Gentex achieves 8% revenue growth to $655.2 million in Q3 2025 despite regional headwinds, with gross margin up to 34.4% through disciplined execution and Vox acquisition.

OPERATOR - (00:01:31)

Good day and thank you for standing by. Welcome to the Gentex third quarter 2025 financial results conference call. At this time all participants are in listen only mode. After the speaker's presentation, there will be a question and answer session. To ask a question during the session you will need to press star 11 on your telephone. You will then hear automated message advising your hand is raised to withdraw your question. Please press star 11 again. Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded. I would like to hand the conference over to our first speaker today, Josh Obersky, Director of Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

Josh Obersky - Director of Investor Relations - (00:02:04)

Thank you. Good morning and thank you for joining us today for our third quarter 2025 earnings conference call. I'm Josh Obersky, Gentex Director of Investor Relations, and with me today are Steve Downing, President and CEO Neil Boehm, COO and CTO and Kevin Nash, Vice President of Finance and CFO. Please note that a replay of this conference call webcast along with edited transcripts will be available following the call in the Investors section of our websiteat ir.gentex.com As a reminder, many of the statements made during today's call are forward looking statements that reflect our current expectations. These statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, both known and unknown, including those detailed in our third quarter 2025 earnings press release and our annual report on Form 10K for the year ended December 31, 2024, as well as general economic conditions. If one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or if our underlying assumptions or estimates prove to be incorrect, actual results could differ materially from those expressed or implied in our forward looking statements. On a quick programming note, I would also like to call attention to the. fact that Gentex will be hosting investor. Visits at CEMA and in San Francisco and Los Angeles the week of November 3rd. If you are interested in attending, please connect with me after this call. I'll now hand the call over to Steve Downing for our prepared remarks.

Steve Downing - President and CEO - (00:03:20)

Thank you Josh. For the third quarter of 2025, the company reported consolidated net sales of Gentex and VOX of $655.2 million, an 8% increase compared to net sales of $608.5 million in the third quarter of last year, which did not include Vox. Vox contributed $84.9 million of revenue, while Core Gentex revenue was $570.3 million in the third quarter of 2025, which was a 6% decline versus the third quarter of last year. This is in comparison to light vehicle production in the company's primary markets that increased by approximately 2% versus the third quarter of last year. In terms of regional performance. For the third quarter, North American OEM revenue increased approximately 5% quarter over quarter, supported by robust production schedules and increased content per vehicle. In Europe, revenue declined approximately 14% quarter over quarter. The decrease was driven by customer specific production challenges and a weaker regional vehicle mix. In Europe, light vehicle production volumes moved to lower trim level vehicles that do not typically include higher end Gentex features. In China, revenue totaled approximately $34 million down 35% compared to the third quarter of last year. The decline reflects the ongoing impact of tariff and counterterrorif actions. Despite the regional headwinds, Gentex delivered solid results through disciplined execution and incremental contributions from the VOX acquisition. For the third quarter of 2025, the company's consolidated gross margin was 34.4% compared to a gross margin of 33.5% for the third quarter of last year, which did not include Vox. The core Gentex gross margin was 34.9%, representing 140 basis point increase compared to the third quarter of last year. The core gross margin improvement was driven by favorable North American customer and product mix purchasing cost reductions and continuing operational efficiencies. The ongoing improvement in gross margin reflects the Company's disciplined focus on cost control and productivity improvements. However, the gross margin was negatively impacted by approximately 90 basis points due to incremental tariffs in the quarter that were not offset through customers. Despite the incremental impact of tariffs on our business, the Company has improved the overall gross margin to levels not seen in several years. Consolidated operating expenses during the third quarter of 2025 were $102.8 million compared to operating expenses of $78.3 million in the third quarter of last year, which did not include Vox. The increase was primarily due to the Vox acquisition, which accounted for $23.7 million of the increase. Gentex operating expenses excluding VOX were $79.2 million in the third quarter of 2025 compared to $78.3 million during the third quarter of last year. The increase in core Gentex operating expenses included $1.1 million in acquisition and Gentex specific severance expenses. Consolidated income from operations for the third quarter of 2025 was $122.3 million compared to income from operations of $125.7 million for the third quarter of last year, which did not include VOX Gentex income from operations excluding VOX was $119.7 million in the third quarter of 2025, representing a 5% decrease versus the third quarter of last year. Total other loss was $1.8 million during the third quarter of 2025 compared to income of $19.7 million in the third Quarter of last year. The reduction was primarily due to a $14.9 million gain included in the third quarter of last year related to the fair value adjustment of the company's original investment in Vox. During the third quarter of 2025, the company had an effective tax rate of 16.3% compared to an effective tax rate of 15.7% during the third quarter of last year. The quarter over quarter change in the effective tax rate was primarily driven by lower tax benefits related to stock based compensation compared to the third quarter of last year as well as a reduced benefit from the foreign derived intangible income deduction. Consolidated net income attributable to Gentex for the third quarter of 2025 was $101 million supported by higher overall sales levels, gross margin expansion and cost improvements. Net income in the third quarter of last year was $122.5 million. The quarter over quarter change was primarily due to the one time gain in the prior period resulting from the fair value adjustment of the company's original investment in box. Consolidated earnings per diluted share attributable to Gentex for the third quarter of 2025 were $0.46 compared to earnings per diluted share of $0.53 for the third quarter of last year which did not include Vox. Though Vox was not consolidated in the third quarter of 2024, earnings per diluted share for that quarter were positively impacted by the one time gain in the company's original investment in box. I'll now hand the call over to Kevin for some further financial details.

