노티커스 로보틱스(KITT) 2026년 2분기 실적 발표회: 방산 및 ToolKITT에 초점

핵심 요약

• 해양 프로젝트가 지연됨에 따라 2026년 2분기 매출은 전 분기 대비 70만 달러 증가했지만, 2025년 2분기 대비로는 120만 달러 감소한 90만 달러를 기록했습니다.
• 순손실은 주로 출자전환에 따른 비현금성 손실로 인해 2026년 1분기 930만 달러 및 전년 동기 740만 달러에서 1,110만 달러로 확대되었습니다.
• 노티커스 로보틱스는 추가적인 출자전환을 통해 미상환 부채를 550만 달러 감축했습니다. 분기 말 현금은 200만 달러로, 2025년 말의 760만 달러에서 감소했습니다.
• ROV용 노티커스 툴키트(Nauticus ToolKITT)는 성공적인 고객 배포를 거쳐 에너지 분야 선단 운용사와 방산 그룹을 대상으로 공식 판매 출시되었습니다.
• 경영진은 자동화로 창출되는 마진 이점을 유지하기 위한 고정가격 계약을 추진하는 한편, 방산, 정부 및 글로벌 기회를 우선시하고 있습니다.
• 회사의 현재 상황을 바탕으로 존 깁슨(John Gibson) CEO는 노티커스가 상장 요건을 계속 모니터링하고 있으나 Nasdaq 상장을 유지하기 위해 추가적인 주식 병합이 필요한 것은 아니라고 밝혔습니다.

주요 재무 데이터

사업 및 영업 실적

미국만 해양 활동 부진으로 예상 작업 시점이 영향을 받았습니다. 경영진은 운용사들이 보다 신중한 자본 지출 계획을 채택함에 따라 여러 프로젝트가 2027년 이후로 연기되었다고 밝혔습니다. 노티커스는 비용을 절감하고 작업 시즌 내내 선박을 완전히 가동 상태로 유지하는 데 드는 비용을 회피함으로써 대응했습니다.

회사는 미국만 석유 및 가스 분야를 넘어 다각화를 지속했습니다. 동부 해안의 해상풍력 사업 입지를 확대하고, 대형 해저 케이블 부설업체를 위한 작업을 완료했으며, 서부 해안 프로젝트 일정을 잡고 해외 입찰을 추진했습니다.

노티커스 툴키트는 고객 운용 현장에서 코만치(Comanche) ROV와 성공적으로 통합되었습니다. 경영진은 이 소프트웨어가 조종사의 업무 부담을 줄이는 동시에 수중 탐사정의 안정성, 조사 일관성, 운용 효율성 및 데이터 품질을 향상시켰다고 밝혔습니다. 이 제품은 현재 에너지 및 방산 고객에게 공식적으로 제공되고 있습니다.

아쿠아노트(Aquanaut)는 플로리다에서 자율 계류선 및 라이저 점검 워크플로의 계획된 담수 단계를 완료했습니다. 추가적인 진전을 위해서는 적합한 해양 시험장에 대한 접근이 필요하며, 이는 고객의 예산과 시험장 가용성에 달려 있습니다. 노티커스는 또한 기뢰 대항책(MCM) 애플리케이션을 포함한 추가 테스트를 위해 아쿠아노트 장비를 개보수하고 있습니다.

회사는 차세대 전동 매니퓰레이터 시제품 제작을 완료했습니다. 현재 기능 및 하중 테스트가 진행 중이며, 추가 시제품 제작 및 디자인 개선이 계획되어 있습니다. 노티커스는 UAE 전략을 통해 제조업을 지원할 계획이며 라스 알카이마(Ras Al-Khaimah)에 시설을 확보했습니다.

경영진 가이던스

경영진은 정량적인 매출이나 실적 가이던스를 제공하지 않았습니다. 회사는 노티커스 툴키트가 2027년부터 반복적이고 예측 가능성이 높은 매출을 창출하기 시작할 것으로 예상된다고 밝혔습니다. 또한 향후 실적 발표 전화회의에서 수주액 및 수주잔고를 공개할 계획입니다.

