MONROE TOWNSHIP, N.J., July 24, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Ocean Power Technologies, Inc. ("OPT" or "the Company") (NYSE American: OPTT), today announced financial results for its fiscal fourth quarter ("4Q25") and full-year ended April 30, 2025 ("FY25"). Highlights include:

FY25 RESULTS and RECENT HIGHLIGHTS

   -- Backlog at April 30, 2025 was $12.5 million, a 158% increase over the 
      prior year. 
 
   -- Pipeline as of the date of this release stands at $137.5 million, an 88% 
      increase over the $71.6 million pipeline at April 30, 2024. 
 
   -- Operating expenses of $23.3 million for FY25 decreased $8.9 million, or 
      28%, versus $32.2 million for the year ended April 30, 2024. 
 
   -- Revenues for FY25 of $5.9 million increased 6% over FY24 revenues. 

Global Platform Deployments:

   -- Shipped an AI-enabled Merrows$(TM)$ PowerBuoy$(R)$ to a Middle Eastern 
      customer following a competitive procurement. 
 
   -- Secured a new contract with an international defense agency to 
      demonstrate multiple WAM-V(R) Unmanned Surface Vehicles, expanding OPT's 
      presence in allied naval markets. 
 
   -- Received multi-million-dollar orders for PowerBuoy(R) and WAM-V(R) 
      systems from customers in Latin America, with deliveries spanning several 
      quarters. 
 
   -- Completed a U.S. Naval Postgraduate School deployment of a PowerBuoy(R) 
      with Merrows(TM) for persistent maritime surveillance research. The full 
      system integrates AT&T(R) 5G technology and advanced subsea sensors into 
      OPT's latest PowerBuoy(R) equipped with its proprietary Merrows(TM) 
      suite. The collaboration with AT&T(R) demonstrates how PowerBuoys(R) can 
      serve as 5G communications nodes along the U.S. coastline. 

Strategic Partnerships:

   -- Signed a $3 million reseller agreement with a leading Mexican engineering 
      firm, to expand our reach across Central America through integrated sales 
      and support of OPT's full suite of intelligent maritime solutions. This 
      strategic partnership deepens OPT's Latin American presence and builds on 
      recent momentum in global market expansion, further validating demand for 
      the Company's WAM-V(R) USVs, Next Gen PowerBuoy(R), and AI-powered 
      Merrows(TM) platform. With this agreement, OPT continues to execute on 
      its strategy to scale through high-impact regional partnerships, 
      accelerate revenue growth, and strengthen its position as a global marine 
      robotics leader. 
 
   -- Formed exclusive distribution and integration alliances with: 
 
          -- Remah International Group $(UAE)$ for defense and security markets 
             in the Middle East. 
 
          -- Unique Group to expand WAM-V(R) deployments across the GCC region. 
 
          -- Elektron SAS (Colombia), which committed to a multi-million-dollar 
             purchase of OPT's maritime technologies. 
 
          -- Ocean Wave Solutions Ltda (Brazil) to address growing demand 
             across South America. 
 
   -- We entered into a strategic alliance with Red Cat Holdings (Red Cat), a 
      leading provider of military-grade aerial drones. Together, we plan to 
      integrate Red Cat's drone technology with our WAM-V(R) uncrewed surface 
      vehicles (USVs) to deliver a powerful, ocean-powered solution for air and 
      sea-based intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) missions. 
      This collaboration opens the door to multi-domain operations, where OPT's 
      autonomous maritime platforms work seamlessly with Red Cat's aerial 
      systems to gather and transmit critical data across vast environments, 
      all without human crews or traditional infrastructure. By combining our 
      strengths, we're creating a highly flexible, mobile ISR solution for 
      defense, security, and commercial applications, a major step forward in 
      our mission to modernize how persistent surveillance is delivered across 
      land, sea, and air. 
 
   -- Signed an OEM agreement with Teledyne Marine to co-develop integrated 
      payload and AI solutions. 

ISO 9001

   -- We achieved ISO 9001 certification for our quality management system, a 
      globally recognized benchmark for excellence in engineering, 
      manufacturing, and service delivery. This is not just a compliance 
      achievement. It is a reflection of OPT's evolution into a scalable, 
      repeatable, and process-driven provider of maritime solutions. As ISO 
      9001 is often a requirement for customers, we believe this certification 
      will meaningfully support our growth strategy while deepening the 
      confidence of our partners, investors, and customers alike. 

