Synaptics to benefit from increasing adoption of biometrics: report

A new research report helmed by Cowen analyst Robert Stone stated that Synaptics is positioned to benefit from the increasing adoption of biometric user authentication systems, according to a report by Investors.com.

Stone’s report stated his outperform rating on Synaptics stock and raised his price target to 115 from 105.

Synaptics stock saw a record high of 97.57 last Friday and has increased by 38% this year.

According to Cowen’s midyear 2015 information technology spending survey, 90% of respondents said they plan to deploy biometric user authentication.

Of the 95 respondents in its survey, 28% are already deploying biometric authentication, 41% plan to do so within one year, 14% in 12-24 months and 7% beyond 24 months.

Additionally, less than 10% of respondents have no plans to deploy biometric readers.

Stone also pointed out that Microsoft’s Windows 10 operating system, which will support biometric authentication, should help increase adoption of biometric technology, with 51% of respondents stating that they plan to deploy the operating system within a year of its upcoming summer release.

Ninety percent of respondents who said they would deploy Windows 10 within one year said they are either currently implementing biometrics or plan to do so within a year.

Synaptics is the leading supplier of fingerprint sensors for Windows notebook PCs and plans to launch desktop products at Computex next week, Stone said.

Survey respondents plan to support multiple biometric technologies, but fingerprint readers were the most frequently cited, Stone said.

Additionally, among the 65 companies currently deploying biometrics, or planning to do so within a year, 89% chose fingerprint technology, 57% decided on facial recognition, and 25% selected iris recognition.

Fingerprint readers on smartphones has also proven to be a large market, with Apple currently using its own fingerprint technology for its Touch ID feature on the iPhone.

Previously reported, Synaptics CEO Richard Bergman confirmed that the company’s small area touch fingerprint sensor is embedded in the Samsung Galaxy S6 and Edge smartphones.

Article Topics

biometric authentication  |  biometrics  |  fingerprint sensors  |  Samsung  |  stocks  |  Synaptics  |  Windows