TMC the metals company Inc.

Q4 2025 Earnings Call — March 27, 2026

Joseph Osha (Guggenheim Partners): Thank you. Good morning, everyone. Congratulations on the strong results. You talked a lot about how your craft labor force availability is allowing you to take work even in very tight markets like data centers, which is great. I'm wondering if you're seeing changes or any other challenges in that market in particular as relates to your customers' availability of material or other things, or whether you're seeing those projects able to proceed on a timely basis for the most part?

Steve Hansen (Executive): Yeah, Joe, great question. To date, we haven't seen a supply chain issue that is pushing schedules out. Data center clients and our blue chip clients, they're looking far into the future and securing the materials they need and working with us up front to make sure that the material chain that we are working within is also available. So to date, no, we have not.

Adam Hubei (Goldman Sachs): Hi, good morning. Data center technology revenue, I think, was up 80% year-over-year. Can you just help us parse out that performance? How much was fabrication versus installation growth? And then in 2026, can you just talk about your expectations for the growth trajectory of the data center fabrication business specifically?

Management: Sure. You know, we are growing both just our installation at a nice clip of data centers where we're completing the whole installation for the mechanical or electrical services, but also the fabrication is growing probably at an even higher rate as we're participating in build-outs in these rural areas where we don't have an installation footprint. Just to give you a sense, even though we don't break out the fabrication-only revenue, but it's a proportion of our I&M segment revenue. In 2024, it would have been a mid-single-digit percentage of our revenue with FAB-only work, where it was a mid-teens percentage in 2025 with FAB-only. So it is growing at a higher rate, as you'd expect, given where many of these data centers are being built. We expect that to probably pick up a bit in 2026, but maybe not quite as much as you'd expect, because as we bring in Bowers, they historically, almost all of their fab capacity is going for their installation jobs and not serving other markets. So that's probably an opportunity as we get further into 2027 and beyond.

Management: Yeah, that's a great question. We are seeing, in a positive way, an elongation of that backlog, driven by a couple of factors. Obviously, with the ongoing boom in data centers, just longer lead times, and also larger projects. Larger projects obviously take a little bit longer to burn than smaller projects. Those are some of the factors. We expect to burn a little bit over half of our backlog in 2026. And then, of course, the majority of the remainder would be in 2027. But we also have backlog extending into 2028, and not an insignificant portion. So we have visibility through our backlog and awards of revenue going out much further than we ever would have in the past.

Sharif Elmaghrabi (BTIG): Good morning. Thanks for taking my question. Pretty impressive beat this quarter. Can you shed some light on how much of Q4 revenue was driven by the backlog versus book and ship type orders that might have come in into a quarter? And how you see the business mix evolving over the last few months?

Management: Yeah, there's certainly a bit of both, probably more from backlog, and just really exceptional performance on larger projects, favorable project closeout, increasing proportion of the FAB work that we discussed, but certainly some quick-hitting jobs that provided some upside to the core.

Brian Brophy (Stifel): Yeah, thanks. Good morning, everybody. Appreciate you taking the question. Nice quarter. Just had one on I&M gross margins. Obviously, they were a little bit better than folks were expecting. You mentioned some strong execution benefits in the comments, but any other color on what drove the strength there? Was there any improvement that was more of a one-time benefit? And how should we be thinking about the sustainability of gross margins into 2026?

Management: Yeah, it's a great question. And we're certainly optimistic about our ability to continue to have this exceptional performance. But of course, we don't want to get ahead of ourselves on the guidance. We have had two exceptional quarters in a row from a project execution perspective. And so we're not going to forecast that level of beat every quarter. Again, I think I mentioned the increased proportion of fab-only, which tend to get a little bit higher margins on the fabrication-only business as opposed to the full install jobs, which are much bigger and tend to be much bigger even in scope, a bigger revenue opportunity. But also as we continue to complete more and more of these larger data-centered jobs, the work is similar, and so we're probably in the area.

Management: Yeah, as we mentioned earlier around the supply chain question, hyperscalers and developers are looking further out and getting commitments to build. And we've worked really hard with them. The earlier we are in with them, the better we can help them plan and manage and mitigate risk from supply. And so we're having more and more conversations with them on projects being built all over the place. And Stephen said it earlier, some of these projects that are just getting bigger in scale, they have to plan further out. We're well into 29 in conversation.

Michael Dudas (Vertical Research Partners): Yes. Good Friday morning, gentlemen. Taking a look at the non-data center technology side of the business, you highlighted a few times in your prepared remarks about diversity and the opportunities there. As you look to 2026 and into 2027, is it a normal growth rate relative to what you've seen? Is it accelerating? Is there any areas? Certainly, there's a lot of visibility in life science and healthcare, a lot of press releases on that front. But also, it seems like the education and think local could be very helpful. How contributory is that going to be relative to your prior expectations going into 2026 on your outlook?

