Beam Global expects to save about $2.7 million in rent over five years by moving its California manufacturing to Yuma, Arizona. About $400,000 of that falls in 2026 alone.
The company, listed on Nasdaq as BEEM, announced the move on June 25, 2026. Its corporate headquarters stays in San Diego. Plants in Chicago, Belgrade and Kraljevo in Serbia, and Abu Dhabi keep running as before.
The Yuma campus
The new site is two adjacent industrial buildings with roughly 55,000 square feet of office and manufacturing space. Beam takes the first on July 15, 2026, and the second on January 1, 2027. The lease runs through July 31, 2031, and the company holds the right to buy the property at a fixed price at any point during the term.
Production is supposed to continue through the transition without a pause.
Rent is only part of the pitch. Beam also points to cheaper labor, benefits, insurance, utilities and regulatory costs in Arizona, plus incentive programs from the city of Yuma and the state. The factory sits in a manufacturing zone with road and rail access, and management expects lower shipping bills. Workers would pay lower state income taxes and face a lower cost of living, housing especially. With Marine Corps Air Station Yuma nearby, the company expects to keep hiring veterans, and it says local data shows a bigger pool of manufacturing workers than the San Diego area offers.
The aim, the company said, is higher gross margins and a faster route to positive cash flow.
What the second-quarter call said
By the August earnings call, CFO Lisa Potok told investors the relocation was complete. Revenue for the second quarter came in at $8.6 million, up 21% from a year earlier. Gross margin was 17.8%, down from 20.3%, which the company tied to fixed overhead spread over fewer units. The net loss narrowed to $3.1 million, or $0.14 a share, from $4.3 million, or $0.28 a share.
CEO Desmond Wheatley said the Yuma plant lets Beam do work in-house that it used to send out in San Diego: coatings, sandblasting and painting. He said the company is targeting 50% gross margins once volume is high enough to absorb fixed costs.
Beam ended June with $5.4 million in backlog, no debt and an unused $100 million line of credit.
Sources
- Beam Global (BEEM) Q2 2026 Earnings Call Transcript | The Motley Fool
- Beam Global Relocates Manufacturing Operations to Yuma, AZ
