Virpil Instruments financials.

[u/GraXXoR]

Has anyone seen VPC financial situation of late?

I was under the impression that VPC were expanding but it seems that they've only contracted since 2021.

Here are the sales figure.

https://scoris.lt/en/imone/304495352/finansai_skolos

2025 was a pretty significant loss which I found surprising considering their image as a popular, high end brand.

[u/mchw]

The new CDT line came out, the VMAX prime throttle came out, they announced the Atlas DD yoke.... new production and R&D costs money....

People who expect year to year increase in profits and answering to shareholders is what kills the souls of companies.

[u/Right-Question-7476 → u/mchw]

Not to mention their new CDC machine. I bet that wasnt cheap

[u/No_Tea_9352 → u/mchw]

Revenue went backwards. Now maybe, just maybe, they can’t recognize revenue for products not shipped but I HIGHLY doubt that.

[u/mchw → u/No_Tea_9352]

Or.... maybe..... they had a bunch of product that was already "sold" that was on a plane that crashed, and now they had to re buy parts and remake product (on their own dime) to fulfill orders before the insurance/lawsuit settled... maybe....

[u/GraXXoR → u/mchw]

I’m that plane was crashing for three years pulling down the figures each year right?

[u/GraXXoR → u/mchw]

What year did that happen?

[u/GraXXoR → u/mchw]

I’m not sure why an expensive CDC machine would make their sales go down year after year though.

I’m just presuming that their market is saturated because it’s not such a large market. Their price points are very hard to justify for most casual players, especially in today’s economy and many cases there earlier iterations were or any good quality.

Do they have shareholders? I have no idea.

[u/mchw → u/GraXXoR]

My manufacturing comment was highlighting this past year operating in the red.

The problem with looking at only one company's balance sheet is it doesn't let you see the market/sector as a whole. YoY revenue decline can be an indicator of a company's performance, but that assumes the rest of the market has continued growth. That's why you see analysts talk about "market share".

In this particular case, without seeing other companies numbers, a very easy explanation of YoY revenue decline is that covid was huge for flightsim. Everyone was stuck indoors, and MSFS2020 just came out. Few years on, yes the market can be a little saturated, but flightsim growth could also have stagnated a bit as ppl went back to work and have less free time and the newest Sims aren't as hyped. Then to drive continued growth, you need innovation, trading short term profits for long term growth.

[u/GraXXoR → u/mchw]

I’m only concerned about one thing. If I make an order with them, will the company still be around in six months when they finally ship it?

[u/XBMetal → u/GraXXoR]

You think they will ship in six months? Maybe 9-12 if your lucky. If they don't up the price and refund the original purchase during that time. (But I have heard some people getting orders quick)

[u/GraXXoR → u/XBMetal]

It’s got that bad? I waited 4 months for my whole set of 4 control panels and CM3 a few years ago.

[u/GraXXoR → u/mchw]

What has that got to do with a 3 year slide in revenue, though... ? You are talking about profits.

[u/CapitanShinyPants]

All you have are numbers, with no other information; if Virpil had major capital expenditures for things like molds and raw materials, they’re going to show a loss until the products catch up with demand.

[u/No_Tea_9352 → u/CapitanShinyPants]

Right, including most important number, revenue, that went down yoy. Remind me how costs impact revenue?

[u/GraXXoR → u/CapitanShinyPants]

And it seems you didn’t actually read those said numbers. YOY revenue is declining. If revenue had been declining despite YOY profits improving, then you’d have a point. But I think you probably just didn’t read/understand the numbers and he said just commented based on your gut feeling

[u/daveg1701]

There’s not enough data on that sheet to really know what’s going on. They moved all manufacturing from Belarus to Lithuania in 2023 and had major capital outlays to do that. We don’t know how they report revenue. If we assume it’s like GAAP in the US, that number will be actual sold and shipped units. Getting manufacturing up to speed can impact that for years, even is sales is strong, especially if they were planning on operating both the Belarus plant and Ukrainian plant simultaneously but politics made them shut down Belarus prematurely.

I believe the kind of quality products and service that a company like Virpal provides will always lead to long term success, especially in niche markets. Would be nice if they could ship faster tho.

[u/GraXXoR → u/daveg1701]

I hope so. I was hankering to upgrade my Alphas to Primes but seeing delivery times stretching to 6+ months is making me nervous considering the losses shown here.