Streamlined Team and Streamlined Opex

   -- This year's performance reflects the strength of our disciplined 
      operating model. We're executing with a streamlined team and leaner 
      operating expense structure, yet delivering more, for our customers, our 
      partners, and our shareholders. Year over year operating expenses 
      declined by approximately 26%. By aligning resources with top priorities, 
      we've increased our operating efficiency without compromising our 
      delivery capability or innovation roadmap. This positions us not only to 
      weather volatility, but to scale with purpose as demand accelerates. We 
      view this phase of lean execution not as a constraint, but as a 
      foundation. With core systems, processes, and leadership in place, we're 
      prepared to scale responsibly as opportunities mature. 

Facility Security Clearance $(FCL.AU)$:

   -- Granted Facility Security Clearance: OPT's New Jersey headquarters and 
      primary assembly facility received a U.S. Department of Defense Facility 
      Security Clearance, authorizing the Company to support classified 
      programs at the Secret level. This milestone significantly enhances OPT's 
      eligibility for future defense contracts and affirms its compliance with 
      industrial security standards. 

Management Commentary -- Dr. Philipp Stratmann, OPT's President and Chief Executive Officer

"Fiscal 2025 was a pivotal year for Ocean Power Technologies as we transitioned from proving our technology to scaling our impact. We secured a Facility Security Clearance from the U.S. Department of Defense, deepening our eligibility for classified programs, and executed key international deployments across the Middle East and Latin America. Notably, our AI-enabled Merrows(TM) PowerBuoy(R) and WAM-V(R) platforms are now active in global defense markets, providing clear evidence that OPT's autonomous maritime systems are becoming mission-critical infrastructure. With record backlog of $12.5 million, a solid balance sheet and access to additional capital, and growing demand from allied nations, we are entering fiscal 2026 with line of sight to transformational scale. Our focus now is disciplined execution, expanding recurring revenue, accelerating platform adoption, and delivering long-term value for our shareholders."

FY25 FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS

   -- Revenues for FY25 increased to $5.9 million, a 6% increase over FY24 
      revenue of $5.5 million. 
 
   -- Gross profit for FY25 was $1.7 million, as compared to a gross profit of 
      $2.8 million for FY24. 
 
   -- Operating expenses decreased $8.9 million or 28% to $23.3 million in 
      FY25, as compared to $32.2 million in FY24. 
 
   -- Net loss was $21.5 million for FY25, as compared to a net loss of $27.5 
      million for FY24, primarily driven by the decrease in operating expenses 
      noted above. 
 
   -- Backlog increased $7.6 million or 155% to $12.5 million as of April 30, 
      2025 as compared to $4.9 million at April 30, 2024. Our backlog includes 
      unfilled firm written orders for our products and services from 
      commercial or governmental customers, which we call orders. We believe 
      the disclosure of orders is a useful metric for investors, as it helps 
      support our future revenue expectations and adds validity to our 
      strategic growth plan. Company management uses orders as a tool to manage 
      expected growth, budget and cash requirements, and to monitor the success 
      of our sales and marketing efforts. If any of our orders were to be 
      terminated, delayed or revised downward, our orders and our backlog would 
      be reduced by the expected value of the remaining terms of such contract. 

Balance Sheet and Cash Flows:

   -- Combined cash, unrestricted cash, cash equivalents and short-term 
      investments as of April 30, 2025, was $6.9 million, which compares to 
      $3.3 million at the beginning of the fiscal year. 
 
   -- Net cash used in operating activities for FY25 was approximately $18.6 
      million, compared to $29.8 million FY24. 

Conference Call & Webcast

As previously announced, a conference call to discuss OPT's financial results will be held tomorrow morning, Friday, July 25, 2025, at 9:00 a.m. Eastern time. Philipp Stratmann, CEO, and Bob Powers, CFO will host the call.

   1. The dial-in numbers for the conference call are 877-407-8291 or 
      201-689-8345. 
 
   2. Live webcast: FY2025 Q4 and 10k Earnings Conference Call 
 
   3. Call Replay: Will be available by telephone approximately two hours after 
      the call's completion until August 26, 2024. You may access the replay by 
      dialing 877-660-6853 from the U.S. or 201-612-7415 for international 
      callers and using the Conference ID 13754036. 
 
   4. Webcast Replay: The archived webcast will also be available on the OPT 
      investor relations section of its website. 

About Ocean Power Technologies

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