Quantum Corporation (QMCO) Q3 2026 Earnings Call Transcript
Access earnings results, analyst expectations, report, slides, earnings call, and transcript.
Overview
Despite strong revenue growth and reduced losses, concerns over gross margin pressure, a large outstanding receivable, and supply chain issues temper positive sentiment. The Q&A reveals demand strength but also highlights execution and supply challenges. The lack of clear margin guidance and mixed financial outlook suggest a neutral stock price movement.
Key Financial Performance
Revenue $74.6 million, an increase from $68.7 million in the prior year third quarter (approximately 8.6% increase). The increase was driven by strong backlog and strong shipment into the quarter end.
GAAP Gross Margin 38.8%, compared to 40.6% in the fiscal third quarter of 2025 (a decrease of 1.8 percentage points). The decrease was attributed to volatility in pricing and component availability.
GAAP Operating Expenses $30.1 million, compared to $35.6 million in the year-ago quarter (a decrease of $5.5 million). The decrease reflects realized savings from a lower cost structure following restructuring actions.
Non-GAAP Operating Expenses $26.9 million, compared to $30.1 million in the year-ago quarter (a decrease of $3.2 million). The decrease reflects savings from restructuring actions, though there was a sequential increase due to higher variable sales and marketing expenses.
GAAP Net Loss $27.8 million, compared to $75.3 million in the year-ago third quarter (a decrease in loss of $47.5 million). The improvement was due to reduced operating expenses and restructuring initiatives.
Non-GAAP Net Loss $4.9 million, compared to $7.8 million in the year-ago quarter (a decrease in loss of $2.9 million). The improvement reflects revenue increase and reduced operating expenses.
Adjusted EBITDA $2.9 million, compared to $0.8 million in the prior year quarter (an increase of $2.1 million). The improvement was driven by restructuring initiatives that lowered the cost structure.
Cash, Cash Equivalents, and Restricted Cash $13.8 million at the end of the fiscal third quarter.
Total Outstanding Debt $130.5 million, split between $54.6 million in term debt and $75.9 million in convertible notes. The term debt decreased significantly due to a strategic debt exchange.
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Operating Highlights
Scalar tape libraries: Tape sales doubled quarter-over-quarter as customers pivoted toward architectures designed to reduce dependence on constrained components and deliver predictable economics at scale for warm and cold data. A 7-figure deal was secured with a multinational production studio for ActiveScale cold storage integrated with Scalar tape libraries, with an initial deployment of 100 petabytes scaling to 400 petabytes.
StorNext platform: StorNext enables customers to offload data from high-cost primary storage to tape, reducing costs and extending the life of primary storage infrastructure. It is a leading data movement platform with thousands of customers worldwide.
AI-driven demand: AI use cases are accelerating, increasing demand for cost-effective, power-efficient, and scalable storage solutions. Quantum's products are positioned to address these needs.
North America sales model realignment: The sales model was realigned to mirror the successful EMEA approach, improving focus, coverage, and execution. This has resulted in larger, more strategic multiproduct opportunities.
Restructuring initiatives: Lowered cost structure to support the goal of achieving positive cash flow. Operating expenses decreased year-over-year due to realized savings from restructuring.
Debt reduction: Reduced outstanding term debt by approximately 50% through a strategic debt exchange, strengthening the balance sheet.
Focus on tape and cold storage: Quantum is leveraging its expertise in tape and cold storage to address rising costs and component shortages in the industry. This includes promoting Scalar tape libraries and StorNext platforms as solutions for scalable, cost-effective data storage.
Go-to-market initiatives: Lead generation initiatives and channel partner engagement are driving pipeline growth and larger multiproduct opportunities.
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Risk or Challenges
Supply Chain Disruptions: Critical components, particularly memory, disk, and flash, are becoming increasingly difficult to procure, with prices doubling or tripling in some cases. Lead times are extending into weeks or months, creating uncertainty in fulfilling and shipping orders.
Pricing Volatility: The industry is experiencing significant pricing volatility for critical components, which may impact gross margins and financial performance.
Debt and Financial Volatility: The company has a high net debt position of approximately $116.7 million. Additionally, the convertible note issued in exchange for term debt introduces volatility into GAAP earnings due to fair value adjustments driven by stock price changes.
Component Shortages: The rising cost and constrained availability of flash and disk components are pressuring customers and impacting Quantum's ability to meet demand.
Customer Receivables Risk: The company has an outstanding receivable balance with Quantum Storage Asia (QSA) following the termination of their distribution rights. This has led to additional provisions and potential challenges in recovering these balances.
Gross Margin Pressure: Volatility in pricing and component availability may act as a headwind to achieving the company's 40% gross margin target in the near term.
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Guidance & Outlook
Revenue Expectations: Revenue for the fiscal fourth quarter of 2026 is expected to be approximately $68 million, plus or minus $2 million.
Non-GAAP Operating Expenses: Expected to be approximately $27 million, plus or minus $2 million for the fiscal fourth quarter of 2026.
Non-GAAP Adjusted Net Loss Per Share: Anticipated to be negative $0.33, plus or minus $0.10 per share for the fiscal fourth quarter of 2026, based on an estimated 15 million shares outstanding.
Adjusted EBITDA: Expected to be breakeven, plus or minus $2 million for the fiscal fourth quarter of 2026.