Kevin Nash - Vice President of Finance and CFO - (00:08:45)

Thanks, Steve. Gentex Automotive net sales were 558 million in the third quarter of 2025 compared to 596.5 million in 3Q24. The lower quarter over quarter automotive sales. Were largely the result of lower shipments of auto dimming mirrors into Europe and China in the third quarter compared to the third quarter of last year. However, the lower unit shipments were partially offset by strong growth in advanced feature mirror sales in North America. Net sales from Gentex's other product lines, which includes Dimmable Aircraft windows, fire protection products, medical devices and biometrics were 12.3 million in 3Q25 compared to 12 million in 3Q24. VOX net sales contributed $84.9 million during 3Q25. The company continues to work through post acquisition transition with a focus on aligning product strategies, optimizing customer relationships and identifying operational synergies across across both businesses. During 3Q25, the company repurchased 1 million shares of its common stock at an average price of 2818 per share for a total of 28.3 million and year to date the company has repurchased 9.8 million shares for a total of 230.5 million at an average price of 2,350 per share and as of September 30th of 25, the company has approximately 39.6 million shares remaining available for repurchase pursuant to its previously announced share repurchase plan. Turning to the balance sheet, our comparisons today are based on September 30th of 2025 versus December 31st of 24. Starting with liquidity, cash and cash equivalents were 178.6 million down from 233.3 million at year end. This decline was primarily driven by the Vox acquisition and share repurchases partially offset by operating cash flow. Short term and long term investments totaled 267.2 million compared to 361.9 million at the end of 24. These investments include both fixed income securities and our equity and cost method holdings. Accounts receivable stood at 384.7 million compared to 295.3 million at year end. Of that, 320.4 million was attributable to Gentex and 64.3 million to Vox. The increase in Gentex receivables was mainly due to higher sequential sales and the timing of those sales within the quarter. Inventories totaled 498.8 million, of which 386.9 million represented core Gentex inventory, down from 436.5 million at year end, largely due to reductions in raw material inventory. The remaining 111.9 million reflects box inventory and consolidated accounts payable was 252 million compared to $168.3 million at year end, including $169.8 million for Gentex and $82.2 million for Vox. Preliminary cash flow from operations for the third quarter was $146.9 million compared to $84.7 million in the same period last year, primarily due to changes in working capital and year to date operating cash flow was $461.6 million, up from $343.8 million for the first nine months of 2024, also primarily due to changes in working capital compared to the prior period. CapEx for the third quarter was approximately $35.6 million versus 31.8 million last year, bringing year to date capital expenditures to 103.8 million, slightly higher than the 102.9 million last year. And depreciation and amortization expense for the third quarter was approximately 25.9 million compared to 22.9 million in Q3 of 24 and on a year to date basis depending on depreciation and amortization totaled 78.8 million, up from 70.9 million in the prior year. I'll now hand the call over to.

