Knightscope (NASDAQ:KSCP) executives used the company’s latest investor update to review 2025 results, discuss ongoing supply chain constraints, and outline how the recently announced acquisition of Event Risk is intended to reshape the company’s go-to-market strategy toward a managed security services model.
Leadership highlights “Autonomous Security Force Day” and 13-year anniversary
Chairman and CEO William Santana Li opened the call by announcing Knightscope’s first annual “Autonomous Security Force Day,” scheduled for Thursday at the company’s Sunnyvale headquarters, coinciding with its 13th anniversary. Li said the event will include “VIP private sessions” previewing what the company is building for 2026 and an evening open house intended to gather market feedback.
2025 financial results: modest revenue growth, continued losses, and higher investment
CFO Apoorv Dwivedi reviewed results for the fourth quarter and full-year 2025, citing supply chain disruptions and continued investment as key drivers of performance.
Dwivedi said fourth-quarter revenue declined about 9.8% year-over-year, “reflecting primarily driven by supply chain constraints… that resulted in delays of ECD product deliveries,” while the services business “remained materially unchanged.” The company posted a gross loss of $1.6 million in the quarter, which Dwivedi attributed to “elevated material and other input costs” and “under absorption of fixed manufacturing overhead.”
Operating expenses in Q4 were $9.7 million, up about $3.8 million year-over-year, driven by higher R&D and SG&A spending. Dwivedi said R&D investment supported development of next-generation platforms including “the K7, the K1 Capsule, and the Signals software,” while SG&A rose due to “targeted investment in talent and organizational capabilities.” Net loss for Q4 was $11 million, which widened from the prior year due to lower revenue, margin pressure, and operating investment.
For the full year, Dwivedi reported revenue increased about 4.9% to $11.3 million. He said the increase was “driven primarily by the services revenue expansion” from Machine-as-a-Service offerings and “full-service maintenance plans on the ECD installed base,” while product revenue growth was modest due to supply-chain constraints and shipment timing issues.
Cost of revenue rose by about $1.1 million year-over-year, which Dwivedi said reflected “higher bill of material costs, supply chain inefficiencies, component shortages, and production variability.” Full-year operating expenses increased about 12.1%, driven primarily by a $5.4 million increase in R&D, partially offset by approximately $1.8 million in SG&A cost savings and the absence of $500,000 in restructuring charges incurred in the prior year.
Dwivedi said full-year loss increased to about $33.8 million. He also noted weighted average loss per share was $4, “decreased by approximately 63.5% year over year.”
On cash flow and liquidity, Dwivedi said Knightscope used approximately $30.3 million in operating activities during 2025 and raised $42.2 million through financing activities to support operations. He said the company ended the year with a significantly higher cash position than at the end of 2024, and emphasized a continued focus on liquidity management through capital access, operational discipline, and strategic initiatives intended to improve cash generation over time.
Supply chain: continued volatility expected, mitigation underway
Asked about visibility into supply chain normalization and whether geopolitical conflicts could create further disruptions, Li said he expects volatility to persist. He attributed challenges to factors including tariffs, geopolitical instability, end-of-life components, and shortages that can hinge on “one specific resistor or button” rather than a single major component, calling it a “whack-a-mole kind of problem.”
Both Li and Dwivedi described steps to mitigate risk, including building inventory, planning further in advance, replacing components, and reducing reliance on single-source suppliers. Dwivedi said the company expects “slightly better, if not much better outcomes” versus the prior year as it continues to invest in supply chain processes and vendor relationships, while noting broader electronics markets remain volatile with longer lead times in areas such as compute modules and networking hardware.
Sunnyvale move largely complete, but more work remains
Li said the move to the Sunnyvale facility is “mostly done,” while noting a “challenging landlord situation with less flexibility than we want.” He said the upcoming open house is intended to showcase progress since the move. Li also said the company is concerned it could “run out of space a lot sooner” than planned, which he characterized as “a good problem to have in the coming quarters.”
Event Risk acquisition: shifting from “widgets” to managed security services
Li repeatedly emphasized that Knightscope’s strategy is shifting toward delivering a complete security solution rather than selling individual devices. He described the Event Risk acquisition as “transformative and strategic” and positioned it as an accelerant for Knightscope’s goal to operate as a managed service provider.
When asked whether the deal expanded the company’s addressable market, Li said the company’s target market remains the same as outlined in its investor presentation—“that $230 billion there is the TAM that we’re going after and remains unchanged”—but he argued the acquisition increases Knightscope’s ability to penetrate the market more quickly through a broader offering. Dwivedi added that Knightscope previously could be excluded from guard-focused RFPs because it lacked human security services and could also be limited in technology-only bids because it did not provide an end-to-end solution. The combined model, he said, should allow the company to pursue opportunities it previously could not.
Li also highlighted operational characteristics of the acquired business, including “continued double-digit growth” in recent years, strong client retention, and what he described as unusually low employee turnover—saying industry turnover can run “100%-400%,” while the “Knightscope Security Force is at 6%.” He said Knightscope’s board approved stock options for the security force team as part of efforts to recruit and retain employees.
Discussing future product and service concepts, Li said Knightscope expects to add new technologies to security agents and anticipates talking more about “ASAs or augmented security agents” in the future. He described a model where autonomous and stationary technologies, augmented security agents, Signals software, and a remote monitoring team work together, with escalation to human response—armed or unarmed—when needed.
On financial reporting, Dwivedi said it remains “TBD” whether Event Risk will be broken out as a separate line item, though he said the company views it as a service and “would wanna include that in the services line,” subject to GAAP considerations and auditor review.
Li said the sales pipeline is “rather healthy,” but he urged investors and observers to focus less on unit sales and more on “aggregate total revenue growth” and eventual profitability as Knightscope aims to provide an integrated solution that reduces complexity for chief security officers.
On integration, Li—who said this is his “24th, 25th, or 26th acquisition”—said post-close execution is the hardest part, but described early integration as smoother than expected due to cooperative teams on both sides. He said Knightscope’s integration priorities are finance and accounting first, followed by HR and IT, and later go-to-market branding and marketing. Li said the company plans to be at GSX in Atlanta in September, where stakeholders should begin to see how integration is taking shape. Dwivedi estimated integration would take “a couple of quarters, if not more.”
Li also said Knightscope remains open to additional “accretive opportunities,” particularly in core technology and remote monitoring capabilities, while being cautious about deal quality and shareholder benefit.
Looking ahead, Li said investors should monitor regulatory filings beginning in mid-May as the company works through acquisition-related reporting requirements. He also pointed to technology milestones including beta prototype testing in the second half for the K7, and progress on the K1 Capsule, K1 Super Tower, and the Signals platform. Dwivedi said the company expects progress to show up in financial results over time through revenue growth and cost mitigation, contingent on improved execution.
About Knightscope (NASDAQ:KSCP)
Knightscope, Inc (NASDAQ: KSCP) is a technology company specializing in the design and deployment of autonomous security robots. The firm offers a robotics-as-a-service platform that integrates self-driving devices with artificial intelligence and machine learning capabilities to enhance perimeter security, detect anomalies and deliver real-time incident reporting.
Since its founding in 2013 and headquartered in Mountain View, California, Knightscope has developed a series of fully autonomous models—designated K1 through K7—suited for indoor and outdoor environments.