노티커스는 해외 매출과 방산 분야 기회에 힘입어 2027년까지 파이프라인 수주 기반을 대폭 확대하는 것을 목표로 하고 있습니다. 회사는 수주에 성공할 경우 2026년과 2027년에 매출을 발생시킬 수 있는 광범위한 다단계 프로젝트를 포함해 활발한 방산 제안 작업을 진행하고 있습니다.

시장 진출 전략은 노티커스가 자율 기술로 창출된 마진을 유지할 수 있는 고정가격 프로젝트 및 주계약자 역할로 전환되고 있습니다. 경영진은 장기 선박 용선 계약을 맺을 계획은 없으며, 대신 특정 프로젝트에 맞춰 임시 활용 선박(vessels of opportunity)을 활용할 것이라고 밝혔습니다.

리스크 및 주시 사항

• 영업활동으로 현금이 소모되면서 분기 말 현금이 200만 달러로 감소했습니다.
• 미국만 해양 프로젝트가 2027년 이후로 지연되어 단기 매출 가시성이 낮아졌습니다.
• 하도급 업체 및 실비정산(time-and-materials) 모델로 인해 매출이 고객의 계약 수주, 일정, 가격 책정에 의존하게 됩니다.
• 노티커스는 보유 자산이 한정되어 있어 일부 단기 작업보다 규모가 크고 장기적인 기회를 우선시해야 합니다.
• 아쿠아노트의 다음 점검 단계는 해양 시험장 접근성, 고객의 예산 주기, 시험장 가용성에 달려 있습니다.
• 방산 분야 기회는 제안서 수주 여부에 따라 달라질 수 있으며 추가적인 기술 검증이 필요할 수 있습니다.
• 회사는 Nasdaq 상장 요건의 잠재적 변경 사항을 계속 모니터링하고 있습니다.

애널리스트 Q&A 주요 내용

경영진은 주계약자가 되는 것이 장기 용선 계약으로 선박을 운용하는 것을 의미하지는 않는다고 설명했습니다. 노티커스는 툴키트(ToolKITT)에 적합한 특정 프로젝트 유형에 단기 임시 활용 선박을 사용함으로써 선박 노출을 제한하는 동시에 높은 마진을 추구할 계획입니다.

방산 사업과 관련하여 경영진은 활발히 진행 중인 아쿠아노트 제안서가 2~3년 이상 지속되는 계약으로 이어질 수 있다고 밝혔습니다. 회사는 배포 비용조차 충당하지 못할 수 있는 단기 프로젝트에 장비를 투입하기보다는 지속 가능하고 수익성 있는 작업에 우선순위를 두고 있습니다.

경영진은 노티커스가 지연된 매출 기회를 경쟁사에 빼앗기지 않았으며, ROV 및 툴키트 성능에 대한 고객의 긍정적인 피드백을 언급했습니다. 일부 최종 고객은 향후 프로젝트에서 노티커스를 지칭하여 요구하고 있기도 합니다.

회사는 석유 및 가스 분야를 여전히 중요한 시장으로 보고 있으나, 경영진은 방산 및 항만 보안 작업에서 잠재적으로 더 높은 마진을 기대하고 있습니다. 또한 UAE를 운용 및 제조업을 위한 유망한 지역 허브로 강조했습니다.

실적 발표 전화회의 전문

전체 실적 발표 컨퍼런스 콜 녹취록

경영진 발표

Operator

Hello everyone, thank you for joining us and welcome to the Nauticus Robotics Incorporated Second Quarter 2026 Earnings Call. After today's prepared remarks, we will host a question and answer session. [Operator Instructions]

I will now hand the conference over to Kristin Moorman, Corporate Development Lead.

Kristin, please go ahead.

Kristin Moorman

Thank you and good morning everyone. Joining me today and participating in the call are John Gibson, CEO and President, Jimena Begaries, Interim CFO, and other members of our leadership team.

On today's call, we will first provide prepared remarks concerning our financial and operations results. Following that, we will answer questions. We have now released our results for the quarter ending June 30, 2026, which are available on our website.

In addition, today's call is being webcast and a replay will be available on our website shortly following the conclusion of the call. Please note that comments we make on today's call regarding projections or our expectations for future events are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond our control.