Neil Boehm - COO and CTO - (00:12:25)

Neil for a product update. Thank you Kevin the third quarter of 2025 was another strong launch quarter. In the quarter, over 55% of the launches were advanced interior and exterior auto dimming mirrors and electronic features similar to previous quarters. Homelink and Full Display Mirror (FDM) were the primary technologies introduced. The launch cadence has been strong over the last several quarters and I appreciate the team's focus on execution to make them successful. Full Display mirror sales continue to be a key performer in Q3. Demand remains strong and we are confident in our ability to sell 200,000 to 300,000 more units of FDM in 2025 compared to 2024. As we've previously stated, in the face of delayed or cancelled EV platform launches, ICE and hybrid applications continue launching with full display mirrors and consumer demand for our feature remains strong. A few notable FDM launches this quarter include the Ford Bronco marking the first non van launch of FDM at Ford,, and the continued adoption of FDM in Europe on the DS 8 and the Vauxhall Combo. Additionally, we saw the rollout of FDM at Volvo, as a dealer installed accessory available on the majority of their lineup. Customer interest for dimmable sun roofs and visors continues to grow and our teams have been working incredibly hard to continue moving this product from single unit production into more mass scale capability. As noted in prior calls, this is an incredibly complex and challenging manufacturing process. To date we've been utilizing partners to execute part of the process while we get our larger scale production equipment in house and operational. The target is to have this in house operation running in late Q1 to early Q2 2026. As with any new product or process launch there will be challenges, but with the manufacturing capability we have at Gentex, I remain confident in the team's ability to bring this product into the market in the next year and a half. Now for a quick update on driver and in cabin monitoring product area. We continue to make great progress with our driver monitoring and in cabin systems and remain on track to launch with three additional customers by the middle of 2026. The acquisition of Guardian Optical Technologies in 2021 set the stage for Gentex to be a premier player within this industry and we've continued to grow our capabilities since the acquisition. These systems require substantial integration and coordination with our customers and our teams have achieved high marks for their progress from our next launch customer as we mentioned in a press release from this morning, we've been very focused on improvements of the Gentex of the core Gentex operating structure over the last two quarters. We've successfully executed early retirement incentives that were designed to lower operating expenses while not impacting our ability to continue to invest in technologies and products that will propel Gentex forward over the next several years. Additionally, since the closing of the acquisition of Vox at the beginning of the second quarter, the the teams have been working hard on the consolidation of systems, tools, back office support, purchasing and logistics. So far we've made great progress. As we look into the final quarter of 2025, there will be an even stronger focus on efficiency and optimization with a goal of having most plans implemented in the first half of next year. The Vox teams have done a great job keeping the business moving in the right direction and now we'll begin to collaborate deeper to drive longer term improvements into the operation. As an innovation driven technology company, the focus on R and D over the last several years has enabled us to generate a strong pipeline of both automotive and non automotive products and technologies. Now we need to keep the focus on the execution of these products and move them forward into production to support our growth objectives. I'll now hand the call back over to Steve for guidance and closing remarks.

Steve Downing - President and CEO - (00:16:16)

Thanks Neil. The company's light vehicle production forecast for the fourth quarter of 2025 and full years 2025 and 2026 are based on the mid October 2025 S&P global Mobility outlook for North America, Europe, Japan, Korea and China. Global light vehicle Production for the fourth quarter of 2025 is expected to decline approximately 4% versus the fourth quarter of last year. Full year 2025 production in the company's primary markets is expected to be down 1%, while production in North America and Europe is projected to fall approximately 2% in 2025 compared to last year. Based on the updated light vehicle production forecast and actual results for the first nine months of 2025, reduced demand in the China market stemming from recently implemented counterterroriffs and the expected incremental sales contribution from the box acquisition, the company is making certain changes to its full year 2025 guidance the following updated guidance reflects the anticipated impact of all known tariffs effective as of October 23rd and can also be found in our press release from this morning. Consolidated revenue for 2025, including Box, is expected to be in the range of 2.5 and $2.6 billion. Consolidated gross margin is anticipated to be between 33.5 and 34%. Consolidated operating expenses, excluding severance are forecasted at 380 to $390 million. The effective tax rate is expected to be 16 to 16.5%. Capital expenditures are projected at 115 to $125 million. Depreciation and amortization is expected to total 96 to $99 million. The third quarter is best summarized as a continuation of the underlying economic environment of the last year and a half. Light vehicle production levels in our primary markets have improved versus previous previous forecasts, but any progress is in contrast to the declining production levels experienced over the past few years. Additionally, the previous two quarters were impacted by mixed weakness in Europe, Japan and Korea, as well as continued headwinds in China due to the ongoing tariff environment. While core Gentex revenue in the third quarter of 2025 was lower compared to last quarter and the third quarter of last year, our strong business discipline and operational focus enabled us to deliver another meaningful improvement in gross margin. The company's focus on business discipline, expense management and operational improvements has helped improve margins despite incremental tariff headwinds that were not reimbursed during the quarter. As we move into the fourth quarter, our teams will be focused on bringing the same type of improvements to the VOX organization to ensure the combined entity is structured to support sustainable profitability and create shareholder value. That completes our prepared comments for today. We can now proceed to question questions.

