ClearSign Technologies (NASDAQ:CLIR) reported lower first-quarter revenue and a wider net loss as management said the company continues to advance several refinery, chemical and flare projects that it views as important to future order activity.
On the company’s first-quarter 2026 earnings call, Chief Financial Officer Brent Hinds said ClearSign recognized approximately $200,000 in revenue for the quarter, down from approximately $400,000 in the same period of 2025. Hinds attributed the year-over-year decline primarily to lower parts deliveries during the quarter.
ClearSign’s net loss increased by $114,000 compared with the first quarter of 2025. Hinds said the impact of lower gross profit was partly offset by a $369,000 reduction in general and administrative expenses. He said the G&A decline was largely due to reduced legal fees tied to a special committee of the board that was decommissioned after the company’s 2025 stockholder meeting.
Net cash used in operations was approximately $1.3 million in the first quarter of 2026, compared with approximately $1.1 million in the same period last year. As of March 31, 2026, ClearSign had approximately $7.7 million in cash and cash equivalents and approximately 5.4 million shares of common stock outstanding, Hinds said.
California refinery project moves to next phase
Chief Executive Officer Jim Deller discussed a recently announced order for the next phase of a 32-burner project for a California refinery. He said the project was one of two orders received in late 2025, alongside a 36-burner order for a Texas refinery.
Deller said the California project’s first phase, which included initial engineering and computational modeling, has been completed. The next phase involves detailed engineering and fabrication of the first burner article, followed by installation and demonstration in a full-scale test furnace at Zeeco’s facility.
The project uses ClearSign Core Gen 2 technology in a modified form for what the company described as a flat flame application. Deller said the Gen 2 technology is a configurable burner platform that can be adapted to different heater formats, including long, thin burners that fire against a wall.
“What we actually developed was a configurable architecture that we could then adapt to flat planes or different burner shapes or formats to fit into the variety of different heaters you find on a refinery,” Deller said.
Deller said the engineering and testing portion of the current California order is “just shy of half a million dollars.” He also described a typical process burner project, using a hypothetical 30-burner order. Based on company guidance of an average process burner price of about $100,000, he said equipment for such a project would total roughly $3 million, with about $300,000 in engineering, computer modeling and testing in the initial phases.
Hinds said these projects are generally self-funding because the company receives cash from customers before recognizing revenue and before incurring related costs. Deller said stage payments often include about 50% upfront when a manufacturing order is released and the remaining 50% when the product is ready to be collected from Zeeco.
Texas order aimed at heater performance
Deller said the 36-burner order for a Texas refinery differs from the California project. While the job includes an emissions limit, he said the main driver is improved heater performance.
Deller said ClearSign’s technology is designed to help customers meet emissions requirements at a lower cost than Selective Catalytic Reduction, or SCR, systems, while also allowing the company to shape and structure flames to improve heater operation. In some cases, he said, that can reduce maintenance requirements or increase heater throughput.
For the Texas order, Deller said the burners will fire horizontally through opposing walls in a heater configuration he compared to a series of square boxes placed next to each other. He said the project represents another adaptation of ClearSign’s burner technology and reflects the company’s increasing engagement with larger refiners and larger heaters.
Gen 2 demonstration draws industry attendees
Management also highlighted a recent demonstration of the company’s Gen 2 process burner technology at Zeeco. Deller described the event as successful, saying the burner met emissions expectations and operated from 100% natural gas to 100% hydrogen before transitioning back to natural gas.
Deller said 23 people attended the demonstration, including representatives from eight large refiners or natural energy companies, as well as consultants and heater manufacturers. He also noted that Zeeco President and CEO Darton Zink attended and introduced ClearSign at the event.
Feedback following the demonstration was positive, Deller said, including from industry participants he encountered the following week at an American Petroleum Institute conference. He said many attendees were evaluating technologies to help meet regulatory requirements, including rules being formalized for Texas and existing requirements in California.
Other projects and product lines
ClearSign also discussed a 26-burner project for a petrochemical customer on the U.S. Gulf Coast. Deller said the burners were completed in September and shipped in early January. They are expected to be installed around midyear, with startup currently scheduled for October.
Deller said the project places ClearSign equipment in a chemical plant, though the heaters are similar to refinery process heaters. He described the flat flame configuration being developed for the California project as a potential stepping stone toward longer-term opportunities in higher-temperature chemical applications.
The company also received another M1 burner order from Tulsa U.S. Midstream, which Deller said was the first adopter of the M1 Series product. He said ClearSign continues to see interest and inquiries for both M1 and M25 burners, although orders have not come as quickly as the company would like.
Asked about average M Series pricing, Deller said the company’s general guidance of about $100,000 per burner remains a reasonable average. He said common M1 burner sizes range from roughly $80,000 to more than $200,000, while M25 burners generally sell at lower price points, commonly ranging from about $50,000 to $150,000 or $200,000 depending on size.
Deller said the M Series products are standard burner configurations, which could improve efficiency and profitability as repeat orders use existing drawings and engineering.
Management points to pipeline, startup milestones
Deller said ClearSign’s order intake and revenue are likely to remain “lumpy,” but he emphasized that customer inquiries and engagements have continued. He pointed to the 32-burner and 36-burner orders already in-house, a flare source test expected next month and the Gulf Coast startup scheduled for October as key milestones.
The company is also preparing for source testing of a new generation flare installation in California. Deller said ClearSign has additional flare quotes outstanding to existing customers and believes successful source testing could support future orders.
On the regulatory environment, Deller said reductions in CO2-related regulation do not materially affect ClearSign because its technology is focused on NOx emissions. He said NOx rules continue to be driven largely by states in the U.S., and he sees tightening emissions standards in Europe and the Far East as positive for the company’s longer-term prospects.
In response to a question about competition, Deller said ClearSign primarily competes with SCR systems. He said the company’s objective is to displace SCR technology going forward and described ClearSign as having strong name recognition in the SCR-level NOx burner market.
About ClearSign Technologies (NASDAQ:CLIR)
ClearSign Technologies Corporation is a clean energy technology company specializing in advanced combustion solutions that significantly reduce emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx), carbon monoxide (CO), and greenhouse gases from industrial and power generation sources. Established in 2010 and based in Santa Rosa, California, ClearSign has developed proprietary burner and sensing platforms designed to enhance fuel efficiency and environmental performance for gas turbines, furnaces, boilers, and incineration units.
The company’s core offerings center around two technology platforms: the XCL™ ultra-low NOx combustion system and the SGM™ (Syngas & Gas Measurement) sensor suite.