These risks and uncertainties can cause actual results to differ materially from our current expectations. We advise listeners to review our earnings release and the risk factors discussed in our filings with the SEC. Also, please refer to the reconciliations provided in our earnings press release as we may discuss non-GAAP metrics on this call.

I will now turn it over to John.

John Gibson

Thank you, Kristin, and good morning, everyone. Glad you're joining us today. I'm going to save my remarks until the conclusion of the call today. And so at this point, I'd like to just turn it over to Jimena to walk through the financials.

Jimena?

Jimena Begaries

Thank you, John, and good morning everyone. During our second quarter, we remain focused on strengthening the company's capital structure and preserving our NASDAQ listing. We completed several important financing initiatives, including finalizing the registration process for our equity line of credit, filing the Series D Certificate of Designation, and executing additional debt to equity exchanges that reduced outstanding debt by $5.5 million, while supporting stockholder equity.

I will now discuss our financial results for the second quarter of 2026. Revenue for the second quarter was $0.9 million, an increase of $0.7 million sequentially and a decrease of $1.2 million compared to the same quarter last year. Operating expenses for the quarter were $6.9 million, a decrease of $1.6 million [ compared to Q2 ] 2025 and an increase of $1 million sequentially. This reflects a continuous focus on cost management, partially offset by increased activity levels compared to the first quarter of 2026.

G&A costs for the quarter were $3.3 million, representing an improvement of $1.1 million from the same quarter last year. Sequentially, G&A has remained mostly flat, increasing by less than $0.1 million quarter over quarter, demonstrating continued discipline in managing our corporate overhead. Net loss for the quarter was $11.1 million, compared to $9.3 million in the first quarter of 2026 and $7.4 million in the second quarter of 2025.

The increase was driven mostly by non-cash losses recognized on debt extinguishment transactions, related to the exchange of outstanding debt for equity securities. Adjusted net loss for the quarter was $7 million compared to $7.4 million for the second quarter of 2025 and $6.4 million in Q1 2026. Cash at the end of Q2 2026 was $2 million, compared to $7.6 million at the end of 2025. This decrease is related to cash used in operating activities.

As we enter the second half of the year, our priorities remain clear, continuing to strengthen the balance sheet, maintaining disciplined cost management, and ensuring we have the financial flexibility to support commercial execution and future growth opportunities.

With that, I will now hand the call over to Steve Walsh, our sales lead, for an update.

Steve Walsh

Thank you, Jimena, and good morning. Entering the year, many operators based their capital spending plans on oil prices in the mid-$50 to $60 per barrel range, which led to a more cautious approach to offshore activity in the Gulf of America. As a result, several projects we had anticipated moving forward this year have been deferred into 2027 and in some cases beyond. In response to these market conditions, we've adjusted our operating model to better align our cost structure with current demand.

Our objective has been to maintain flexibility to rapidly deploy our personnel and equipment when projects move forward, while avoiding the expense of maintaining a fully mobilized vessel throughout the entire work season. This disciplined approach allows us to remain responsive to customer needs while managing costs and preserving financial flexibility. While these market dynamics have impacted the timing of work in the Gulf, we have made meaningful progress in diversifying our business.

We've expanded our presence in the offshore wind market along the East Coast, successfully completed work with one of the world's largest subsea cable laying companies, have projects scheduled on the West Coast in the coming months, and currently have international tendering opportunities. We also achieved an important operational milestone by successfully deploying a Comanche ROV integrated with our Nauticus ToolKITT software. The combined system performed exceptionally well for our client, demonstrating the value of integrating intelligent software with proven subsea hardware.

The Nauticus ToolKITT demonstrated the ability to improve the ROV's operating efficiency while reducing pilot workload, allowing missions to be executed more effectively and consistently. This successful deployment further validates our technology strategy and provides another example of how our software-enabled solutions can help customers improve productivity, reduce operating costs, and enhance the overall efficiency of subsea operations. In addition, we are actively pursuing opportunities outside the United States where we believe our technology and capabilities are well aligned with growing demand for efficient, autonomous offshore operations.