OPERATOR - (00:19:12)

Thank you. At this time, we'll conduct a question and answer session. As a reminder to ask a question, you'll need to press Star 11 on your telephone and wait for your name to be announced. To withdraw your question, please press star 11 again. Please stand by while we compile the Q and A roster and our first question comes to a line of Luke Young of Baird. Line is now open.

Luke Young - Equity Analyst at Baird - (00:19:36)

Good morning. Thanks for taking the questions Steve, maybe if we could just start with the growth headwinds in Europe. Just trying to tease out how much of that was temporary. I would guess some JLR related impacts in the quarter versus things that might be more sticky in terms of trim mix. And then as you kind of step into the fourth quarter for the company overall, any incremental trim mix impacts that you might anticipate?

Steve Downing - President and CEO - (00:20:02)

Yeah, I think if you look at the temporary impact, that was really probably 5, $6 million in revenue headwinds from one of the OEM shutdowns in Europe. So pretty minor there. If you look at the rest of it, it's really about mix. And really what we're talking about is the only real growth. Most of the CD and E vehicles in Europe during the quarter were down pretty significantly. I think A and B specifically B, I believe, was the only thing that really grew and that's where the strength was in the European market. And as you know, we struggle a little bit with content, or at least the same level of content on those vehicles versus what we see in the CD&E segment.

Luke Young - Equity Analyst at Baird - (00:20:41)

And then into 4Q other than the temporary piece, anything you'd expect to change in Trim Mix Europe or I guess North America too?

Steve Downing - President and CEO - (00:20:51)

No, I wouldn't say it'd probably be quite as drastic as what we saw in Q3 in terms of trim mix, but definitely, I think with some of the economic challenges in the EU right now, we're definitely seeing a little lighter content than what we have been seeing over the last 18 months to two years. And so some of it I think will continue into Q4, but I think Q3 was definitely probably a hair overdone in terms of how much that changed in one quarter.

Luke Young - Equity Analyst at Baird - (00:21:19)

Got it. Gross margin. Appreciate the color on the tariff impact this quarter. Just be curious how you're thinking about approaching recovering those costs costs into the fourth quarter and ultimately into next year. And in terms of the fourth quarter specifically, is there anything incremental that you'd have a line of sight to in terms of costs that you need to recover?

Steve Downing - President and CEO - (00:21:45)

No, I think what you're seeing right now, Q2 tariffs, we actually recovered probably 70, 80% of the tariff costs of Q2 in Q3. And so what you're seeing is the step up in overall tariff from Q2 to Q3. We haven't been reimbursed those yet. We would expect to get most of that reimbursed in Q4, but there's definitely a lag effect as the tariffs have been ramping up over the last few Quarters. Unfortunately, there's a lag in when you incur the expense versus when you can recover it.

Luke Young - Equity Analyst at Baird - (00:22:16)

Got it. And then last question for me. Just lots of discussion around Nexperia, of course, Just curious to the extent that you have any direct supply chain exposure there, Neil. And then just what you're hearing from customers, real time. Thank you.

Neil Boehm - COO and CTO - (00:22:32)

Absolutely. Yeah. Nexperia there is. We do have some supply that we utilize from Nexperia. We do have some in house inventory available. We've got, you know, unfortunately if you go back a few years, we've been through this fire drill a few times on finding alternate supply, designing alternates in and doing it in a fast and expeditious way. So we are exercising that muscle again to find alternates and get the solutions moving to minimize any impact. We're not expecting any significant impact in Q4 though. No. @ least not from our side. Obviously OEM exposure could create challenges from other suppliers, but.

Luke Young - Equity Analyst at Baird - (00:23:14)

Got it. I'll leave it there. Thank you.