Management: That's a great question. I'll start and my colleagues will chime in. We certainly like the long-term macro tailwinds from an onshoring and reshoring perspective on manufacturing. That certainly also applies to the life sciences space. We like, I think we're seeing some green shoots, if you will, on the biotech lab space as existing square footage gets absorbed and that turns into ultimately new demand for us from a tenant fit out perspective. And then I think we always have loved the education business because the installed base is so massive. And there's always a need to improve the efficiency of existing schools, whether it's primary schools, K-12 schools, or higher education from an R&D and STEM perspective. And that really fits right into our wheelhouse of having this holistic view of design-build in most facilities. And finally, this increase in the price or expense related to electricity. It helps from an energy efficiency, return on investment perspective. Essentially, the math is easier as energy becomes more expensive, which is a demand driver for us. Now, how do we turn that into a hard number in terms of expected growth rates from before versus today? I'll sort of pass the mic to Steven to try to take those vague comments and boil them down into a more specific number.

Steven: Yeah, and Jeff, you nailed it on those trends that are impacting the results. The reshoring is definitely a longer-term impact and something that we've probably talked about in past meetings with you all that we really see that having more of an impact as we get further and further into the decades. And a lot of these big projects, like semiconductor fabs, just multi-year planning cycle. We're seeing now benefits from reshoring that started at the time of COVID. Of course, there's been a lot of reshoring announcements with some of the administration's policies that we've seen in 2025 and 2026. And so we're obviously optimistic that that's going to provide some nice uplift as we get into 2027 and beyond.

Derek Soderberg (Cantor Fitzgerald): Yeah, thanks for taking my question. On your proprietary software, Trove, the real-time data evaluation software, to what degree is software now contributing to revenue? And is it a mandatory pull through for some of your larger data center installations?

Management: Yeah, that's a great question, Derek. You know, Trove is really focused on the commercial real estate market. And it's a tool that we use internally to do analysis of portfolios of buildings for building owners to sort of rack and stack and prioritize capital improvements to improve the performance of their buildings. It also is at times used by customers who want to sort of DIY that same analysis. We're happy to do it either way. That said, in either scenario, that really has a de minimis impact on our revenue. It's really part of our bundled solution that we sell to the large global property managers in the world.

Chris Sung (Wolf Research): Hey, good morning, guys. Thanks for taking my question. Maybe just asking on the data center deliveries in 29 a little bit differently. Are the data center opportunities for 29 onwards, or are there still hyperscalers bookings for 26, 27, 28 for new data centers?

Management: Yeah, no we're still looking at opportunities before that timeline 26, 27, 28 as well. I think that the key point is the relationship has allowed us to get further into the planning weeds with our client base and get a much better view of what's coming in the future.

Management: Yeah, I mean, we don't have a breakdown of that handy, but, I mean, certainly we're continuing to win larger and larger awards with our existing clients, and we're continuing to see new clients, even new blue chip clients. Often those initial awards are probably smaller than the awards that we see from our existing clients, but as we execute, we'd expect those to grow over time.

Joseph Osha (Guggenheim Partners): I made it back. This is a bit of a geeky question. We've heard a lot about the shift to 800-volt DC in data centers. I'm wondering if you all have encountered any of those yet.

Management: Yeah, we have not. And really, that shift will not affect our work. That we do for them, the conveyance of material and everything else that we're doing, that shift won't be a big driver for us. Our electrical installation team will see some of that, but we have not really seen that become prevalent in the market yet.

Oliver Davies (Rothschild and Co., Redburn): Yeah, hi, guys. Just one for me. So I guess obviously a very strong Q1 guide, even on an organic basis. Can you sort of discuss how you expect the cadence of organic growth to progress through the rest of the year?

Management: Yeah, you know, we don't have huge seasonality in our business, though we do have some. We tend to peak in the second and third quarters, and it's really driven primarily by our program and project management business. You know, if you look at the disaggregation of revenues, that business, a lot of that business is in the education end market, which really tends to peak in the summer months. There may be some pockets of seasonality elsewhere in the business, but that's the pocket that I would highlight as being most significant.

Management: Thanks, Daniel, and thanks, everyone, for attending our fourth quarter 2025 earnings call. A recording of this call will be available on our website in a few hours. We look forward to updating you again on our next earnings call. Thank you, everyone, again, and have a great weekend. This concludes today's conference call. Thank you for participating. You may now disconnect.

Q3 2025 Earnings Call — November 13, 2025

Dimitri Silverstein (Water Tower Research): Good afternoon, gentlemen. Thank you for taking my call. To clarify one thing, I think I missed this one when Joe was talking about potential incoming cash if all of the warrants are exercised. Can you repeat what that number was?