We are also seeing a growth in the number of opportunities in the defense sector. While these efforts remain in the early stages, we're making strategic investments in marketing, capabilities, alliances, and business development to position Nauticus to compete effectively for this work. We believe our autonomous subsea technologies and software-driven solutions are well suited to support the evolving defense and national security missions, creating another avenue for long-term growth and diversification.

Although the near-term offshore oil and gas market remains challenging, we're encouraged by the strength of our opportunity pipeline, the continued expansion of our customer base across multiple offshore markets, and the progress we're making in positioning the company for long-term growth. We remain focused on executing our strategy, expanding our commercial footprint, and creating sustainable value for our shareholders.

With that, I'll turn it over to Brian Allen, our Revenue Lead, for his thoughts on 2026.

Brian Allen

Thanks, Steve. Jimena has taken you through the numbers and I want to cover why this business has been hard to forecast and what we're doing about it. Now looking at our revenue the way an investor would, I see a business that's hard to model and there are 4 reasons for that and we are changing all of them. First, where we sit in the contracting chain, our services business is mostly time and materials orientated and we normally bid as a subcontractor.

That means we win work only if the company above us wins theirs first. Their timing sets hours, their price affects hours, and when their contract slips, our revenue moves with it. And that's what's been happening. Second, time and materials pricing hands the customer the efficiency our technology creates. So we finish faster, they pay for fewer days, and we earn less overall. And third, our software has only recently become a defined product. While it was maturing, it wasn't able to be sold easily.

And lastly, pipeline coverage. You carry more opportunity than you need because not everything converts. And in a soft market, that coverage has to be higher. So here's what changes. We're targeting a significant increase in pipeline coverage for 2027 and widening where it comes from, starting up sales activity internationally and across the defense sector.

Defense inquiries are already up and those use cases align well with what our technology does reliably today, and we have active proposals out now. The services business that we're building internationally will bid as the main contractor on work where our autonomy gives us a real advantage. And when we hold the contract, we set the price and the scope and we keep the margin our technology creates. We are putting the quality systems in place to bid at that level.

Those contracts will be fixed price. When our autonomy takes days out of the job, that shows up in our margin. And finally, I'm extremely pleased to announce the first formal release of our Nauticus ToolKITT software for ROVs, now on sale to underwater fleet operators across the energy sector and defense groups. Jason will tell you a little bit more about that shortly, but for the business, it starts bringing in recurring, predictable revenue from 2027. And we will communicate our bookings and backlog in future calls.

I'll now hand you over to Jason.

Jason Close

Thank you, Brian. While we move towards growing product revenue, we continue to make meaningful progress across the technical validation and commercial pathways supporting our product portfolio this quarter. One of the clearest examples was the continued use of Nauticus ToolKITT in active ROV projects. The software exceeded expectations in customer operations, particularly improving vehicle stability, survey consistency, and the quality of the resulting data.

Feedback from both our operators and the customer was highly positive and reinforced that Nauticus ToolKITT can deliver meaningful operational value on existing ROV fleets. These deployments provide important field validation and proof points, which help us refine and continue to deploy the commercial adoption model. With Aquanaut, we completed the planned freshwater phase of an autonomous mooring line and riser inspection workflows for our customers at the Florida test location.

We will continue to leverage the lake for our mission training, while further progress for our mooring line and riser inspection now requires access to a suitable offshore test environment. We remain engaged with participating organizations and other interested parties regarding the next phase and the timing will depend on customer budget cycles and site availability. We also reached an important milestone in our manipulation program by completing the prototype of our next-generation electric manipulator, which has a much lower capital requirement for manufacturing supported by our strategy to manufacture in the UAE.

We have validated the movement through our software controls architecture, and now functional and load testing are underway with further prototype builds and design refinement planned. This provides an important foundation for future commercial and defense missions requiring autonomous subsea interaction. As we look at the near-term market, we're placing greater emphasis on defense and government opportunities. This is not a change in our underlying technology strategy or a move away from commercial markets.

