Biometrics stocks update: Ping gains in IPO, fingerprint companies busy

The success of Ping Identity’s IPO, particularly amidst a backdrop of mediocre tech showings and global trade uncertainty, stands out as a bright spot in biometrics industry financial news. Publicly traded companies have also made a series of positive announcements on customer wins, partnerships, and industry engagement.

Ping rockets up 25 percent in IPO

Ping Identity has successfully launched its initial public offering, with shares in the company opening 25 percent above its starting price and closed its first day of trading on the NYSE at $20.09, before starting Friday trading higher.

The company set its initial share price at $15 for 12,500,000 shares, with 1,875,000 additional shares held back for the underwriters, giving the company a valuation of roughly $1.16 billion. Lead bookrunners are Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC, BofA Merrill Lynch, RBC Capital Markets and Citigroup, and the offering is expected to close on September 23, subject to the customary conditions. The company had planned to raise $188 million.

“Our customers call us a tier-zero solution because without us planes don’t fly and surgeries don’t happen,” Ping CFO Raj Dani told MarketWatch. Dani also said the company has the 12 largest U.S. banks, five of the top seven retailers, and a major airline among its Fortune 100 clients. Ping makes more than $1 million in recurring revenue from more than 25 customers, according to MarketWatch.

Ping has announced details for its upcoming 2019 IDENTIFY event series, which will be held in Chicago, London, New York, Sydney, and Melbourne during October. CISO’s and identity and access management (IAM) thought leaders from Allied Irish Banks, BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee, TDC, Thomson Reuters, TIAA and other organizations will give presentations on identity solutions can contribute to revenue, help digital transformation, and simplify IT deployments, according to the announcement.

Topics covered will include methods to secure APIs, ways to implement passwordless authentication with risk awareness, paths to a mature Zero Trust architecture, how to simplify and automate cloud identity deployments, and strategies for complying with data protection regulations.

Goodix in-display fingerprint sensor selected by Huawei

The new Huawei Mate30 Series smartphones are shipping with integrated optical in-display fingerprint sensors and touch solutions from Goodix, according to a company announcement. The Mate30 series also features FPC biometrics (see below).

Goodix filed a suit against Egis Technology alleging infringement of the intellectual property behind its in-display fingerprint technology in July.

SuperCom subsidiary wins California contract

Leaders in Community Alternatives (LCA), a SuperCom subsidiary, has won a contract with a county on the central coast of California to provide Adult Intervention and Treatment services. LCA will participate in a program focussed on workforce services and employment readiness meant to reduce recidivism.

The contract is for one year, with renewal options based on funding, and is valued at up to $212,000 per year, according to the announcement. The company says it also establishes a foothold in the area from which LCA can grow its opportunities in alternative sentencing, electronic monitoring, and house arrest.

MeReal and Fingerprint Cards partner

Sensors from Fingerprint Cards’ FPC1300 series will be featured in the latest biometric cards from MeReal Biometrics.

The Huawei Mate 30 Lite features the FPC1291 sensor from Fingerprint Cards, the company Tweeted, saying the implementation brings it to 393 mobile devices built with its technology.

Secunet raises forecast

Following excellent first-half 2019 results and with expectations that major projects can be realized during the second half, secunet’s Executive Board has increased its forecast revenue for the fiscal year.

The company now expects to book revenues of €210 million (roughly US$231 million) and earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) of €32 million ($35 million), up from previous forecasts of €190 million ($209 million) in revenue with EBIT of €30 million ($33 million). In fiscal 2018 secunet reported €163.3 million ($179.7 million) in sales and €26.9 million ($29.6 million) in EBIT.

Vilnius Airport recently installed secunet’s biometric easygates which reportedly make Lithuania the first country in Europe to deploy ABC gates with both fingerprint and face recognition.

Next receives access control order

Next Biometrics has announced an order for fingerprint sensor modules to be integrated into biometric smart card readers for fast, secure, and convenient log-ins. The purchase order is a follow-up order from an existing customer, and will be completed in Q4 2019 and 2020, with a value of $100,000.

The announcement represents the first volume order for Next since new CEO Peter Heuman took over on September 16.

Idex announces event participation

Idex Biometrics is sponsoring the Goode Intelligence Biometric Summit London 2019 hosted by Rise London.

The event will take place on November 20, and include a panel featuring Idex SVP for Sales and Marketing David Orme, discussing ‘Solving the Problem of Frictionless User Authentication.’

Idex is also exhibiting at the APSCA Next-Generation Cards event on October 15 and 16 in Singapore. Hunter Hu, Idex VP of sales for Asia is join a panel discussion on customer enrollment and deliver a presentation on ‘Biometric Smart Cards – the Game Changer for Financial Inclusion.’

At Money20/20 USA 2019, Idex will demonstrate its fingerprint biometrics being used within a dual-interface smart card for payments. Money20/20 USA 2019 takes place October 27 to 30 in Las Vegas.

Article Topics

biometric cards  |  biometrics  |  border management  |  Fingerprint Cards  |  fingerprint sensors  |  Goodix  |  Idex Biometrics  |  IPO  |  Mereal Biometrics  |  Next Biometrics  |  Ping Identity  |  secunet  |  smartphones  |  stocks  |  SuperCom