Craig (Executive): So, the total potential proceeds, excluding, you know, some that were exercised over the course of Q3 and in October, total potential additional proceeds would be over $432 million, the majority of which would be the $11.50 strike price public and private warrants from the SOAC, Deep Green business combination, and those have an expiration date of September 2026. There's also some nuance, Dimitri, because there are certain warrants and, you know, there's half a dozen categories outstanding, certain warrants where they may have cashless exercise, but overall there's a very significant potential inflow of cash at what we would view to be interesting exercise prices. So, point being, we do have a very strong liquidity position today at $165 million. There's over $50 million of warrant proceeds that could come from in-the-money warrants, and then quite a bit more beyond that.

Dimitri Silverstein (Water Tower Research): Understood. Thank you for that clarity. Eman, I was excited to hear you guys are sending Hidden Gem off to Japan. Understanding international relationships and helping out with diplomacy. Is this a pro bono work for you, or are you going to be getting paid for the exploration that you help the Japanese do?

Eman (Executive): Certainly not pro bono. But Allseas, we didn't step in the middle of that. Allseas will have a direct contract with the foundation that is funding that program. TMC will also get some financial benefit out of that as well. But certainly not pro bono.

Dimitri Silverstein (Water Tower Research): Understood, Gerald. And then final question. You mentioned that NOAA is adjusting – it's streamlining its regulation process and combining exploration and commercial exploitation licenses. How exactly would that work? In other words, does gaining an exploration license basically – you have to have a commercial – project in place? I mean, why would you combine those two licenses? How would that work in your case specifically?

Gerard (Executive): Well, today, if you read the regulations, you have to have an exploration license before they'll consider a commercial recovery permit. That's impractical in our case because we are a slightly unique case. In fact, I'd say we're the only company in the world who has an already prepared commercial recovery permit application with all of the substantiating data. And so, you know, that meant that from a normal perspective, like we've already got an exploration license that's with the ISA. So we'd like you to start work on the commercial recovery permit straight away. And they're like, yeah, we want to start work on that as well. But we do need to change the regs to allow for that. And so it's a little bit of tidy up. Because it was never anticipated when they put these regs in place in 1980 that an applicant would have already done that work. So, you know, they're just making good with the current circumstances. So it's a very good opportunity for us.

Dimitri Silverstein (Water Tower Research): Understood, Gerard. Thank you. That's all the questions I have for now.

Management: Thank you, Dimitri.

Yakov Stefanski (Webcast): Will the exploration permit be granted at the same time as the production permit? If not, when is the exploration permit anticipated to be approved?

Management: Without getting into specific dates, I think it's worth noting that, you know, implicit in our Q4 2027 production start time, the grant of this permit, the commercial recovery permit, is no longer the critical path, given that P&C and all Cs agree that there is sufficient regulatory certainty provided by the U.S. process that we can get ourselves ready to go on the hidden gem vessel and even begin soon ordering some longer lead time items. So while there is a possibility of the streamlined and consolidated exploration license and commercial recovery permit process being accelerating the potential grant of both, even if this path were to be sequential, first exploration license, then commercial recovery permit, that is all still consistent with the Q4 2027 production start date. So we'll provide more data as we continue down the NOAA path. But again, as noted, it was very heartening to see that they were working during the shutdown on the consolidated process and now back at their desks full time.

James Selke (Webcast): The PFS explains an approach of processing that products through Capital Light at existing facilities in the Eastern Hemisphere, but it also assumes that by year 10 of production, we are bringing some refining capacity to the United States. So Jared, just kind of an overall question, what opportunities do we see available for funding and permitting and construction of such facilities at scale within the United States?

Jared (Executive): A little comment for you, James, too. I mean, we do note the refining capacity that's implicit in the pre-feasibility study, and then additional assumptions made for the initial assessment. Most of that is focused on spending in the 2030s and beyond. But obviously, look, the U.S. has a major gap when it comes to certain metals, and TMC is fortunate to have, you know, not only the expertise here, but the ability to be flexible on what product formats might be. And I think we've demonstrated that with the world's first production of manganese sulfate from the nodule-derived intermediate manganese silicate product. So I think our overall message is, you know, we've put out our PFS and our initial assessments, and those assumptions are quite clear in those documents. But there is flexibility that we have through this unique nodule resource, and that puts us in a very good position when talking about capital providers, whether it's through the U.S. government or the private markets.

Management: We must show no questions from the phone lines.

Jared (Executive): Okay. Well, thank you everyone for attending today's call, and we have an exciting run-in to the end of the year. Craig is off to the benchmark conference, I'm off to DC, and we're happy the government's back to work, and we'll be sure to keep you updated on exciting developments. If not, we'll chat to you on our next quarter. This concludes today's conference call. Thank you for participating. You may now disconnect.