OPERATOR - (00:23:19)

Thank you. One moment for our next question. Our next question comes from the line of Joseph Spaak of ubs. Your line is now open.

Joseph Spaak - Equity Analyst at UBS - (00:23:31)

Thanks so much. Maybe to sort of just follow up on some of the European commentary. I know you mentioned sort of the different sort of segment levels,, but it also sounds like you're, you know, there's. Maybe just overall, You know, more pressure in that market. And I guess I'm just wondering is, you know, in some of those higher segments that you mentioned where you tend to have more content, are you seeing any change in ordering patterns from your customers? Like any consideration to de-content you to maybe make some of those vehicles more affordable? Or is this really just a period where you mentioned AB vehicles really outperform some of those larger vehicles?

Steve Downing - President and CEO - (00:24:19)

No, Joe, it's definitely both. I mean you're seeing some de-contenting on higher end vehicles as well as OEMs look to try to get overall cost points lower. And obviously as tariffs have impacted OEMs, they're looking for other creative ways to try to get their cost structure lower. So unfortunately optional content does become in scope for some of them. I would say it's kind of a mix between both of those. Both the vehicle mixes and segmentation changing, and then also some de-contenting to avoid The vehicle mixes and segmentation changing and then also some de-contenting to avoid to help lower cost structure.

Joseph Spaak - Equity Analyst at UBS - (00:24:50)

Okay, thank you. And then just maybe on the implied fourth quarter gross margin. I just want to. It looks like maybe the seasonally, the step down looks a little bit greater if I'm doing my math right. And I just want to Understand, you know, what's really sort of considered in that, whether there's still, you know, some. I mean, I know you sort of talked about some, you know, trouble getting reimbursements. Anything considered on semi tariffs or anything else we should be thinking about?

Steve Downing - President and CEO - (00:25:26)

No. If you look at the real impact and the step down is couple fold, number one is as a percent of total revenue, VOX is going to be higher, which will have a little bit of a head. Put a little bit of a headwind on the overall weighted margin. And then the real big factor in the second half is the lower sales levels that we usually see in Q4, especially around the holidays. And so there's not like any structural changes or anything wrong with the cost structure. We actually think Q4 margin, if revenue were exactly the same, we would expect Q4 from a margin perspective to be very, very similar to Q3.

Joseph Spaak - Equity Analyst at UBS - (00:25:59)

Okay, maybe just one last quick one. Sorry if I missed this in the prepared remarks, but is there any update on FDM, especially since I know at least here in the US where we're seeing some likely lower demand for EVs and I think like that was, I'd say, an above average sort of feature on EVs versus sort of ICE vehicles. And so just how you're thinking about that, especially headed into 26.

Steve Downing - President and CEO - (00:26:27)

Yeah, absolutely. Actually, Q3 was really good growth in FDM. Again. It's been strong and Q4 still looks really strong. So we, I think last quarter Q2 said we'd be 150 to 300,000 units above where we were in 2024. And so we just moved that to be 200 to 300 for the end of the year. So we still see us exceeding 2024 numbers by 2 to 300,000 units.

Joseph Spaak - Equity Analyst at UBS - (00:26:53)

Okay. And any preliminary views into next year on that?

Steve Downing - President and CEO - (00:26:58)

Not really. I mean, there's. We're expecting it to continue to grow though. Yeah, it's not. Yeah, we see growth. Absolutely. Okay, we'll give formal guidance coming in out of fourth quarter.

Joseph Spaak - Equity Analyst at UBS - (00:27:08)

Yeah, perfect. Thanks so much.

Steve Downing - President and CEO - (00:27:12)

Thanks, Joe.

OPERATOR - (00:27:14)

Thank you. One moment for our next question. And our next question comes from the line of Josh Nichols of B. Riley Eli is now open.

Josh Nichols - Equity Analyst at B. Riley - (00:27:26)

Yeah, thanks for taking my question. Good to see the revenue and margin guidance for the year moving to the upper end of the range despite some of the European headwinds that you talked about. I just want to drill down a little bit into vox. We're about two quarters in now. Any updates on like synergy integration and the realization are you still on targets to achieve those Synergy levels that you previously kind of talked about 18 months after the close.