Aquanaut, Nauticus ToolKITT, and our manipulation technologies can be configured and trained around different commercial, government, and defense missions. What is changing is where we see the strongest near-term environment for revenue. Defense and government customers are focused on autonomous systems, subsea awareness, and infrastructure security, and their programs are often structured to fund phased development which match our product strategy.

This gives Nauticus an opportunity to advance reusable software, sensing, vehicle and manipulation capability through funded mission work. Aligned with this focus, we have prioritized our defense and government opportunities. During the quarter, Nauticus completed an initial scope of work intended to support the evaluation of a broader multi-phase defense project. If awarded, we anticipate revenue this year and into 2027. In parallel, we expanded our participation in next-generation ocean sensing opportunities.

Nauticus is currently involved in multiple collaborative proposal efforts with government, commercial defense and academic participants evaluating autonomous approaches to deploying and operating persistent subsea sensing infrastructure. These activities bring together Aquanaut, Nauticus ToolKITT, manipulation and advanced sensing technologies into broader customer solutions. They illustrate how Nauticus addresses missions that are difficult or costly to perform using traditional vessel-based approaches. Our solution offers a platform to deploy infrastructure that supports new forms of long-term value for persistent subsea data.

Together, these activities represent progress across multiple routes to broad product revenue. Nauticus ToolKITT is being validated in real customer operations. Aquanaut is being developed around specific commercial and defense applications. And our manipulation technology is advancing through internal product development and industry collaboration. The work completed during this quarter expanded the way we can bring high-value technology to the market.

Our increased near-term focus on defense and government work is intended to accelerate our progress through markets that are actively interested in development and deployment of autonomous subsystems. Importantly, the resulting technology remains not only applicable for defense, but also across the commercial markets that we serve.

I'll now hand the call back to John.

John Gibson

Well, thank you, team, for the updates. And before we open the line up for questions, I'd like to step back from the individual updates you've heard today and try to put them into perspective. There's no question that 2026 has been a challenging year. The offshore markets developed more slowly than we anticipated. Customer projects have shifted to the right and our financial results reflect that reality. Rather than waiting for the market to improve, we've taken decisive action.

We've reduced our cost structure, we've strengthened our balance sheet, we've broadened our addressable markets and sharpened our focus on the opportunities where we believe Nauticus can create the greatest long-term value. Just as importantly, our technology has continued to advance. Nauticus ToolKITT has now been successfully deployed in customer operations, and we are formally taking that product to market. Aquanaut continues to mature around specific commercial and defense missions, and our next-generation electric manipulator has entered functional testing.

Increasingly, these technologies are coming together as an integrated autonomous platform capable of addressing larger opportunities in subsea autonomy, critical infrastructure protection, and persistent ocean sensing. We're also evolving how we go to market. As Brian discussed, our objective is to build a business with more predictable, higher margin revenue by expanding software sales, pursuing fixed price projects where we capture the economic benefits of autonomy, and ultimately growing recurring product and service revenue.

That transition is fundamental to creating a more scalable and valuable company over time. Defense and government markets are becoming an increasingly important part of our strategy. Around the world, governments are investing in autonomous maritime capabilities, subsea infrastructure security, and persistent maritime domain awareness. We believe Nauticus has developed technologies that are well aligned with those priorities and position us to compete in markets that we expect to grow for many years.

Internationally, we're progressing in the United Arab Emirates. We have secured a facility. We are expanding our business entity and are planning for future operations and manufacturing. More importantly, we have developed an outstanding relationship with our partners there, and I remain very optimistic that the UAE can become an important regional hub for Nauticus as we expand internationally.

So while the first half of the year presented challenges, I believe Nauticus enters the second half of 2026 stronger, a more focused company with a clear commercial strategy and expanding product portfolio and opportunities across commercial, defense and international markets. Our priorities are straightforward, execute, deliver for our customers, convert our pipeline into contracts, and continue building long-term shareholder value.

Before we conclude, I'd like to briefly address a topic that many shareholders have asked about. We've seen discussion regarding the possibility of another reverse stock split. We have no desire to undertake another reverse split, and we're pleased that our recent share price recovery has improved our position. Based on where we stand today, a reverse split is not required to maintain our NASDAQ listing. At the same time, we continue to monitor and prepare for any changes to NASDAQ's listing standards to ensure we remain in compliance and well positioned for the future.

