and give a lot of value to specific partners. It's our belief is that this will both accelerate the deployment and the partnerships with our company, as well as broaden the market opportunity as well, really creating a closer relationship with the key companies.

Matthew Venezia

Great thanks Craig and then just 1 more if I could. What is the prevalence of hybrid rice in Latin America? I know this is a much more stable source of recurring revenue. How many acres are out there that you guys model in the geographies that you are looking to enter in 2028?.

Peter Beetham

Thanks, Matt. This is Peter. Let me take that question because I think, you know, one, you know, 2026 has been a really exciting year for us to see our colifidin tolerance rights in the field again and our partners getting a chance to see it in multiple geographies and the excitement around that trait because it's working so well. And that's been great to see and I think that where they're looking when you look at the Latin American market that has primarily been inbred or conventional varieties. is moving and they'd love to move even faster to a hybrid seed production. So you put that together with an expansion of what we're doing in deepening our relationships as part of Craig's vision. with Interoc and others, but also the ability to sort of look at the trade and go, wow, this is great. We want to get this on as many acres and market, penetrate that market really well. So, you know, right now, if you look at major crops around the world, they're all heading in the direction of hybrids. So corn has led the way. Wheat is coming right now. Canola has always been there.

And now we're seeing rice globally have the same impact. So when we model acres, see the gross acreage in that five to seven million acres coming forward with hybrids penetrating that marketplace. So you know we're working with other partners like Federal Rose that are more on the inbred side, a variety side, so it'll advance our moment greatly. Great. Thank you, Peter. And thanks, guys, for taking my questions.

Operator

Thanks, Beth. Thank you. And once again, that is SARN1 on your telephone keypad if you would like to join the queue. We will move next with Samir Yoshi with HC Wainwright. Please go ahead. Your line is open.

Sameer Joshi

Hey, good afternoon. Thanks for taking my call, Greg, Peter, Carlo. Congrats on all the progress. And congrats especially on the EU opportunity that is opening up. You mentioned, I think in your prepared remarks, a two-year implementation period. question is do you have sort of people on the ground to influence that process or how is it being managed so that you will be prepared when when things are ready to go.

Peter Beetham

Let me take that question. This is Peter. Because it's such an important question and as you know, we've, as a company, we've We've been following the EU legislation for many years and very closely. A number of industry groups like EuroSeeds and the American Seed Trade Association have have been great advocacy groups for that legislation. And I can tell you already, you know, since the vote, we've had a number of interactions already on the discussion points around the implementation. So there's, you know, I've been to Brussels already and given presentations. We're invited to a number of other conferences in the next few months, and this is helping the DG Santee, which is the group that will drive the administration as part of the commission.

Operator

uh and for the interruption this is the operator we are experiencing technical difficulties please remain on the Thank you. difficulties please remain on the line Thank you. And by the interruption, this is the operator. We are currently experiencing technical difficulties. Please remain on the line. Your meeting will resume shortly. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you for your patience. We are currently experiencing technical difficulties. Please remain on the line. Your meeting will resume shortly.

Thank you. And your line has reconnected. Please proceed with the program.

Unknown Speaker

We want to know where we dropped off. Yes. Can you help us?.

Sameer Joshi

I understand where we dropped off. I apologize. Yes, this is Sameer. I think you were explaining your progress in the European countries, how you are positioned there.

Unknown Speaker

Did you get the answer from Craig on understanding that we have people on the ground?.

Unknown Speaker

I do not think we reached. I think Peter you were speaking. Okay.

Peter Beetham

So why don't you continue? So let me continue on then. I apologize, everybody. The... I'm sure you heard my excitement over the European regulatory, but I think one of the things the question was asking how we're going to influence the implementation phase. I can assure you that we actually have people on the ground there in Europe. I'm going to let Carlo talk to that. but I think that it's important to understand that we do have clear implications from our own team in Europe and experience. So Carlo, why don't you add to that? Yes, thank you for the question. And being from Europe,.

Unknown Speaker

I want to confirm, and I think important to realize, that we have a handful of people. working in Europe, business development people, and all of them have worked for the seed companies in Europe for decades. So we're super close to our European seed partners.

Craig Wichner

And I'll just add regarding that, that, for example, we have a partnership with John Innes regarding the institute, regarding the nitrogen use efficiency, which is really, to me, a poster child of the opportunity within the year. European Union. This trait helps plants create a better, healthier soil environment for them, increases nitrogen use efficiency, other nutrient use efficiency, a healthier soil biology environment. This is the kind of trait that we can extend into multiple crops across all of our platforms. And to me, it really represents the promise of regenerative agriculture and Sebas's technology. So we're, we already have a footprint in there. We have great relationships in place. Board members with great experience in the European seed industry.