Steve Downing - President and CEO - (00:27:51)

Yeah, absolutely. I think if you look at the first through two quarters already, if you look at the overall numbers, it shows in this quarter that we, that VOX organization is positive on the net income side and accretive on the EPS side. And so that'll be. That was a little ahead of schedule, quite frankly in that regard. We know the next couple quarters especially, there's a lot of work that has to happen to try to figure out where there's any redundancy or overlap between our two organizations. We're starting to really make great progress with that organization and looking forward to what the next 12 to 18 months can look like. But there's no doubt in the overall cash generation side of what we think that business can look like that we, we don't see any reason why we can't achieve those original targets.

Josh Nichols - Equity Analyst at B. Riley - (00:28:36)

Yeah, thanks for clarifying. And then just one follow up, looking a little bit further out regarding the dimmable sunroofs advisors you talked about, I think you said you expect to have those in market within 18 months, but operationally running in the first half of next year. What's left to be done in terms of achieving commercial viability for those today to really bring those to market? I'm just curious where you are, what's left to do. I know there's a lot of technicals that go into getting that OEM certified and just want a little bit of an update.

Neil Boehm - COO and CTO - (00:29:10)

Yeah, those are still some of the bigger challenges. The requirements of taking that technology into automotive and meeting the environmental temperature, all the above process requirements as well as when you have really large pieces of glass with a darkened surface, it's easy to see small issues in the process that the dimming materials put down. So that's the big part of the Q1 into Q2 of next year is we are getting that capability in house so that we can get better control on that process quality. So with those, I think those are some of the biggest hurdles that we still got in front of us. There's a lot of little challenges that we fight every day, but the team's been doing a great job keeping keeping those down and trying to get focused on some of these bigger ones.

Josh Nichols - Equity Analyst at B. Riley - (00:30:01)

Appreciate it. Thanks.

Steve Downing - President and CEO - (00:30:03)

Thanks, Josh.

OPERATOR - (00:30:05)

Thank you. One moment for our next question. Our next question comes online of Ryan Brinkman of JP Morgan. Your line is now open.

Ryan Brinkman - Equity Analyst at JP Morgan - (00:30:16)

Hi. Thank you. Is there any update you can provide on the place? Sort of retail consumer fire protection business? I realize it's only been A few months now in the Home Depot stores. But curious what any early feedback might be.

Steve Downing - President and CEO - (00:30:31)

Yeah, I think probably the most telling portion of that has been so far the consumer feedback has been really good. Terms of ease of install, app integration, what that looks like, ease of use. So I mean, that was our big focus right away, wasn't just the overall sales levels, but the real focus was, hey, for really, for our first time going direct to consumer with something especially that's feature rich and app heavy. Did we do a good job executing that app in the interaction side? And so far, I mean, fingers crossed, that all looks like it's going really well in that launch initially. And we never expected necessarily DIY to be a big home run in terms of sales volume. And so the growth over the next. Couple years is really going to be focused on how do we get direct to builders, how do you start working on additional channels beyond just big box retail? And so that's where the team is actively focused right now. First focused on making sure the product was robust and the app was robust. And then secondly, we got to start focusing when looking at how do we get into additional channels that are quite frankly new for us. But one of the things we have going for us in this regard is some of the synergies on the vox side of the business. They have a lot more experience than we do in terms of how to market direct to consumer, these type of products. And so we're working really hard with that team on how do we take advantage of the skill sets that they have to help us with the sales channels of that product.

Ryan Brinkman - Equity Analyst at JP Morgan - (00:31:57)

Okay, thanks. And then just lastly on the box side, you got one question already about the opportunity from consolidating sort of the Gentex and box people and systems and public company costs, maybe just remind us of the targets there and of the cadence too, because it seems like so far, like a lot of the early retirement announcements have been really on the Gentex side. Is that fair to say? And in terms of the size of the opportunity, is it as simple to just kind of look at the relative difference in the gross margin profile and the operating margin profile of the two businesses and say that that much can really be achieved or how much can you achieve and over what period of time and what have you achieved so far?

Steve Downing - President and CEO - (00:32:38)

Thanks. I'll start with the overall target. When we kind of got into this, we believe given that level of revenue, that it was absolutely possible to achieve kind of 40 million dol or so in free cash flow off of their business on A per annual basis. And that's still our goal. We kind of targeted that to be in about 18 months post acquisition. And we still believe we're on the same timetable to make that happen. I'll let Kevin jump in with a few of what we've kind of accomplished already and where we're at currently.