Finally, I want to thank our employees for their dedication, our customers for their trust, our partners for their collaboration, and our shareholders for their continued confidence and support. We appreciate your commitment to Nauticus. We look forward to updating you on our continued progress in the quarters ahead.

And with that, I'm happy to open up the line for questions, Operator.

Operator

[Operator Instructions] Your first question comes from the line of Peter Gastreich with Water Tower Research.

질의응답

Peter Gastreich

Thank you very much. Good morning and thanks for taking my questions. With the Nauticus team, I really always appreciate hearing from the expanded team on these calls. So thanks for the detail there. Just a few questions for me. Starting out, it feels like you've been building toward this in the previous calls, but I believe it's the first time that you've kind of stated primary contractor explicitly in terms of a strategy.

Now, if I understand it correctly, serving as a primary contractor internationally means that you would be taking on maybe vessel commitments and more execution risk. But could you talk about the trade-offs in that primary contractor strategy and what they mean for your margins and capital intensity?

John Gibson

Yes, Brian, why don't you take that question from Peter. It's good to hear from you, Peter. Go ahead, Brian.

Brian Allen

Yes, so this was one of the things which the team brought in as a strategy change relatively recently. Now, with regard to the risk element to it, yes, if you look at primary contracting status where you're actually running your own vessel, it's a lot riskier, but we're not looking to do that. So not looking at taking long-term charter commitments.

Essentially, we can operate in the sort of position of vessels of opportunity, i.e., we can bring a boat in for a particular project, mob it up and then move it on to other projects for the summer and then demobilize it for the winter, thereby minimizing risk with shorter-term contracts. The reason why we get that flexibility is because the more we use our own software systems in our projects, the greater the margin we actually have to play with.

And we are starting to work on focusing on 2 particular types of contract types so we can actually specialize on things which are fitting to ToolKITT. So again, that further reduces risk because we are limiting our contract types essentially, as well as limiting the use of external vessels.

Peter Gastreich

Okay, great. So regarding the broader multi-phase defense opportunity mentioned with potential revenue in 2026 and 2027 if awarded, can you frame the decision timeline and what needs to happen from here to convert that opportunity?

John Gibson

Let's see what I can do, Peter. Steve's here with me. I might get Steve to chime in. A couple of things have happened, and that is we do have a limited amount of assets. And so we're really focused on deploying those assets to larger, longer-term opportunities. And so we did forego some short transactional work because it would have required us taking a long contract for a boat.

And we didn't want to do that unless we had work for that boat because I'd be taking on business for negative margin at the outset. And so we focused instead on really getting everything outfitted for some of the larger defense opportunities that we see, particularly with the Aquanaut. And we're working towards those and have active proposals in place for the Aquanaut and the defense sector. And we're excited about those.

We think those are longer-term commitments, typically 2, 3 years and longer. We also had some opportunities with the ROVs for longer-term contracts, none of which we're prepared to announce on the call today, but we're out looking at proposals that give us sustained revenue. And so we're trying to be disciplined and not just being the shotgun approach, whereas you get so urgent, you go out and take short-term jobs that don't produce margin.

And so unfortunately, it means that we have some depressed revenue. Now here's the other good part though, is that, and I applaud the team on this, both ROV and Aquanaut teams. We have lost no revenue to a competitor. Things have been pushed. We're not in a competitive situation where we have any quality control or performance issues with the company.

Everything about the operational aspects of the company are excellent at this time, and we want to maintain that reputation too because we think that's what gets you into long-term sustainable revenue. But look for us to pursue things where the ROVs are used for long periods with excellent customers, and those are the proposals we have in place. We will take profitable short-term contracts, but it takes a pretty good-sized contract for us to mob and demob and put the equipment out in the offshore.

Go ahead, Steve.

Steve Walsh

I would also point out that we're seeing more opportunities where the end clients are requesting us by name for projects that they have coming up. So performing excellent work is always critical, is what we will do. The addition of ToolKITT, the performance of ToolKITT with the ROV in particular has proven to be very successful, and that will only get better, and we're really excited about the future and where we're going and the opportunities that we're currently pursuing.

