Synaptics, Ping, Goodix among biometrics firms reporting major earnings gains, OneConnect files for IPO

Synaptics has reported net revenue up 15 percent sequentially for the first quarter of its fiscal year, ending September 30, reaching $339.9 million and exceeding the company’s guidance.

GAAP gross margin was up 31.7 percent, and non-GAAP gross margin was 41.5 percent, which Synaptics notes is the first quarter above 40 percent in five years. GAAP net income for Q1 2020 was $4 million, or $0.12 per diluted share.

A leading U.S. search provider launched a smart speaker and a Wi-Fi mesh router during the quarter which are powered by Synaptics’ edge computing SoC with integrated machine learning.

“Our September quarter was stronger than expected as we had a number of successful large OEM customer product launches this quarter including smart home devices leveraging our edge computing SoCs, and new smartphones with both LCD and OLED panels featuring our display and touch IC solutions,” states Michael Hurlston, who recently joined Synaptics as president and chief executive officer. “As we continue our corporate transformation, I am committed to focusing our investments on sustainable franchise solutions that are more defensible with better margins. We have a strong foundation in technology and IP at Synaptics, and I am confident that we will become a stronger, more profitable growth company long-term.”

Synaptics also expects revenue to start rolling in from its automotive business, as Director of Prototyping Dr. Andrew Hsu told Biometric Update recently that engagement with manufacturers is strong, and an announcement of a 2020 vehicle model with an integrated fingerprint sensor is expected soon.

Ping Identity beats the street

Ping Identity surpassed analysts expectations despite a loss of $595,000 in the third quarter of its fiscal year, according to a company announcement.

Revenue in the quarter was $61.8 million, well ahead of the $55.1 million estimate of five analysts surveyed by Zacks. On a per-share basis, Ping lost 1 cent, but adjusted for one-time gains and costs, earned 13 cents, ahead of analysts forecast of 1 cent per share.

The company is forecasting earnings of between $64.7 million and $66.7 million for the current quarter ending in December, and $239.3 million to $241.3 million for full-year 2019.

Goodix revenue doubles

The forthcoming Xiaomi Mi CC9 Pro is the first commercialization of Goodix’ ultra-thin optical in-display fingerprint sensor, which the company says is the first sensor of its kind.

Operating revenue for Goodix from January through September was CNY 4.68 billion (US$670 million), up a striking 98 percent from CNY 2.37 billion ($340 million) in the first nine months of 2018. Net profit leapt from CNY 319 million ($45.4 million) to CNY 1.71 billion ($240 million), and diluted earnings per share increased from CNY 0.70 ($0.10) to CNY 3.68 ($0.52) per share from the first three quarters of 2018 to the equivalent period this year.

Egis reports big gains on revenue and margin

Egis Technology earned NT 2.08 billion (US$68 million) in Q3 2019, compared to NT 1.59 billion ($52 billion) in the same period a year earlier, a 30 percent increase, and grew its gross margin from 36 percent in Q3 2018 to 44 percent in the most recent quarter.

Income after tax grew to NT 294 million ($9.6 million) from NT 184 million ($6 million) in the same period last year, for a net margin up from 12 to 14 percent. Egis says its growth beat its “mild” expectations, and its gross margin was the highest since the first quarter of 2016. Earnings per share was up 22 percent over the previous quarter to NT 4.2 ($0.14), despite recent losses in foreign exchange.

The company is expecting some fluctuation in Q4 as customers cut down on inventory, but Egis also recently began shipments of its optical sensors to its second Chinese customer.

Biometrics drive strong quarter for Elan

Monthly revenues for Elan Microelectronics were NT 990 million ($32.4 million) for October, up from NT 825 million ($27 million) in the same month last year on sales of its fingerprint sensors, pointstick, touchpad module, microcontroller and touchscreen controller. It was the second highest monthly revenue Elan has ever recorded, according to the announcement, and though it represents a 2.3 percent decline from September, it is 20 percent higher than October of 2018.

Touch applications including biometrics accounted for 71 percent of Elan’s sales in the month.

The company is expecting better than previously anticipated gross margin, operating profit margin and net margin for the second half of 2019 as shipments have increased, following a tough first half of the year in which the company experienced a CPU shortage. Elan recently announced a foray into artificial intelligence, and like Synaptics, is planning to provide biometric technology to the auto market.

OneSpan raises expectations on major gains

Revenues for trusted identity and e-signature provider OneSpan grew by 52 percent year-over-year to $79.7 million in Q3, with revenue for the first three quarters of 2019 increasing 24 percent to $183.6 million.

The company also reports gross margins of 67 percent for the quarter and the first three quarters, which was up from 66 percent in Q3 2018 but down for the first nine months from 71 percent last year. GAAP net income was $11.9 million, or $0.30 per share, though only $3.7 million through the first nine months of the year, or $0.09 per share. This was still a significant improvement over a GAAP net loss of $0.9 million, or $0.02 per share in the third quarter of 2018, and $0.1 million, or break even per share during last year’s first three quarters.

“OneSpan reported record revenue and profitability in the third quarter with strong double-digit growth across our portfolio of Trusted Identity solutions,” states OneSpan CEO, Scott Clements. “Financial services firms around the world are expanding their use of OneSpan solutions to reduce fraud losses and to ensure regulatory compliance while delivering a compelling user experience to their customers.”

For the full year, OneSpan has raised its guidance from the $229 million to $237 million range to between $248 million and $250 million, with adjusted EBITDA expectations raised to $26 million to $28 million. The company will hold an investor and analyst day on December 4.

Secunet earnings up 67 percent through three quarters

The management board of Secunet has confirmed the company’s positive outlook for the year, as the company reports strong EBIT growth during the year, on higher product sales, particularly of its secunet health connector. From January to September, secunet earned €163.5 million ($180 million), a 67 percent increase over €98 million ($108 million) a year ago.

EBIT rose 62 percent to €22.1 million ($24.3 million), and the company expects to reach its €210 million ($231 million) revenue and €32 million ($35 million) EBIT goals for the full year.

“In the first nine months, the secunet Group achieved excellent business results,” said Axel Deininger, CEO of secunet Security Networks AG. “High-quality and trustworthy IT security is a necessary condition for digitization in both the public sector and industry. The associated demand for our solutions and products supports our sustainable and profitable growth. ”

OneConnect lists on NYSE at $100M

Ping An’s FinTech SaaS provider OneConnect has filed paperwork towards an initial public offering (IPO) on either the New York Stock Exchange or the NASDAQ Global Market under the symbol “OCFT” despite the ongoing U.S.-China trade dispute, Yahoo Finance reports, filing at a $100 million offering, though the amount may be changed before the stock launches.

The company was reported earlier this year to be considering a listing in Hong Kong, with a target of raising $1 billion and a valuation of $8 billion. Several major listings have been delayed or scrapped, according to the report, and of 24 companies from China and Hong Kong among the 158 listed in the U.S. this year, only 3 are currently trading above their offer price.

OneConnect recorded a net loss of $147 million on $218 million in revenue during the first nine months of the year, a major increase in both.

This post was updated at 8:55 AM ET on November 15 to clarify that OneConnect has not yet decided which exchange to apply to list on.

Article Topics

biometrics  |  Egis Technology  |  ELAN Microelectronics  |  Goodix  |  OneConnect  |  OneSpan  |  Ping Identity  |  secunet  |  stocks  |  Synaptics