Huge revenue jumps and beaten expectations show biometrics market strength

Yitu may be the next big stock offering in biometrics, in the biggest of several positive items for publicly traded companies in and around the industry. Licensing revenues for SAFR’s business division are up, Idex Biometrics and secunet report significant revenue gains, Ping Identity and Qualcomm have beat analysts’ expectations and prior guidance, respectively, while Mitek has hit $100 million in annual revenue, and Fitbit has won $2.5 million in funding from a U.S. federal agency.

Will Yitu be China’s first major facial recognition IPO?

Yitu Technology is approaching an initial public offering on China’s STAR Market, with filing documents being reviewed by Shanghai’s securities regulator, according to Caixin Global.

The company is valued at $2.37 billion, according to CB Insights, and its prospectus says the company lost 450 million yuan (US$68 million) on revenues of 380 million yuan ($57.5 million) in the last fiscal year, according to the report.

Yitu, along with SenseTime, Megvii and CloudWalk, make up an estimated 60 percent of China’s $1.46 billion market for AI computer vision. All four have been sanctioned by the U.S. for their alleged roles in human rights abuses in Xinjiang Province.

Both Megvii and SenseTime have reportedly also taken steps towards an IPO this year.

SAFR facial recognition one of two main growth opportunities for RealNetworks

RealNetworks has announced revenue from continuing operations of $16.6 million and a net loss of $3.2 million in the third quarter of fiscal 2020.

The earnings report distinguishes between continuing and discontinued business operations because RealNetworks has agreed to sell Napster in a deal expected to close during Q4.

RealNetworks’ revenue was down slightly from $17.1 million in the previous quarter and $17.7 million in Q3 2019. The company’s software license business, which includes the RealTimes platform and SAFR, booked $931,000 in revenue in Q3, up from $888,000 in the same quarter a year ago.

A key highlight during the quarter was the hiring of Brad Donaldson to lead SAFR’s strategic development and market expansion, according to the announcement.

The company’s two largest growth opportunities are its free video games and the SAFR biometric platform, CEO Rob Glaser says.

Idex earnings ticking up as biometric payment card commercialization nears

Third quarter revenues for Idex Biometrics were $248,000, and nine-month revenues are $497,000, both significant increases from $149,000 and $352,000 over the same periods last year, respectively, as momentum towards the commercialization of biometric payment cards accelerates.

The company’s gross margin for Q3 also improved from 60 percent in 2019 to 82 percent this year. Operating expenses were also down, and overall net loss was $6.8 million for the quarter and $19.5 million for the first nine months of the year, compared to net losses of $7.5 million in Q3 2019, and $22.9 million in last year’s first three quarters.

“I am pleased to say our teams, as well as our customers, have remained healthy and productive. We have now begun shipping TrustedBio to our leading customers,” comments Idex Biometrics CEO Vince Graziani. “We continue to build strategic partnerships with card manufacturers and secure element providers.” He added: “We have begun volume shipments and have volume orders from several customers.”

Big gains in public sector biometrics business drive secunet gains

Secunet’s earnings for the first three quarters of its fiscal 2020 year are up by 16 percent, from €163.5 million (US$193.4 million) to €189 million ($223.5 million), on an increase in biometrics business with the public sector.

The company reports EBIT earnings of €32.1 million ($ million) during the first nine months of the year, up 45 percent from 2019, the same percentage as its overall increase in public sector revenue.

“The digitalisation boost triggered by the coronavirus pandemic has had a distinctly positive impact on our business results,” says Axel Deininger, CEO of secunet Security Networks AG. “Furthermore, the continued high and stable demand for secure mobile workplaces allows us to have a confident outlook on the current fourth quarter of 2020.”

For the full year, secunet has confirmed its forecast of sales revenues around €270 million ($319 million) and EBIT earnings around €48 million ($56.8 million). The company expects a slight decline in sales in 2021.

Ping beats analysts estimates

Ping Identity has posted revenue of $59.9 million in Q3, beating the average estimate of six analysts surveyed by Zack’s Investment Research by just over $4 million, according to Yahoo Finance.

Overall, the company reported a loss of $996,000 for the quarter, or 1 cent per share, but due to one-time gains and costs, adjusted earnings per share were 11 cents. Analysts had predicted earnings of 2 cents per share.

The company expects its revenue in Q4 to be between $67 million and $70 million.

Qualcomm hits record earnings per share and beats guidance range

Qualcomm has reported a record quarterly earnings per share of $2.58, and a 73 percent increase in revenues over Q4 2019 to $8.3 billion on a GAAP basis. The company had provided guidance of $7.3 billion to $8.1 billion.

On a non-GAAP basis, the result was a mere $6.5 billion in revenue, still an increase of 35 percent from a year prior and good for $1.45 per share.

For full-year 2020, Qualcomm booked $23.5 billion in revenue, up 3 percent according to GAAP, or $21.6 billion in non-GAAP revenue, up 12 percent from 2019. Full year EPS was $4.52, a 26 percent gain from last year.

“Our fiscal fourth quarter results demonstrate that our investments in 5G are coming to fruition and showing benefits in our licensing and product businesses,” states Steve Mollenkopf, CEO of Qualcomm Incorporated. “We concluded the year with exceptional fourth quarter results and are well positioned for growth in 2021 and beyond. As the pace of disruption in wireless technology accelerates, we will continue to drive growth and scale across our RF front-end, Automotive and IoT adjacencies.”

Mitek reports record quarter and full-year 2020

Mitek has surpassed $100 million in annual revenue with a 22 percent increase in Q4 revenue to $30.6 million, with GAAP net income of $5 million, or $0.12 per diluted share.

For the full year, total revenue jumped 20 percent to $101.3 million, for GAAP net income of $7.8 million, or $0.18 per diluted share. Non-GAAP net income was up 66 percent year over year to $28.6 million, or $0.67 per diluted share.

“Fiscal 2020 was another outstanding year for Mitek and our third consecutive year with record revenue for each quarter. Mitek’s strong financial performance reflects the team’s commitment to helping our customers and partners navigate this challenging environment as they accelerate their digital transformation,” comments Mitek CEO Max Carnecchia. “Mitek is committed to providing convenience while preventing fraud in the digital world. The company’s technology ensures that more businesses can transact digitally and secure their platforms through easy, fast and secure identity verification. Also, Mitek remains the clear market leader with its remote check deposit solution, with thousands of financial organizations using its products, and more than four billion transactions processed.”

Mitek also announced NetApp SVP and GM Kimberly S. Stevenson has been appointed to its board of directors.

U.S. Army awards Fitbit $2.5M for early COVID-19 detection research

Fitbit has received an award of $2.5 million from the U.S. Army Medical Research and Development Command (USAMRDC) to accelerate the early detection of COVID-19 through tracking biological and biometric signals with the wrist-worn wearable.

The award comes via the Department of Defense’s Medical Technology Enterprise Consortium (MTEC), according to the company announcement. The award will help fund a prospective study with Northwell Health’s Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research. That study is expected to build on one conducted by Scripps Research Institute and Stanford Medicine, which showed that tracking breathing and heart rate can allow a Fitbit algorithm to detect close to 50 percent of COVID-19 cases a day before symptoms are felt with 70 percent specificity.

A Duke University project is also researching the potential of heart rate and oxygen level monitoring for pre-symptomatic detection of the virus.

Article Topics

biometrics  |  facial recognition  |  financial results  |  fingerprint sensors  |  Idex Biometrics  |  IPO  |  Mitek  |  Ping Identity  |  Qualcomm  |  SAFR  |  stocks  |  wearables  |  Yitu Technology