Senstar Technologies (NASDAQ:SNT) reported a first-quarter loss as revenue declined modestly from a year earlier, with management pointing to project timing delays, elongated procurement cycles and delayed U.S. government-related activity as key factors weighing on results.
Chief Executive Officer Fabien Haubert said the quarter was “transitional” and affected by several timing-related issues, particularly in the U.S. corrections market and by the absence of a large, non-recurring energy project in the Asia-Pacific region that benefited the prior-year period. He said the company did not record any major project losses in U.S. corrections and expects most delayed projects to convert over the remainder of 2026.
“Despite this near-term pressure, we continue to see healthy customer engagement and pipeline activity across several of our strategic growth areas,” Haubert said.
Revenue declines as U.S. corrections and APAC comparisons weigh
Chief Financial Officer Alicia Kelly said first-quarter revenue was $8.1 million, compared with $8.4 million in the year-ago quarter. The decline was attributed to non-recurring project timing in APAC and the impact of the U.S. federal government shutdown, partly offset by stronger lidar revenue.
By geography, EMEA was the company’s strongest region, with revenue rising 43% year over year. Kelly said growth in the region was driven by demand in utilities, telecom, energy, corrections, solar farms and military markets. EMEA accounted for 45% of first-quarter revenue, up from 30% a year earlier.
North America revenue declined 20%, including a 21% decline in the U.S. Kelly said the U.S. performance reflected challenging market dynamics, including a 35% decline in the corrections vertical tied to the federal government shutdown and related project delays. Canada revenue fell 14% in the quarter. North America represented 41% of total revenue, down from 49% a year earlier.
APAC revenue declined 30%, largely due to a difficult comparison with a large energy project in the first quarter of 2025 that did not repeat. The region accounted for 13% of revenue, compared with 17% in the prior-year quarter.
Profitability pressured by mix, lower revenue and Blickfeld costs
Gross margin fell to 60% from 67.2% in the year-ago quarter. Kelly said the change was primarily due to less favorable product mix, lower revenue and overhead expense savings.
Operating expenses rose 18% to $5.5 million from $4.6 million a year earlier, representing 67.5% of revenue compared with 54.8% in the prior-year period. Kelly said the acquisition of Blickfeld added approximately $600,000 of operating expenses during the ownership period. The largest increases were in general and administrative expenses and marketing, reflecting Blickfeld’s commercial structure, targeted sales and marketing investments, foreign exchange impacts and an extraordinary bad debt provision of about $100,000.
Senstar reported an operating loss of $603,000, compared with operating income of $1 million in the first quarter of last year. EBITDA was a loss of $403,000, compared with positive EBITDA of $1.2 million a year earlier.
Net loss attributable to Senstar shareholders was $800,000, or $0.04 per share, compared with net income of $1 million, or $0.04 per share, in the prior-year quarter.
As of March 31, 2026, Senstar had cash, cash equivalents and short-term bank deposits of $10.6 million, or $0.45 per share, excluding restricted cash of $900,000 related to Blickfeld’s closing balances. The company had no debt at quarter-end.
Lidar becomes a larger part of Senstar’s growth strategy
Haubert highlighted lidar as an increasingly important part of Senstar’s strategy following the Blickfeld acquisition. He said consolidated lidar revenue reached 11% of total revenue in the quarter, with strong order intake and most recent bookings scheduled for delivery in the second quarter and beyond.
Haubert said combined lidar sales across Blickfeld and Senstar grew by about four times in the first quarter, which he said validated the strategic rationale for the acquisition and demonstrated early commercial traction. He noted that the figures were provided for context and may not be disclosed quarterly in the future.
“Lidar is becoming a technological cornerstone of Senstar Technologies and plays an increasingly important role in our long-term strategic plan,” Haubert said.
Management said lidar applications are gaining traction both within and beyond traditional security markets. In the question-and-answer session, Haubert said non-security lidar opportunities include volume monitoring for bulk materials such as salt, sand, fertilizer and petrochemicals, as well as traffic monitoring applications for smart city infrastructure. He said traffic applications can classify vehicles, bikes and trucks, measure speed and direction, and provide information for managing intersections and roads.
Haubert also said the company is seeing lidar interest across existing security verticals, including corrections, airports and data centers, and that Senstar is working with both existing customers and distributors to broaden market reach.
New products expected in the second half of 2026
Senstar also discussed two product innovations introduced at ISC West in Las Vegas. Haubert said the company’s next-generation embedded fiber platform includes a compact, ruggedized, AI-enhanced architecture designed to improve detection performance, deployment and operational robustness, along with a redesigned graphical user interface.
The company also introduced the Senstar Sensor Fusion Engine, described as an enhancement to its Symphony software management platform. Haubert said the system brings workflow engine functionality and a new graphical interface intended to support scenario understanding across sensors.
Both products are on track for market release in the second half of 2026, according to Haubert, who said they are expected to support Senstar’s competitive positioning and expansion within existing accounts.
Pipeline remains a focus after uneven quarter
Management said project timing remains a near-term issue but emphasized customer engagement, order activity and pipeline diversification across geographies and end markets. Haubert said the overall pipeline is “kind of comparable” with the level at the end of December, while the lidar pipeline is increasing “tremendously” quarter to quarter.
Haubert said Senstar remains focused on improving revenue conversion over the coming quarters while continuing to pursue opportunities in EMEA, U.S. corrections, utilities, data centers, energy and lidar-related markets.
About Senstar Technologies (NASDAQ:SNT)
Senstar Technologies is a global provider of physical security solutions, specializing in perimeter intrusion detection and video security management. The company develops and markets a comprehensive suite of sensors and systems designed to protect critical infrastructure, commercial facilities and government sites from unauthorized access and potential security threats. Its core technology offerings include fiber optic sensing, fence-mounted detectors, microwave barriers and advanced video analytics, which can be deployed independently or fully integrated into existing security frameworks.
Among its flagship products are fiber optic perimeter intrusion detection systems that use optical sensing to detect disturbances along fences or perimeter lines, as well as active infrared and microwave sensors that create virtual detection zones.
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