Kevin Nash - Vice President of Finance and CFO - (00:33:06)

Yeah, so if you look at some of the audit costs, I mean, we have, you know, reduced that overlap insurance costs, I mean, you're between those two, you're in the lower 2 to 3 million dollars a year plus you have some of the executive team overlap. Those teams, they had runoff, but they had already accounted for that prior. So that's why you don't see some of the severance expense coming from those things or the transition expense. But all told, we're over $10 million annualized savings when you add up all the different things. And we continue to make progress beyond that every quarter.

Ryan Brinkman - Equity Analyst at JP Morgan - (00:33:44)

Very helpful. Thank you.

OPERATOR - (00:33:48)

Thank you. One moment for our next question. And our next question comes from the line of James Pecorello of BMP Paribas.

Jake - (00:33:59)

Hi guys. This is Jake on for James. So. You guys put up pretty great. Gross margins in the quarter, especially considering some of the headwinds you saw in Europe. So how should we think about that. Really going into next year? Are these sustainable or are there any other puts and takes we should keep in mind?

Steve Downing - President and CEO - (00:34:19)

Yeah, I think as we head into next year and like we joke all the time, this is a big fingers crossed moment as well. Hopefully tariffs stabilize from this year going into next year. That would be the one big variable that obviously we can't control and don't really have a lot of insight into other than what's publicly available currently. The other ones start to become more normal puts and takes. So you got pricing at the beginning of the year to our customer base and then what we can get out of the supply chain historically for us, if we can try to offset or make those offset each other, then we got a really good, really good opportunity to maintain the margin profile. And that's what our current stance is heading into next year is that we believe that if we could get up to this kind of high 34s, 35 range on gross margin leaving this year, that we'd be in really good shape to maintain that heading into next year. And we still believe that's what our outlook looks like. And that obviously factors in, in terms of overall sales levels and, you know, some of the, some of the things that are a little unpredictable right now in terms of, you know, what happens geographically and with our primary customers all over the world. But you know, as we stand here today, we feel like we're in a really good spot, that we've executed most of the cost control mechanisms we needed to internally to get to where we had predicted we would end this year at. And so as we're the discipline that's there, the efficiencies that we put in place, these are not one time experiences. I mean, these are recurring benefits that we'll see rolling forward. And so if I had to do a way too early version of what the margin will look like next year, I'd say it's really close to where we're at right now. Thanks, Steve.

Jake - (00:35:59)

That's helpful. And then it's nice to see you guys have some good news to point to in China. Do you think there's more room for.

Steve Downing - President and CEO - (00:36:07)

Improvement should the trade situation stabilize a little bit more? I would never say that it couldn't. I would say right now, as we look at the China market, there's definitely a trend from OEMs there to go with domestic suppliers over international suppliers. And so we're seeing that trend kind of play out longer term. And so we're constantly looking at new products and saying, hey, it's a real market significant. How do we try to make sure we have the right product offering to be competitive in that space? But I think there'll be a little more headwinds as we head into the next 18 months in the China market. And so we're kind of preparing ourselves for that.

Jake - (00:36:50)

Got it. Thank you.

OPERATOR - (00:36:53)

Thank you. One moment for our next question. Our next question comes from the line of Mark Delaney of Goldman Sachs. Your line is now open.

Mark Delaney - Equity Analyst at Goldman Sachs - (00:37:04)

Yes, good morning. Thank you very much for taking my questions. I was hoping to circle back to. The content challenges and trim mix issues that the company was speaking about that you've seen in the European market. I guess first on that topic, as you think about what you've seen, especially the decontenting element and even in some of those seed segment vehicles, as you think about that category, are there steps you think Gentex can take to get back to growth over market within Europe, even within those segments, or is it going to be more a function of you just need the market to recover for that category of vehicle?

Steve Downing - President and CEO - (00:37:41)

No, there's definitely, I think there's definitely features. If you look at some of the new technology we've been working on getting those into the marketplace in cabin monitoring, driver monitoring, and then longer term, the stuff that Neil was referencing in terms of visors and large area devices. Those products in particular have ASPs that are well above our current ASP and all have the potential to help us outgrow the marketplace, even if it is in a declining market. One of the reasons why you've seen such a focus on higher end tech over the last couple years is preparing for these type of moments. I think this one's a little more drastic than even we had anticipated a couple years ago in terms of, of the total impact of trade relations and what that's done from a margin compression standpoint for our customers. We're trying to make sure we have the right skills, the right products to make sure that we can find a growth opportunity and what we assume to be initially is probably just a flat market, but it's actually become more of a declining market than what we even anticipated. The team stays really focused and that's why you see us continuing to double down on the, the new tech development, because that's the only really way to grow in this market currently.

