Revenue Recognition

6 Months Ended

Apr. 30, 2024

Revenue Recognition

Revenue Recognition

Note 4. Revenue Recognition

Contract Balances

Contract assets as of April 30, 2024 and October 31, 2023 were $47.8 million ($21.4 million long-term) and $42.1 million ($25.8 million long-term), respectively. The contract assets relate to the Company’s rights to consideration for work completed but not yet billed. These amounts are included on a separate line item as Unbilled receivables, and balances expected to be billed later than one year from the balance sheet date are included within Other assets on the accompanying Consolidated Balance Sheets. We bill customers for power platform and power platform component sales based on certain contractual milestones being reached. We bill service agreements based on the contract price and billing terms of the contracts. Generally, our Advanced Technologies contracts are billed based on actual revenues recorded, typically in the subsequent month. Some Advanced Technologies contracts are billed based on contractual milestones or costs incurred.

Contract liabilities as of April 30, 2024 and October 31, 2023 were $7.7 million and $3.1 million, respectively. These amounts are included on a separate line item as Deferred revenue, and balances expected to be recognized as revenue beyond one year from the balance sheet date are included within Long-term deferred revenue on the accompanying Consolidated Balance Sheets. The contract liabilities relate to the advance billings to customers for services that will be recognized over time and in some instances for deferred revenue relating to variable consideration for previously sold products. The net change in contract liabilities represents customer billings offset by revenue recognized.

Consideration Payable to a Customer

As of October 31, 2023, the Company had recorded $6.3 million ($6.0 million long-term) as consideration payable to Toyota Motor North America (“Toyota”), which is included within Accrued liabilities and Long-term debt and other liabilities on the accompanying Consolidated Balance Sheets. The Company received payment for the sale of an investment tax credit with respect to the Toyota project at the Port of Long Beach during the year ended October 31, 2023 and the net amount of $6.3 million will be recorded as a reduction to revenue during the period of measurement, which is the 20-year term of the hydrogen production and power purchase agreement between Toyota and the Company (“Toyota HPPA”).

Advanced Technologies Revenue – EMTEC Joint Development Agreement and Rotterdam Pilot Project Purchase Order

In May 2023, the Company entered into a second letter agreement with ExxonMobil Technology and Engineering Company (formerly known as ExxonMobil Research and Engineering Company) (“EMTEC”), pursuant to which the parties agreed that the conditions to the Company’s agreement to invest in the future demonstration of the technology for capturing carbon at an ExxonMobil refinery located in Rotterdam, Netherlands (such demonstration, the “Rotterdam Project”) were met in April 2023 and, as a result, the Company will recognize $2.5 million of the $5.0 million milestone payment received in fiscal year 2022 under the Company’s Joint Development Agreement with EMTEC as revenue across future deliverables to EMTEC. Of this $2.5 million, the Company recognized revenue of $0.9 million through April 30, 2024. The other $2.5 million of the $5.0 million milestone payment received in fiscal year 2022 under the Company’s Joint Development Agreement with EMTEC was applied during fiscal year 2023 to discount EMTEC’s purchase of the Company’s fuel cell module and detailed engineering design for the Rotterdam Project.

On January 31, 2024, the Company received a purchase order valued at $11.6 million from Esso Nederland B.V. (“Esso”), an affiliate of Exxon Mobil Corporation and EMTEC, for fuel cell modules as well as engineering, procurement, fabrication, testing and delivery services required for the construction and implementation of the modular point source carbon capture pilot plant at the Esso Rotterdam Manufacturing Complex. The Company expects that this pilot plant will be completed and commissioned early in calendar year 2026.

On and effective as of March 31, 2024, the Company and EMTEC entered into Amendment No. 5 (“Amendment No. 5”) to the Joint Development Agreement between the Company and EMTEC (as amended, the “Joint Development Agreement”). In Amendment No. 5, the Company and EMTEC further extended the term of the Joint Development Agreement such that it will end on December 31, 2026 (unless terminated earlier), so that the Company and EMTEC may pursue continued work to allow for technical readiness of the Generation 2 Technology fuel cell module as well as additional continuous technology development. In parallel with the Joint Development Agreement, the Company and EMTEC will pursue pioneer commercial deployments of the Generation 2 Technology with third parties, with the Company as the fuel cell module manufacturer for such deployments. Amendment No. 5 also removed the cap on the maximum amount of research costs to be reimbursed by EMTEC, and instead includes an expected annual budget for the

anticipated work through the remaining term of the Joint Development Agreement of at least $10.0 million per year, subject to approval by EMTEC. 

In addition, Amendment No. 5 provides the Company with the ability to pursue new carbon capture projects with third parties for the remaining duration of the term of the Joint Development Agreement using Generation 1 Technology or Generation 2 Technology (provided that the use of Generation 2 Technology must be limited to the use of Generation 2 physical fuel cell properties and design elements in Generation 1 Technology modules), with any new sales of such activities, authorized work, and carbon capture projects, when summed together, having the capability of capturing no more than 250,000 tons of CO₂ on a cumulative annual basis. Under Amendment No. 5, following expiration of the term of the Joint Development Agreement, the Company will also have the opportunity to continue to service continuing obligations for such projects entered into during the term of the Joint Development Agreement (e.g., completion of contracted builds, service and repair/replacement of components, etc.). To allow the Company to pursue such projects, in Amendment No. 5, EMTEC also granted to the Company a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free, irrevocable (during the term of the Joint Development Agreement), non-sub-licensable license to EMTEC’s Generation 1 Technology as well as to EMTEC’s Generation 2 Technology physical fuel cell properties and design elements.

Remaining Performance Obligations

Remaining performance obligations are the aggregate amount of total contract transaction price that is unsatisfied or partially unsatisfied. As of April 30, 2024, the Company’s total remaining performance obligations were: $145.1 million for service agreements (expected to be recognized as revenue over approximately three to fifteen years which is based on the remaining term of the service agreements), $335.3 million for generation power purchase agreements (“PPAs”) (expected to be recognized as revenue over approximately nineteen to twenty years based on the PPA terms remaining), $14.2 million for Advanced Technologies contracts (expected to be recognized within approximately two years) and $12.3 for product purchase agreements (expected to be recognized within the next year).