So it really feels that we are really on the fast track with the regulatory changes and the relationships that we already have in place.

Sameer Joshi

Thanks everyone for that. We are tracking the John in this. progress with you guys. Just one more from me for the sustainable ingredients and bio fragrances, I think you characterize the market or your peak opportunity as 20 to 40 million revenues. Are there other non bio fragrance specialty sustainable ingredient that are being targeted or is that only going to be limited to the bio fragrances right now?.

Craig Wichner

So the sustainable ingredients is very much of a broad platform. And I think about it basically scaling from one microbe to 100 million acres. And it really crosses from across the species to a unique microbe that we're working with on the biofragrance side up to being able to deploy this in plants. And it's specifically around making unique compounds. within these crops using the plant's own mechanisms basically for producing oils, for example. The initial commercialized applications are biofragrance now. It's validated commercially and we're generating revenues and moving forward with that. That will expand rapidly. we are working with partners on other uses, particularly on the palm palm, Kernel Oil as a great platform for sustainable ingredients.

We'll be talking more about that as well. There are other opportunities in that sector, in those sectors. It's a deep opportunity that we're looking forward to. We'll be rolling out more about that in the coming quarters.

Sameer Joshi

It's very interesting and congrats again on all the progress. I'll step back in the queue.

Operator

Thanks for your questions. Thank you. And at this time, there are no further questions in queue. I will now turn the meeting back to management. Actually, we do have a follow-up from Samir Yoshe. Please go ahead. Your line is open.

Sameer Joshi

Hey, I, because no one else is there, I thought I could ask this cash burn question. I think in the previous quarter, it was expected to be less than 30 million over the next 12 months, it is now around 35 million. And I do understand there's additional technology and personnel being added, but can you just give us like qualitatively some description of what these changes are?.

Unknown Speaker

Thank you for the question. This is a super important subject to me, so I appreciate. I bet you've heard that we have been improving, right? So we have a decline quarter over quarter, year over year on our net cash usage, so I'm happy with that. So as we speak, As we speak, we're moving forward as planned to approximately 9 million cash usage for the quarter. with that to exit 2026 on a approximately 35 million or less net annualized cash usage. And that was exactly what you said. Still a few things need to happen, like finishing off the consolidation of our facilities. And that is just to confirm that we're trying to save on expenses where we can. So that is still main priority, save where we can.

But at the same time, we also recognize that we need to spend a little bit more on technology and on people. And that is all geared towards our priority programs, as we've talked about before, but also to bolster the opportunities we see in our pipeline. And with that, I refer to what Craig said, that there is a lot available for the future, just spending a little bit more time. Just to enable that, if that makes sense. Yes. I'll ask you.

Sameer Joshi

Go ahead. Do you want to have Paul? No, I was just going to say that rather than spend, I would characterize it as an investment. So it's actually a good thing. Thanks.

Craig Wichner

Yes. So that's exactly right. We are continuing to focus on driving non-core costs down. And you'll see some additional cost savings that happen in the coming quarters as well. And at the same time, we are identifying those areas that we can put some capital into that deliver significant long-term value and help drive growth for less than the cost of an FTE. For example, we rolled out AI to everyone in the company here, and that's already delivering very significantly. results on a qualitative basis and we'll be quantifying those values going forward. But there's a lot of basically transformation that's happening in the company. We have a very clear drive towards commercialization and generating revenues. This is a real growth opportunity.

The sector and the opportunity is extraordinary. The potential that CBUS has is very significant and we wanna capture that opportunity. We're going to do it in a very smart way, in a very cost efficient way. We're focused on driving near term revenues of the company and managing costs and taking advantage, full advantage of this opportunity. So again, we'll be talking more about that going forward. This is, I think I've been here 66 days. So we're, I think we made a good start, but there's still a bit more to go.

Sameer Joshi

Yes, no, thanks for that, Keller, and congrats on your first quarterly call, and good luck. Thanks.

Operator

Thank you. Thank you. And at this time, we have reached our allotted time for questions. I will now turn the call back over to management for closing comments.

Craig Wichner

Great. Well, I just want to thank the management team here for welcoming me, for having built a really extraordinary company. This is an honor and a privilege, and it's tremendously fun. It's been an incredible – to actually join the company and see everything that we're doing here. is amazing and I want to share that with the investors who have followed the company and supported the company all this time because what's under the covers is really interesting and we'll be rolling that out more in the coming quarter. I... I think you'll see that the management team is transparent. We're excited and we're all committed towards really unlocking the power of SEBAS and agriculture. And we really appreciate your support. So, with that, thank you very much, and we look forward to talking with you soon.

Operator

Thank you. This brings us to the end of today's meeting. We appreciate your time and participation.

This live transcript is auto-generated without human intervention or review.

[Call has ended.]