Mark Delaney - Equity Analyst at Goldman Sachs - (00:38:49)

And just in terms of the breadth of the challenge, is it one or two OEMs in Europe where you've seen this effect, or is it a wider range of your customers there have been looking to find savings and you've seen the decontenting.

Steve Downing - President and CEO - (00:39:03)

It's really kind of comes down to a couple OEMs. I mean, everyone's been impacted in terms of a lot of OEMs have been impacted in Europe based off their volume and overall trim level, like what they're building and what price point of vehicles they're selling. But the decontenting is really limited to a couple OEMs in the European market.

Mark Delaney - Equity Analyst at Goldman Sachs - (00:39:23)

Okay. I guess just on this topic and kind of zooming out on a global perspective, cost challenges and tariffs, that's not isolated to Europe. I'm curious, do you think there's the risk or have you heard anything from customers that this kind of thing may happen in Asia or the US? It sounds like it's only been in Europe and I'm hoping to kind of think about whether this would or would not occur elsewhere.

Steve Downing - President and CEO - (00:39:47)

Yeah, I mean, it's possible. I mean it's really that becomes more a function of where the vehicles end up. I believe it's not just limited to European OEMs per se, but they have more exposure to the overall European end market. I mean, if you look at our primary customers in Asia, you're looking really at Hyundai, Kia and Toyota as the bulk of that revenue. And fortunately for us, both of those OEMs have held up very well through all this. And so we continue to find growth opportunities with both those OEMs.

Mark Delaney - Equity Analyst at Goldman Sachs - (00:40:18)

Got it. Thanks for taking my question. Nice to see the progress this year with the FDM growth and everything you're working on with the large dimmable area devices. So we'll keep an eye on that going forward. Thank you.

Steve Downing - President and CEO - (00:40:30)

Thanks, Mark. Thanks, Mark.

OPERATOR - (00:40:32)

Thank you. One moment for our next question. Again, as a reminder to ask a question, you'll need to press Star one one on your telephone. And our next question comes from the line of David Winston of Morningstar. Your line is now open.

David Winston - Equity Analyst at Morningstar - (00:40:50)

Thanks. Good morning. On guidance, is there any chance of material upside in light of the Oct. 17 proclamation expanding the parts rebate on U.S. assembly, or is that pretty much all baked in? No, I think, I don't. From a supply standpoint, I don't think it's going to change or impact a whole lot of what you're seeing. I mean, if anything, what it does allow us to do, hopefully is, you know, it should, it should lessen some of the controversy on tariff, on tariff recoveries. Okay. And then. I guess could you talk. A bit about what's the resistance on SDM for the automakers that haven't yet adopted it? Are they just waiting for future vehicle programs and they know they want to do it or are there still some cost or logistical issues beyond that? Well, you definitely have. You always have the cost side. I mean, that's one that's with every OEM that we've been successful with. It's one of the obstacles you have to get past. Beyond that, I think the slow adopters at the beginning were the German OEMs. And I think that was really the only real holdout. If you look at most other OEMs, they'd adopted the product to some level. The biggest challenge right now is how do you get it beyond small take rates into more mass market. And the teams made some real good progress on that in terms of what does standard equipment look like or close to standard equipment on high level vehicles and having optional content on lower end vehicles. And that's where we're starting to see see a lot of the revenue growth come from. It's not just pure number of nameplates you're on. It's more about what are those take rates. Thanks, guys.

Steve Downing - President and CEO - (00:42:33)

Thanks, David.

OPERATOR - (00:42:35)

Thank you. I'm showing no further questions at this time. I'll now turn it back to Josh Obersky for closing remarks.

Josh Obersky - Director of Investor Relations - (00:42:41)

Thank you everyone for your time and questions. We hope you have a great weekend. This concludes our call.

OPERATOR - (00:42:48)

Thank you for your participation in today's conference. This does conclude the program. You may now disconnect.