Supply Chain Challenges: The company is facing increasing difficulty in procuring critical components, which may impact the timing of fulfilling and shipping orders.
Market Trends: Rising costs and constrained availability of flash and disk storage are driving customers toward tape storage solutions, which Quantum is well-positioned to provide.
Product Demand: Strong demand for Quantum's Scalar tape libraries and StorNext platforms, with multimillion-dollar purchase orders secured early in Q4 from enterprise and hyperscale customers.
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Shareholder Return Plan
The selected topic was not discussed during the call.
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Key Q&A
Q:What is behind the 23% contraction in primary storage systems over the past 9 months?
A:The year started very slow, but strength was observed across all product lines in fiscal Q3, indicating a strong path for primary storage.
Q:What is driving the elevated backlog of $20 million, and will it stay high?
A:The elevated backlog is driven by strong demand and some component shortages. The backlog is growing faster than anticipated and is expected to remain healthy going into fiscal Q4.
Q:Will the contraction in the services business flatten out soon?
A:The contraction is more related to execution issues, such as over-discounting services, rather than demand. Improvements in execution and pricing strategies are needed to address this.
Q:What should be expected for Q4 gross margins given the product and services mix?
A:Due to supply chain issues, rising component prices, and lead time challenges, it is difficult to guide margins. Achieving Q3-equivalent margins would be considered a good outcome.
Q:Where is the demand for tape sales, which doubled quarter-over-quarter, coming from?
A:Demand is strong across the board, with growth driven by storage shortages, migration back from the cloud, and wins in the federal space. Hyperscalers also have capacity upgrades planned.
Q:Are the growing multimillion-dollar deals in the pipeline or backlog?
A:There are several multimillion-dollar deals in the backlog, primarily involving hyperscalers and larger customer orders combining multiple products like StorNext, ActiveScale, and cold storage.
Q:Is the backlog growth driven by demand or supply issues?
A:The backlog growth is driven by both strong demand from enterprises and hyperscalers, as well as worsening supply chain issues.
Q:Will the backlog continue to grow if demand sustains at current levels?
A:Yes, at the current guidance level, the backlog is expected to continue growing.
Q:What is the long-term margin structure achievable given the current restructuring and supply chain challenges?
A:A 40% long-term margin is achievable with the current products and go-to-market strategy, but supply chain normalization is needed. The restructuring efforts are paying off, but the current environment is challenging.
Q:Review of Unclear Management Responses
A:Management avoided providing a clear margin guidance for Q4 due to supply chain uncertainties and rising component prices. They also used vague language when discussing the timeline for achieving long-term margin goals, citing industry-wide supply chain challenges without specific details.
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Earnings Word Cloud
The most frequently occurring keywords in this quarter's earning call
Corporate
Meyrath
QSA
Scalar tape
StorNext storage
backlog run
balance
component availability
cost power
cost structure
debt Dialectic
debt note
dependence component
dollar
economics
environment condition
exchange term
flash disk
increase
industry
infrastructure
market environment
order supply
plan ship
pressure supply
price
pricing
share loss
ship order
side caution
term debt
volatility
volume
QMCO Transcript
Quantum Corporation (QMCO) Q3 2026 Earnings Call Transcript
Unknown2-17
Despite strong revenue growth and reduced losses, concerns over gross margin pressure, a large outstanding receivable, and supply chain issues temper positive sentiment. The Q&A reveals demand strength but also highlights execution and supply challenges. The lack of clear margin guidance and mixed financial outlook suggest a neutral stock price movement.
Quantum Corporation (QMCO) Q2 2026 Earnings Call Transcript
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The earnings call presents a mixed picture: positive trends in cost reduction and product backlog, but concerns about supply chain issues and declining gross margins. The Q&A highlights cautious guidance and management's focus on operational improvements. Despite restructuring benefits, uncertainties in supply chain and manufacturing persist. The lack of clear guidance and management's cautious tone suggest a balanced outlook. Given the absence of a market cap, a neutral stock price movement is predicted, considering both positive restructuring impacts and operational challenges.
Quantum Corporation (QMCO) Q1 2026 Earnings Call Transcript
Unknown9-10
The earnings call reveals a decrease in revenue and gross margin, increased net loss, and negative EBITDA, signaling financial struggles. Although operating expenses decreased, this was due to nonrecurring factors. The Q&A highlights strategic focus but also notes unmet expectations for key products and unclear responses on debt details. The lack of immediate guidance and restructuring efforts indicate potential instability. Overall, the financial and strategic challenges overshadow any positives, suggesting a likely negative stock price reaction.
Earnings call transcript: Quantum Q3 FY2025 revenue rises, stock falls post-market
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The earnings call shows mixed signals: while there is a slight revenue increase and improved EBITDA, the significant net loss and debt remain concerning. The Q&A reveals some uncertainty, particularly around manufacturing headwinds and the Standby Equity Purchase Agreement, which could impact investor confidence. The positive aspects, such as increased ARR and cost reduction, are balanced by the negative financials and unclear guidance, leading to a neutral outlook.
QMCO Report
Frequently Asked Questions
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They are generated by a specialized financial-language model trained exclusively on 15+ years of earnings transcripts. The model extracts financial figures, guidance, and tone with 97%+ accuracy and is regularly validated against human analysts. The full raw transcript always remains available for verification.
