Velodyne Lidar Announces Fourth Quarter and Annual 2020 Preliminary Snapshot

Velodyne Lidar (NASDAQ: VLDR, VLDRW), the global leader in lidar technology founded by David Hall with foundational patents, today announced preliminary fourth quarter 2020 revenue and provided an update on recent business trends and outlook. During the fourth quarter of 2020, Velodyne shipped more than 4,100 sensors to its global customer base, bringing the annual total units shipped in 2020 to more than 11,500, including over 600 solid state Velarray units in the fourth quarter alone. These unit amounts represent a single quarter record for Velodyne, and the company believes that it has sold more sensors in 2020 than reported by all of its competitors combined. Additionally, Velodyne increased its signed and awarded contracts to 25 and expanded its pipeline to 183 projects across multiple end-markets and use cases, up from 175 since the end of the third quarter of 2020.

Since the company’s earnings call in November, Velodyne announced multiple key business developments which affirm the company’s ongoing success and support its long-term outlook:

• Introduction of the Velarray M1600, an innovative solid state lidar sensor designed to serve mobile robotic applications. The Velarray M1600 enables touchless mobile and last-mile delivery robots to operate autonomously and safely, without human intervention.
• Signing of a multi-year sales agreement with Motional, a Hyundai and Aptiv combination, for Alpha Prime sensors. Velodyne will be the exclusive provider of long-range, surround-view lidar sensors for Motional’s SAE Level 4 driverless vehicles.
• An agreement for Alpha Prime sensors with May Mobility for its entire growing fleet of self-driving shuttles.
• An agreement with Local Motors to use Velodyne’s sensors to enable safe, reliable operation of Olli, the company’s 3D-printed, electric and self-driving shuttle.
• Participation in Qualcomm’s Smart Cities Accelerator Program to promote lidar in smart city solutions, and working with Qualcomm, governments and solution developers to create applications that improve public services and enhance safety and quality of life.
• Velodyne’s Velabit lidar sensor named a winner in the “Best of What’s New” awards by Popular Science and the “2020 Innovation Award” by Silicon Valley Robotics.

In response to the global COVID-19 pandemic, Velodyne deployed early, rigorous health and safety protocols related to COVID-19 and increased automation at its manufacturing facilities. However, in the fourth quarter of 2020, the company’s San Jose factory confirmed its first case of COVID-19, and further cases have been reported. This reduced production capabilities at its manufacturing sites later in the quarter and impaired the company’s ability to fulfill certain of its customers’ orders in December. A substantial portion of these deliveries are expected to be fulfilled by the company in the first quarter of 2021 and the company is implementing measures to meet anticipated incremental customer demand in 2021.