Biometrics stocks: Remark Holdings earnings up over 300 percent, Hikvision US investment ban

Along with an impressive results announcement from Remark Holdings, biometrics providers are adjusting their financing positions, with Hikvision cut off from American investors, Nuance selling part of its business, Zwipe officially registering its increase in share capital, and BIO-key meeting the Nasdaq’s minimum bid price requirement.

Revenues earned by Remark Holdings in the third quarter will be more than triple the results from the same quarter a year earlier as the company’s face biometrics and temperature screening technologies were widely deployed, according to preliminary results.

Remark has booked Q3 revenue of between $2.5 and $2.7 million, compared to $0.7 million a year earlier. Roughly $2 million to $2.2 million of the last quarter’s revenue came from China.

The company also expects its revenue to double in Q4.

“The third quarter of 2020 was highlighted by an estimated sequential quarter over quarter doubling of revenue from China as the country emerged from post-COVID-19 lock-downs. We were able to restart certain projects, including the conversion of bank and mobile retail outlets to smart stores, and smart school safety installations at primary schools in several Provinces of China. We anticipate another doubling of revenue from China in our fourth quarter,” notes Kai-Shing Tao, chairman and CEO of Remark Holdings. “In the United States, we focused on growing our distribution and channel partnerships for our AI platform, and we expect to close additional deals in the fourth quarter.”

Hikvision investment ban makes more headlines than stock price difference

Investment by Americans in Hikvision and 30 other companies considered “Chinese military companies” will be banned by a White House decree as of January 11, 2021, IPVM reports.

Hikvision stock was not particularly affected by the executive order announcement, since it is primarily owned by the Chinese government and private investors in the country. After peaking at nearly 50 yuan per share (US$7.62) earlier in the month, Hikvision shares fell 1.46 percent, according to the report.

For its part, Hikvision denied being a military company or participating in any research and development for military applications, though it has also issued contradictory statements about being state-owned.

The South China Morning Post notes that the move blocks U.S. fund managers and others from some of the publicly traded Chinese firms with the largest gains and highest dividends.

Nuance sells transcription and EHR Go-Live services, reports Q4

Nuance Communications has announced fourth quarter GAAP revenues of $352.9 million and a loss in GAAP earnings per diluted share of $0.08, compared to $387.6 million and a gain of $0.01, respectively, in Q4 2019.

EPS for Nuance’s fourth quarter was $0.18 per diluted share on a non-GAAP basis, however. GAAP net loss was $22.8 million, compared to a net income of $3 million a year ago.

Nuance is also selling its medical transcription and electronic health record (EHR) Go-Live services to Assured Healthcare Partners and Aeries Technology Group, according to the company announcement. Going forward, Nuance will focus on conversational AI, natural language understanding and ambient clinical intelligence solutions, according to CEO Mark Benjamin.

The company says it is confidant in its balance sheet and liquidity position.

Zwipe register share capital increase

Zwipe has registered an increase of a million new shares to increase its share capital.

The increase was resolved by the board on October 28, amid an oversubscribed share placement.

The company now has a total of 32,906576 new shares and votes, for new share capital of NOK 3,290,657.60 ($366,000).

Reverse stock split puts BIO-key back into compliance with Nasdaq minimum bid price

BIO-key has announced a reverse stock split, rolling each 8 shares up into 1, rounding up for fractions without cash compensation, to regain compliance with the Nasdaq’s minimum bid price requirement.

The company’s Board of Directors approved the amendment to its Certificate of Incorporation to carry out a reverse split at a ratio between 1 to 4 and 1 to 10.

The total number of issued and outstanding shares of BIO-key common stock will fall from approximately 62.4 million to around 7.8 million. The $18.4 million the company had in cash on September 30 represents roughly $2.36 per share on a split-adjusted basis.

“The reverse split is the final step in our efforts this year to build a sound financial foundation and reposition BIO-key for growth and improved financial performance. A reverse split was required to regain compliance with Nasdaq’s $1 minimum closing bid maintenance requirement. We chose the 1-for-8 ratio to balance ongoing minimum bid price compliance with adequate liquidity for our common stock,” states BIO-key CEO Michael DePasquale.

“We view our Nasdaq listing as key to the Company’s success and an asset to our shareholders. In Q3, we accomplished a significant recapitalization, paid off all outstanding debt, funded the PistolStar acquisition, and ended the quarter with more than $18 million of cash. Our strong balance sheet and Nasdaq listing are noticed by large corporate customers and was also critical to accomplishing the PistolStar acquisition. We’ve made much progress in 2020 and believe we are well positioned for future growth as we continue to expand our product portfolio and build customer relationships in lucrative global markets for identity and authentication solutions, network security, and access management.”

Article Topics

BIO-key  |  biometrics  |  financial results  |  HIKVISION  |  Nuance Communications  |  Remark Holdings  |  stocks  |  Zwipe