Powerfleet Cuts Cash-Flow Outlook as Revenue Growth Slows
The company lowered fiscal 2027 free-cash-flow guidance to $20 million-$23 million.
Powerfleet (AIOT), a provider of artificial-intelligence-powered fleet-management services, reported fiscal first-quarter revenue of $110.8 million as growth slowed and product constraints weighed on results. Revenue rose 6.4% from a year earlier, easing from 11% growth in the preceding quarter, and fell 3.2% sequentially.
The quarter extended Powerfleet’s shift toward recurring services revenue, though the richer mix did not prevent profitability from retreating from recent highs. Services accounted for about 85% of revenue, up from more than 81% in the fourth quarter and 80% two quarters earlier.
Services revenue rose 9.1% to $94.3 million and increased 1.5% sequentially, while product revenue fell 6.7% to $16.5 million and dropped about 24% from the fourth quarter. A component-compatibility production constraint delayed $3.2 million of product revenue, while a reprioritization in South Africa reduced revenue by about $1.6 million.
Gross margin widened one percentage point from a year earlier to 55.2% as services gained share, but narrowed from 56.5% in the fourth quarter. Product gross margin contracted to 21.3% from 25.1%, with product gross profit declining to $3.5 million from $4.4 million.
Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization rose 7% to $21.5 million, compared with growth of 42% in the preceding quarter. The adjusted EBITDA margin held roughly flat from a year earlier at 19.4% but fell from 23% in each of the previous two quarters. The adjusted result swung to a loss of $1.7 million, or $0.01 a share, from income of $1 million, or $0.01 a share, a year earlier.
The net loss narrowed 17.5% from a year earlier to $8.4 million, or $0.06 a share, while operating cash flow increased 79% to $8.4 million. Free cash outflow improved to $0.5 million from $7.1 million. Powerfleet now expects fiscal 2027 revenue of $468 million to $473 million, adjusted EBITDA of $111 million to $114 million and a net loss of $6 million to $8 million.
South African National Treasury deployments have accelerated to more than 70,000 vehicles, seven times the number originally expected at this stage, with more than $27 million of annual recurring revenue awaiting near-term activation. The company expects another 80,000 to 90,000 vehicles over the next two quarters as it forgoes some nonstrategic South African revenue to support the faster rollout.