Research Frontiers (NASDAQ:REFR) executives used the company’s fourth-quarter and year-end 2025 investor call to outline supply-chain changes, developments with key licensee Gauzy, and progress in automotive and architectural “retrofit” applications for its SPD-SmartGlass technology. President and CEO Joe Harary also addressed the company’s February 2026 financing and fielded shareholder questions about revenue timing, licensee stability, and market adoption.
Financial position and February 2026 financing
Harary said the company remains debt-free, strengthened working capital, and saw royalties improve when adjusted for “one-time licensee events early in the year.” He highlighted a private placement disclosed in a Feb. 18, 2026 Form 8-K: an oversubscribed $1.1 million raise priced at $1 per share, with five-year warrants carrying increasing exercise prices.
Harary said the company previously indicated it might not need to raise capital under certain conditions, but that 2025 brought a combination of factors that made a modest financing prudent. He cited AGP-related developments, Gauzy’s French subsidiary rehabilitation process, and slower collection of certain receivables (some being collected), alongside what he characterized as expanding opportunities in automotive programs, architectural retrofit, black SPD development, and new product opportunities. He added that the shares were not registered for resale and were subject to at least a six-month holding period.
Gauzy rehabilitation: scope and operational continuity
Harary addressed shareholder frustration over limited updates from Gauzy and discussed Gauzy’s French subsidiaries entering a court-supervised rehabilitation proceeding in mid-November. He emphasized that the process applies to Gauzy’s French entities, not its German SPD film production facility or its SPD emulsion production operations in Israel. He said SPD film production in Germany and emulsion production in Israel continued during the period, and that automotive and architectural development programs also continued.
He said the French filing created ripple effects, including liquidity reallocation to satisfy rehabilitation monitors and management focus on stabilization, and noted Gauzy reduced headcount. Harary framed the restructuring steps as aimed at lowering operating expenses and capital requirements and moving toward a more stable operating profile. He also said Gauzy was reconstituting its board to restore Nasdaq compliance and explained that Gauzy, as a foreign issuer, files financials semi-annually and has a different reporting cadence, with its annual filing due at the end of April.
In Q&A, Harary said Research Frontiers is in regular contact with Gauzy “almost daily” and stated that, from his perspective, indicators suggested conditions were improving rather than deteriorating. He also said the company has multiple contingency plans if Gauzy does not perform, though he preferred not to use them.
Automotive: transitions, new OEM presence, and pipeline breadth
Harary said automotive progress continued despite disruptions in the supply chain. He noted Ferrari continued to produce vehicles using SPD-SmartGlass, but said the 2025 bankruptcy protection filings by licensed supplier AGP and its European affiliate Soliver had a “six-figure impact” on recorded royalties during 2025. He said the Ferrari business was successfully transitioned to another licensee, Isoclima, and that despite the mid-year transition, Isoclima’s sales exceeded minimum annual royalty thresholds in the third and fourth quarters of 2025.
Harary also highlighted Cadillac’s entry into the market with SPD-SmartGlass in the Cadillac Celestiq, describing it as General Motors’ flagship ultra-luxury vehicle and pointing to industry and press attention on its “four-quadrant” SPD roof. He characterized the Celestiq as Research Frontiers’ first adoption by a major U.S. OEM and said the company believes it will lead to additional business.
On Mercedes, Harary cited a recently unveiled concept vehicle featuring SPD integrated across much of the vehicle’s glass, which he said was approximately 75% of the glass surface. He said concept vehicles often signal engineering and marketing direction.
Harary said the company now has “high volume quotations on four models” and began work with a new European OEM since the prior conference call, along with additional specialty programs with potential annual volumes in the “tens of thousands” of units. He said the automotive pipeline is broader than at any point in the company’s history and added that the company is seeing engagement beyond sunroof applications.
During Q&A, Harary addressed questions about why some vehicle programs did not adopt SPD. He said VW initially used a PDLC product on the Porsche Taycan and added that the PDLC was later removed. He also discussed Corvette, saying an electrochromic sunroof option announced in August was later pulled from the configuration list after the supplier could not produce it at scale. In response to a shareholder question about SPD potentially being used for Corvette roofs, Harary said he believed the company’s chances improved as a result of the earlier outcome and reiterated that SPD has been validated in serial production across four OEMs.
Product development: black SPD and other refinements
Harary said “black SPD” development continued to advance and described it as important because OEMs have expressed a preference for neutral or black aesthetics in glazing applications. He also listed work underway on new SPD film variants and refinements, including optical improvements, IR and UV integration, manufacturing yield improvements, and access to ancillary technologies needed to create what he called a “super smart window.” He said these refinements were driven by OEM feedback.
Architectural retrofit: launch and initial projects
Harary said Research Frontiers and licensee AIT (also referred to as LTI Smart Glass) launched a retrofit architectural SPD product at GlassBuild America in Orlando. He said the company identified four initial retrofit projects of different sizes, selected to demonstrate different advantages of the system.
As an example, Harary described a historically designated building that initially specified Sage electrochromic glass but pivoted to SPD retrofit because electrochromic installation would have required removal and replacement of exterior glass, which he said was restricted by the historical designation. He said the retrofit approach upgrades performance from inside the existing frame, potentially reducing disruption, manufacturing and installation time, and avoiding facade replacement. He added that projects span residential and commercial buildings and government installations.
In Q&A, Harary said the projects had “already started” and that the retrofit glass itself is “a very solid, developed product,” while the company and partners were working on peripherals and control systems to make the solution easier to integrate. He also said he wanted to develop white papers for architects as proof points for the technology’s use cases.
Looking ahead, Harary reiterated that revenue growth from automotive follows integration and production ramp timelines, emphasizing that the company’s licensing model means revenue typically trails design wins and quotations. He pointed to the expanding pipeline, licensee investments, work on cost and color targets, and diversification across OEMs and applications as reasons he expects 2026 and beyond to be better as programs move toward production.
About Research Frontiers (NASDAQ:REFR)
Research Frontiers Inc (NASDAQ:REFR) is a materials science company specializing in the development and licensing of its proprietary SPD-Smart™ light control film. This patented Suspended Particle Device technology enables electronic tinting of glass to provide variable light transmission, glare reduction and solar heat management. SPD-Smart films are designed for integration into architectural windows, automotive sunroofs and skylights, as well as aerospace and specialty applications.
The company’s core business model revolves around licensing its SPD technology and supplying the functional film to manufacturing partners.