John Gibson

I really like what's happening with ToolKITT because we're not out selling a product we haven't used. We are, as they say in South Georgia, eating our own dog food. And it's exciting to see that the pilots, the most important aspect of this software is, does the operator that's operating the ROV, do they think it makes them more efficient, more effective? And the answer to that is yes. And when you get the guy holding the controller to give you the thumbs up, I think that's really going to be what drives this market for us on ToolKITT.

Peter Gastreich

Okay, thank you. And there was some news last month that the autonomous underwater systems are being used now operationally in the Middle East, so including on mine clearance in the Strait of Hormuz. Just curious, where do you see Nauticus fitting into that picture, and has it changed the nature of the defense conversations that you've been having?

John Gibson

Well, Peter, I mean, it is interesting. We are actually refurbishing the Aquanauts now. We've taken this down period to get them refurbished and ready to go so that we've got good opportunity long term with them. Immediately upon getting them completed, they go back to testing in Stuart, Florida, specifically on mine countermeasures. And one of the more difficult things to do right now is to get a dummy for you to actually go out and image.

And so we have been working and secured those recently with a little bit of ingenuity, and so we will be producing results and hope to have the end customer from the Department of War come down and see what we're doing in the near future. I think we've got some work to do on ToolKITT and a bit of work to do to just prove it, but this is the specific task that the Aquanaut is best suited for. There is no question that our imaging, hovering, is excellent.

Peter Gastreich

Okay, great. I just one final question before I get in the queue. You know, you did describe that the Gulf of America oil and gas activity is challenging. And of course, you know, previously there was an expectation that we'd see some improvement, and that was in line with what the larger operators were signaling.

But does this sort of change or signal any change in terms of your strategy and appetite just kind of structurally for oil and gas? And can this be something that's kind of nudging you, you know, further in that direction of the other customer types that you've been talking about? In terms of how you allocate the resources and how you kind of envision your business building in the coming years?

John Gibson

It's a great question. I think the oil and gas market is going to be strong for the foreseeable future. I think we have no idea as to how much damage has been done during the activity in the Middle East over the last year. And so I think prices will be strong, and I think that they will get enthusiastic about developing their resources. However, I think the margin could be much better for us on the port security side and the defense side, and so we're seeking margin and not just work.

And so while I think it's going to be a strong market in oil and gas. I think there's going to be a strong margin in the defense side of the work. I also didn't cover another part of the question you asked earlier, I apologize, but UAE. I could not be happier with the discussions that are going on with our partners in UAE, the Master Investment Group, highly collaborative, long-term focused, excited about the new manufacturing facility which we're leasing and the entity we're putting in place and strong support.

Just -- it's a tremendous relationship there and I think that's an area where our solutions are going to be practical and provide value to that region over the long term as well. So I'm excited to be opening up in Ras Al-Khaimah and our manipulators, which is absolutely critical. There are no AUVs, autonomous underwater drones, in the class of an Aquanaut that have manipulators. And the ability to interact with the environment is differentiated. You cannot go and find that on an untethered robot at the moment, and I think that's where we excel, and there's tremendous opportunity for us.

Peter Gastreich

Congratulations on executing your strategies so far this year and I'll get back in the queue.

Operator

[Operator Instructions] There are no further questions at this time. I will now turn the call back to John Gibson, CEO, for closing remarks.

John Gibson

Well, we've come to the end of another quarter and I am incredibly grateful to our employees, their dedication, their commitment, to our shareholders for sticking in the course with us. I mean, this company has phenomenal potential and we intend to deliver it. And I thank you to the lenders. It's just -- it's been a phenomenal effort here and it feels close. And so we're all in here focused on returning value to everyone that's put their trust in us. I appreciate it.

And we're going to go and do our absolute best for you. And I hope we're having another call before the next quarterly call to talk about how our business is progressing. In fact, we may just, I'll go ahead and commit now that we'll schedule an interim one as opposed to waiting for to the end of the quarter. So that puts work on Kristin and Jimena, but look forward to speaking to you again. Take care.

Operator

This concludes today's call. Thank you for attending. You may now disconnect.