Biometrics and Digital ID

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>>> Biometrics companies announce gains in revenue and stock price amid positioning for 2021


Biometric Update.com

Jan 12, 2021 |

by Chris Burt


https://www.biometricupdate.com/202101/biometrics-companies-announce-gains-in-revenue-and-stock-price-amid-positioning-for-2021


Publicly-traded companies in the biometrics space have reported progress on a range of fronts, from revenue gains by EyeLock to increased investor engagement with Zwipe and a stock price surge for Nxt-ID. RealNetworks has completed its sale of Napster, Patriot One and BIO-key see market opportunities ahead, and Mitek and Idex Biometrics are presenting at an investor conference this week.

Voxx reports major revenue gains for EyeLock ahead of potential sale
Voxx International has reported an 83 percent increase in net sales of $201.1 million from EyeLock’s iris biometrics and its other businesses in its fiscal third quarter of 2021, and the company’s adjusted EBITDA leaped from $5.8 million a year earlier to $24.5 million.

The biometrics segment of Voxx’ business rose 148.6 percent from roughly $100,000 to $300,000 on higher sales of its EXT and NXT products.

Voxx International CEO and President Pat Lavelle said the company’s automotive entertainment system and premium consumer audio product are growing, and that “while the financial impact has yet to be felt, demand for EyeLock’s iris authentication solutions has increased since the start of the pandemic, as are conversations with respect to the strategic process. We are on track for one of the best years in our Company’s history from a profitability perspective and believe this is the beginning of the next wave of growth.”

For the first nine months of Voxx’ fiscal 2021, net sales are $401.1 million, a 36.5 percent year-over-year increase, and its adjusted EBITDA rose by $31.2 million year-over-year to $35.1 million.

Voxx has been reported to be considering selling a controlling interest in EyeLock, though it is expected to retain a significant stake in the biometrics provider.

Main Zwipe investors to join nomination committee

Zwipe’s board of directors is calling an Extraordinary General Meeting on January 28 at 10:00 CET to elect new members to its nomination committee. The company’s two largest shareholders, Vasastaden and Lars Windfeldt, plan to take seats on Zwipe’s nomination committee, with the latter seeking the position of committee chairman.

“On behalf of the Board of Directors of Zwipe, I welcome the fact that our new major shareholder Vasastaden, a renowned Swedish institutional investor, wishes to take an active role as member of Zwipe’s nomination committee through its Chairman, Niclas Eriksson. I also welcome that Lars Windfeldt, who has been a major shareholder for Zwipe since 2011, wishes to join the nomination committee as its Chairman. The fact that our two largest shareholders wish to invest their time and energy into supporting the company, besides their capital investments, is very encouraging,” said Jörgen Lantto, chairman of the Board of Zwipe.

The proposed nomination committee would consist of Eriksson, Windfeldt, and Lantto.

Nxt-ID regains Nasdaq compliance

Nxt-ID has received official written notice from the Office of General Counsel of The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC that it has regained compliance with the exchange’s minimum bid price continued listing requirement.

The company paid down debt while nearly breaking even in a first half of 2020 significantly affected by the pandemic, according to an August earnings announcement.

Nxt-ID shares surged from below $0.40 on December 14, 2020 to above $1.20 on December 17, and closed Monday trading at $1.47.

RealNetworks completes Napster sale
RealNetworks has completed the sale of Napster operator Rhapsody International to MelodyVR, as the company shifts its focus to SAFR biometrics, application-to-person (A2P) messaging business Kontxt, and its gaming segment.

The price of the transaction based on closing date value is approximately $70.6 million, according to the announcement, and Napster has merged with MelodyVR’s subsidiary to become a wholly-owned subsidiary of MelodyVR.

New Patriot One CEO addresses shareholders in open letter
In a letter to shareholders, new Patriot One CEO Peter Evans says he has met with more than two dozen prospects and customers and a dozen partners, and the company’s market opportunity remains solid.

Evans writes in the one-month review letter that not only has demand not diminished, but the company’s new technologies and leadership team have positioned it with “multiple paths for aggressive growth.” He plans to put “operational disciplines” in place to set up repeatable, sustainable revenue and growth.

PortalGuard cloud service demand still rising, BIO-key says
Following a series of new customer announcements, BIO-key has announced that its cloud-based PortalGuard identity-as-a-service (IDaaS) solution is increasingly in demand, and has potential upside of converting 200 existing on-premise customers to IDaaS in 2021 and the years ahead.

BIO-key migrated nine on-premise customers to PortalGuard IDaaS just in Q4 2020 to support roughly 115,000 users. The momentum is spurred in part by organizations’ need to apply security standards to and keep data safe for distributed workforces.

“The maturation of the cloud services market has enabled IDaaS to emerge as the preferred deployment model versus the traditional on-premises IAM solution,” comments BIO-key PortalGuard President Mark Cochran. “Enhanced security and scalability, reduction in cost and complexity, along with the relatively easy deployment of IDaaS, makes it an increasingly desirable option for our customers.”

Mitek and Idex Biometrics to participate at Needham Growth Conference
The biometrics industry will be represented at the Needham Growth Conference on January 12 by Mitek and on January 13 by Idex Biometrics, the companies have announced.

Mitek CEO Max Carnecchia and CFO Jeff Davison are presenting during the 23rd Annual Needham Virtual Growth Conference at 3:30pm Eastern on the 12th, and hold virtual one-on-one meetings with investors throughout the day.

Idex CEO Vince Graziani and CFO Derek D’Antilio will present on the 13th and also take meetings with investors.

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