Peraso Earnings Call: Millimeter Wave Drives Costly Pivot

Peraso, Inc. ((PRSO)) has held its Q4 earnings call. Read on for the main highlights of the call.

Peraso’s latest earnings call painted a picture of a company reshaping itself around higher-growth millimeter wave products while tightening costs and narrowing losses. Management stressed strong execution on new markets and customers, but also acknowledged declining overall revenue, weaker near-term guidance, and limited demand visibility that leave the turnaround story still fragile.

Millimeter Wave Revenue Surges Sevenfold

Peraso’s millimeter wave business has become the standout growth engine, with 2025 product sales jumping to $9.1M from $1.3M in 2024, roughly a six- to sevenfold increase. Q4 2025 millimeter wave revenue reached $2.4M versus just $0.2M a year earlier, underscoring a rapid shift toward these high-throughput wireless solutions.

Operating Expenses Fall Sharply

The company delivered a meaningful reset on its cost structure, as full-year GAAP operating expenses dropped to $11.8M from $20.0M, a 41% cut. On a non-GAAP basis, operating expenses fell 24% to $11.3M, driven by lower stock-based compensation, fully amortized intangibles, and reduced severance and software costs.

GAAP Margins and Net Loss Improve

Profitability metrics on a GAAP basis moved in the right direction, with gross margin improving to 58.0% in 2025 from 51.7% in 2024. GAAP net loss narrowed substantially to $4.8M, or $0.67 per share, compared with a $10.7M loss, or $3.57 per share, signaling progress toward break-even even as revenue declined.

Strategic Wins and New Product Activity

Management highlighted a string of customer and product milestones, including module wins with Tachyon Networks and a renewed multi-gigabit mesh collaboration with Wheeling. Peraso’s technology was incorporated into a MicroSeq product launched at Mobile World Congress, and defense partner Intact was named lead contractor on a drone identification system, with initial production shipments already underway.

Expansion into Tactical Communications and Robotaxis

Peraso is moving beyond its core fixed wireless market into new verticals, turning a defense engagement into a tactical communications program that has completed successful field trials and initial production. The firm also announced collaborations in robotaxi and edge AI, using its BX60 and VX60 platforms to target high-throughput depot data offload of up to 1 TB per vehicle per hour.

Liquidity Boosted by ATM Offering

The balance sheet saw a modest boost in the fourth quarter, as cash rose to about $2.9M at year-end 2025 from $1.9M at the end of Q3. The $1.0M net increase primarily reflects roughly $2.1M of net proceeds from an at-the-market equity program, partially offset by ongoing operating cash usage.

Revenue Continues to Trend Lower

Despite the millimeter wave ramp, overall sales moved in the opposite direction, with 2025 net revenue declining to $12.2M from $14.6M, a 16.4% drop. Q4 2025 net revenue fell to $2.9M compared with $3.7M in the prior-year quarter and $3.2M in Q3, showing that growth in new products has not yet offset legacy declines.

Supplier Delay Hits Near-Term Sales

Near-term results will be further pressured by a logistics issue, as materials stuck in customs are pushing a major shipment from Q1 into Q2 2026. Management estimated the delay would reduce first-quarter revenue by more than $500,000, and now expects Q1 2026 net revenue of roughly $1.2M as a result.

Non-GAAP Gross Margin Under Pressure

On a non-GAAP basis, gross margin deteriorated to 58.0% from 67.2% in 2024, a 9.2-point decline. The main driver was lower shipments of higher-margin memory IC products and a mix shift toward millimeter wave offerings, which, while strategic for growth, currently carry lower margins than the legacy portfolio.

Losses Persist and EBITDA Remains Negative

Peraso remains unprofitable on an adjusted basis, even with margin gains and cost cuts, as full-year adjusted EBITDA came in at a negative $4.0M, albeit better than the $4.5M loss in 2024. Non-GAAP net loss for 2025 was $4.3M, or $0.60 per share, and Q4 adjusted EBITDA was still negative at $1.1M.

Visibility Challenges and Order Volatility

Looking ahead, management warned that forecasting remains difficult due to irregular ordering patterns, especially among fixed wireless access customers. Newer customers also lack established order histories, which reduces visibility into future demand and complicates planning even as the millimeter wave business grows.

Legacy Memory IC Decline Adds Mix Risk

The sunset of legacy memory IC products weighed on both revenue and margins, with reduced shipments dragging down higher-margin contribution. Peraso is leaning on the ramp in millimeter wave solutions to offset this erosion, but the transition phase brings inherent risk as the new engine scales while the old one winds down.

Guidance Highlights Cautious Near-Term Outlook

Management guided Q1 2026 revenue to about $1.2M, explicitly excluding the delayed Asia supplier order now expected to ship in Q2, and noted that production revenue from the Intact defense program should shift into the second half of 2026. Even so, the company reiterated expectations for continued year-over-year growth in millimeter wave revenue after the segment’s rise to $9.1M in 2025, against a backdrop of $2.9M in year-end cash and a $4.0M adjusted EBITDA loss.

Peraso’s earnings call offered investors a nuanced mix of encouraging strategic progress and near-term caution. The pivot toward millimeter wave, defense, and robotaxi markets, combined with tighter cost controls, is clearly gaining traction, but declining legacy sales, shipment delays, and limited demand visibility mean the turnaround still requires patience and careful monitoring.