"2021 is playing out as expected, and we are well positioned to end the year in record fashion. Our desalination business continues to demonstrate strength, and we are building our pipeline of new industrial wastewater orders, two sides of our commitment to helping to address the growing global need for freshwater. We believe the solution to the rapidly increasing freshwater gap requires both increasing supply and better stewardship of water we already have," said Robert Mao, Chairman of the Board, President and Chief Executive Officer of Energy Recovery.

Mr. Mao continued, "Beyond water, our growth initiative in refrigeration is gaining strong momentum. We have had many fruitful conversations with U.S. and international grocery chains, and have recently signed an agreement to install our PX G1300 energy recovery device in a Vallarta Supermarkets grocery store in California, and signed a letter of intent with another chain in Europe. In addition, we are in discussions with multiple refrigeration manufacturers to help design the next generation of CO ₂ refrigeration systems featuring our PX G1300 technology at its core. We believe our PX G1300 has the potential to maximize the savings offered by this next generation system, thus transforming the multi-billion dollar refrigeration market by making CO ₂ refrigeration systems more financially attractive versus incumbent CO₂ solutions."

Financial Results

⁽¹⁾ In June 2020, the Company terminated the VorTeq License Agreement with Schlumberger Technology Corporation. As there were no future performance obligations to be recognized under the VorTeq License Agreement after the effective date, the Company recognized in full the remaining deferred revenue balance of $24.4 million in the second quarter of fiscal year 2020. In addition, no future license and development revenue was recognized under the VorTeq License Agreement after the second quarter of fiscal year 2020.

Product Channel Revenue

"We remain on track to finish our year with strong revenue results as we have guided since October last year, with the fourth quarter expected to be a historic revenue quarter," said Joshua Ballard, Chief Financial Officer of Energy Recovery. "While we are not immune to the ongoing global supply chain crisis and inflationary pressures, our team began preparing for this eventuality last year. We are in a strong position as we look to 2022 in our ability to both manufacture and deliver products to our customers. We continued to invest in increased levels of raw materials and finished goods to mitigate, or even avoid, exogenous shocks. Cash and security balances remain high due to our lower spend and strong collections even while executing over $21 million in cumulative share buybacks through the end of October."

Third Quarter 2021 Business Highlights

Water Segment

1. Product revenue of $20.8 million was in-line with management's guidance. We continued to experience rebounding sales in the original equipment manufacturer channel and saw growth in the aftermarket channel. The megaproject channel saw an expected decrease but is projected to rebound strongly in the fourth quarter.
2. A sixth purchase order was received in our industrial wastewater business, further strengthening our first full year in this market.
3. Our gross margin increased to 70.6% from our low in the second quarter. We have largely avoided raw material cost increases due to our timely build up of raw material inventory starting in 2020, as well as internal cost optimization efforts.

Emerging Technologies Segment

1. Our outreach efforts in the commercial refrigeration space have generated a positive response from industry leaders. In late October, we entered into an agreement to deploy the PX G1300 in a grocery store in California. We are targeting first commercial deployments of the PX G1300 in the first half of 2022.
2. During the quarter, we joined the North American Sustainable Refrigeration Council (the "NASRC"). The NASRC is an action-oriented non-profit charity, as defined under the U.S. Internal Revenue Code 501(c)(3), working in partnership with the supermarket industry to create a climate-friendly future for refrigeration by eliminating the barriers to natural refrigerant adoption in supermarkets. Natural refrigerants, such as CO ₂ , have near-zero Global Warming Potential ("GWP"), making it the safest climate-friendly alternative to hydrofluorocarbons which have a GWP into the thousands.
3. Operating expenses in this segment decreased quarter-over-quarter, due primarily to reduced research and development expenditures related to the VorTeq.

Bottom Line Summary

On a quarterly basis, we reported a net income of $1.1 million, or $0.02 per diluted share, for the third quarter ended September 30, 2021, compared to a net income of $5.4 million, or $0.10 per diluted share, for the third quarter ended September 30, 2020.

Cash Flow Highlights

The Company finished the first quarter ended September 30, 2021 with cash and cash equivalents of $65.7 million, and short-term and long-term investments of $42.7 million, which represents a combined total of $108.4 million.

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain matters discussed in this press release and on the conference call are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, including the Company's belief that the Company's PX G1300 has the potential to maximize the savings offered by the next generation CO ₂ system; that the Company's technology can transform the multi-billion dollar refrigeration market by making CO ₂ refrigeration systems more financially attractive versus incumbent CO ₂ solutions; the Company's belief that the fourth quarter revenue will be historic and that the Company will meet its revenue guidance; the Company's belief that the Company will be able to manufacture and deliver products to its customers in 2022; and the Company's expectation that the Company will deploy its PX G1300 in the first half of 2022. These forward-looking statements are based on information currently available to us and on management's beliefs, assumptions, estimates, or projections and are not guarantees of future events or results. Potential risks and uncertainties include any other factors that may have been discussed herein regarding the risks and uncertainties of the Company's business, and the risks discussed under "Risk Factors" in the Company's Form 10-K filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") for the year ended December 31, 2020, as well as other reports filed by the Company with the SEC from time to time. Because such forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, the Company's actual results may differ materially from the predictions in these forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements are made as of today, and the Company assumes no obligation to update such statements.

Conference Call to Discuss Third Quarter 2021 Financial Results

LIVE CONFERENCE CALL:

Thursday, November 4, 2021, 2:00 PM PDT / 5:00 PM EDT

Listen-only, US / Canada Toll-Free: +1 (877) 709-8150

Listen-only, Local / International Toll: +1 (201) 689-8354

Access code: 13722959

CONFERENCE CALL REPLAY:

Expiration: Saturday, December 4, 2021

US / Canada Toll-Free: +1 (877) 660-6853

Local / International Toll: +1 (201) 612-7415

Access code: 13722959

Investors may also access the live call or the replay over the internet at ir.energyrecovery.com. The replay will be available approximately three hours after the live call concludes.

Disclosure Information

Energy Recovery uses the investor relations section on its website as means of complying with its disclosure obligations under Regulation FD. Accordingly, investors should monitor Energy Recovery's investor relations website in addition to following Energy Recovery's press releases, SEC filings, and public conference calls and webcasts.

About Energy Recovery

Energy Recovery creates technologies that solve complex challenges for industrial fluid-flow markets worldwide. Building on our pressure exchanger technology platform, we design and manufacture solutions that make industrial processes more efficient and sustainable. What began as a game-changing invention for desalination has grown into a global business accelerating the environmental sustainability of customers' operations in multiple industries. Headquartered in the San Francisco Bay Area, Energy Recovery has manufacturing, research and development facilities across California and Texas with sales and on-site technical support available globally. For more information, please visit www.energyrecovery.com.

Contact

Investor Relations
ir@energyrecovery.com
+1 (281) 962-8105

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SOURCE: Energy Recovery, Inc.