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(Sharecast News) - Seeing Machines reported a record quarter for automotive production volumes on Wednesday, with more than 1.28m vehicles produced using its driver and occupant monitoring technology in the three months to 31 March.
The AIM-traded computer vision technology company said 1,284,557 units were produced in the third quarter of its 2026 financial year, up 122% from 578,363 in the second quarter and 259% from 358,162 a year earlier.
Seeing Machines said third-quarter automotive royalty revenue exceeded total automotive royalty revenue for the first half of the financial year, reflecting accelerating driver monitoring system fitment across existing and new production programmes.
The company said the increase came as automotive manufacturers prepared for the July 2026 European General Safety Regulation deadline, supporting expected operating leverage in its automotive royalty model.
There were now 6,103,288 cars on the road with Seeing Machines' driver and occupant monitoring system technology, up 88% from 3,241,907 a year earlier.
Chief executive Paul McGlone said the third quarter marked "a clear inflection point" for the company.
"Importantly, Q3 royalty revenue was higher than royalty revenue for the entire first half of the financial year, demonstrating the operating leverage in our automotive model as production programs scale," he said.
"Automotive production volumes exceeded 1.28 million units in the quarter, a record level, as OEMs scaled up DMS fitment ahead of the July 2026 European regulatory deadline and the Company expects to deliver positive adjusted EBITDA in Q3 and H2 FY2026."
Seeing Machines said it believed the quarter marked a transition to significantly higher quarterly volumes, driven by regulatory-led fitment, which it expected to continue increasing into the 2027 financial year as manufacturers deploy driver monitoring systems across European platforms.
McGlone said production volumes were expected to rise again in the fourth quarter based on current schedules.
"The step-change in quarterly volumes is significant and we believe this marks the beginning of a new phase of higher, more consistent production volumes as we move through the end of FY2026 and into FY2027," he said.
In the aftermarket business, Seeing Machines reported 1,610 Guardian hardware unit sales, down from 3,764 in the second quarter.
The company said some sales expected in the third quarter had shifted into the fourth quarter, but early fourth-quarter performance was encouraging.
Guardian annual recurring revenue rose 5% quarter-on-quarter to $14.7m from $14.0m, and was up from $13.4m a year earlier.
Seeing Machines said annual recurring revenue continued to increase as installed hardware was connected and activated, converting hardware deployments into recurring, high-margin service revenue.
The company said Guardian customer contracts typically span about 36 months, supporting revenue visibility as the connected base expands. It added that customer engagement continued to strengthen across all regions, supporting confidence in the near-term conversion pipeline.
"With more than six million cars now on road, our focus remains on converting this momentum into sustained royalty growth as global transport safety requirements continue to strengthen," McGlone said.
At 1436 BST, shares in Seeing Machines were up 9.98% at 4.55p.
Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.
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