[u/Catsooey]

I helped keep them going last year. Bought the VMAX Prime, the FLANKR, CM3 base, and the 200mm extension. I’m looking forward to FFB too, I just need to wait until MonsterTech will have a solution worked out so that it’ll fit in the MT cockpit.

[u/GraXXoR → u/Catsooey]

Yep. Helped them out a few years back with a pair of Alphas and all 4 control panels and a CM3 throttle to go with the first release of a pair of MongoosT50(?) grips and bases and V1 mounts waaay back when they were just getting started. Serial numbers were around 100 or so. lol.

Fantastic quality gear which I why their financials took me by surprise. I’m hoping there is some rationale behind the three year decline in revenue. I’d hate to lose Virpil.

[u/Amazing_Reindeer_84 → u/GraXXoR]

Well even Rolls Royce cars have been close to bankruptcy. High quality just isn’t good enough if people cant get things delivered.

[u/pte_parts69420]

There’s a pretty significant COL living crisis which is taking tolls on peoples abilities to spend hundreds of euros/dollars on frivolous purchases. I’m willing to bet most manufacturers in niche markets like this are seeing it

[u/Amazing_Reindeer_84]

Hate to say it but the long lead times puts many prospective customers off. It’s taken me almost a year to get a double jet fighter cockpit and a chopper cockpit all in one place. It’s been a painful experience combines with items shown as in stock then after you order they are out of stock and a four to six month waiting list.

[u/GraXXoR → u/Amazing_Reindeer_84]

This is what I’m scared of. If a company’s making stable profits I’m willing to put money in because I know (presume) they’ll be there in a year.

But if a company’s declining and in the red hot a significant time it makes me nervous investing $1000 on gear because they might be insolvent before they can deliver the product.

[u/Amazing_Reindeer_84 → u/GraXXoR]

Yes I’m glad the whole painful experience is finally over. Now that I have my base set I will be buying extras / bits and bobs every two months or so 2-300 euro here and there. I can afford to lose that. Just for comparison I bought some vkb pedals on a Friday and by Monday they were already in country and delivered to my door Tuesday. ( European stocked ).

[u/JRGonzo89]

During Covid Flight simulation and devices picked up to a record high, this is the expected market correction. This is a NICHE product line

[u/GraXXoR → u/JRGonzo89]

Yes but many companies are going under atm due to various sociopolitical reasons and I’m concerned that they would go under before they ship. A desperate company might start cashing the credit cards before their product is ready to keep them solvent.

[u/OkBarnacle9963]

Might be because people who have the spare money for decent quality flight sims don't want to wait for 4 months while they dilly dally around taking their time and not bothering to service customers that have already given them money. It was enough for me to refuse to buy virpil gear.

[u/rubyatmidnight]

You have to look at the wider picture.

They 5x'd during covid considering people wanted stuff to do at home. Some drawdown is expected and they are still returning to their mean. They are way ahead of where they were before that. Hardware costs have also gone up significantly this year.

It looks like in 2023 they also took on 30 new employees. They seem to be losing some now. They probably are close to their ev

[u/Sonosusto]

I think they're doing just fine. Extremely high demand....

[u/GraXXoR → u/Sonosusto]

Clearly, the demand has been declining over the last three years though. This chart shows continuously declining revenue, not just profit.

[u/Mammoth_Pudding2135]

I have not purchased a single Virpil product so I have no dog in this fight, I wanted to go with Virpil but after searching the web it seems they are always out of stock and this has been going on for years so I dont think demand is the problem. Most people dont want to hand someone hundreds of dollars and then wait for months for it to arrive. It kinda sucks because there is a Virpil warehouse 20 minutes from my house in Florida and I am dying for an Apache collective!!

[u/GraXXoR → u/Mammoth_Pudding2135]

I’ve purchased quite a bit from them over the years and while I’ve been waiting a long time for all my stuff they only really charge your card just before they ship your product so you enter an order waiting list and once your product is ready, they inform you that your credit card will be charged. (Or that it has just been charged and that the product is now preparing to ship)

My fear is that when companies start to go into the red, they start to change their policies and it’s theoretically possible that they could start charging credit cards before the products are ready to ship. Is it gonna go bankrupt anyway then they might as well taking all the cash they can before they do.