in.outputoutput: title: Beam Global (ticker: BEEM) announced its financial results for the first quarter of 2024, highlighting record revenues and the highest gross margin in its history. The company reported a 12% increase in revenue to $14.6 million, pr

Beam Global (ticker: BEEM) announced its financial results for the first quarter of 2024, highlighting record revenues and the highest gross margin in its history. The company reported a 12% increase in revenue to $14.6 million, primarily driven by higher federal sales. Despite an increase in operating expenses, the net loss improved by 8% year-over-year. Beam Global also provided insights into its operational strategies and future plans, which include focusing on efficiency and gross profitability to achieve positive cash flow.

a win-win for everybody. I'm really excited by the opportunities in front of us in 2024. I'm confident that we'll continue to see improvement in our gross profit and in our cash flow. And I'm looking forward to updating you on our progress during our next earnings call. Thank you very much. And now I'll turn the call over to the operator for questions.

Operator: [Operator Instructions] Our first question comes from the line of Chris Souther with B. Riley Securities. Please go ahead.

Chris Souther: Hi, Desmond. Good evening, Lisa. Thanks for taking my questions.

Desmond Wheatley: Hi, Chris.

Chris Souther: So maybe just starting off on the gross margin side, obviously a strong improvement there. Can you just talk about some of the puts and takes as we think about the cadence of gross margin throughout the rest of the year? And then maybe just touching on the price increase as well, how much of a benefit that could provide to gross margin as we move forward?

Desmond Wheatley: Sure, Chris. Thanks for the question. So the puts and takes on gross margin, I think the biggest puts are going to be the continued improvement in our engineering and operational efficiency. We've got a couple of initiatives underway there which I'm not going to go into detail on because they're still in development, but they're really exciting and they should contribute to continued improvement in gross margin. The takes are going to be the continued increase in the percentage of our backlog which is being delivered at the higher price point and also the fact that we're going to be starting to deliver the EV standard product later this year, which carries a lower gross margin than the EV ARC. So those are the puts and takes. I think overall, we should continue to see improvement in gross margin throughout the year. And then on the price increase, I think I did the math for you earlier, which is that if we were to add the gross profit that we generated in Q1 to the increased revenue as a result of the price increase, we'd get to around 20% gross margin. Now, that's not taking into account any of the other initiatives that we've got underway, which should continue to improve gross margin. So I think we're on an easy to understand trajectory to 20% gross margin. And then from there, we'll continue to work on improving it further.

Chris Souther: Okay, great. That's helpful. And then maybe just shifting gears a little bit to the balance sheet side. Obviously, cash came down a little bit during the quarter. Maybe just talk about some of the puts and takes there as we think about the cadence of cash throughout the rest of the year. And then maybe just touching on the working capital as well, some of the puts and takes there.

Desmond Wheatley: Sure. So the puts and takes on cash, I think the biggest put is going to be the continued improvement in our gross profit and the impact of that on our cash flow from operations. The takes are going to be the continued increase in our inventory levels, both in the United States and in Europe. We're also going to be prepaying for some materials for the EV standard product in advance of its launch later this year. So those are the puts and takes on cash. I think overall, we should continue to see improvement in our cash flow from operations throughout the year. And then on the working capital side, I think the biggest puts are going to be the continued improvement in our AR collections, which has been a focus of ours for the last couple of quarters and we're starting to see some good improvement there. The takes are going to be the continued increase in our inventory levels, both in the United States and in Europe. So those are the puts and takes on working capital. I think overall, we should continue to see improvement in our working capital throughout the year.

Operator: Our next question comes from the line of Amit Dayal with H.C. Wainwright. Please go ahead.

Amit Dayal: Hi, Desmond. Hi, Lisa. Thanks for taking my questions.

Desmond Wheatley: Hi, Amit.

Amit Dayal: So maybe just starting off on the revenue side, obviously another record quarter there. Maybe just talk about some of the puts and takes as we think about the cadence of revenue throughout the rest of the year. And then maybe just touching on the backlog as well, how much of a benefit that could provide to revenue as we move forward.

Desmond Wheatley: Sure, Amit. Thanks for the question. So the puts and takes on revenue, I think the biggest puts are going to be the continued increase in our sales efforts, both in the United States and in Europe. We're also starting to see some good traction on our batteries and we're expecting to see increased sales of those throughout the