BIO-key International, Inc. (BKYI) has expanded its global presence and customer base by making its PortalGuard IDaaS platform available on the AWS Marketplace. PortalGuard, featuring Identity-Bound Biometrics (IBB) authentication, is a leading-edge security solution that aims to simplify and streamline identity management and digital security. This move allows global customers to easily purchase and implement PortalGuard, strengthening their cybersecurity posture.
“By collaborating with AWS, we enable organizations to gain streamlined access to our top-tier technologies, helping them to address complex challenges with enhanced security and compliance,” stated Michael DePasquale, Chairman and CEO of BIO-key International, Inc.
While the company is expanding its reach, its recent second-quarter financial results presented a mixed picture. Revenue declined to $1.14 million from $1.9 million year-over-year, falling short of the consensus estimate of $1.95 million. The company attributed this decline to delayed software license fees from its European subsidiary and a reduction in project-related services revenue from one large customer.
Net loss for the quarter amounted to $1.7 million, a positive development compared to the $2.6 million net loss reported a year ago. This improvement was partly due to a $1 million hardware reserve recorded in the previous year. Despite the revenue setback, BIO-key achieved a significant increase in gross profit, rising to $0.9 million (77% margin) from $0.3 million (16.7% margin) a year ago. This positive trend was attributed to the impact of the 2023 hardware reserve and higher gross margins from services in the second quarter of 2024.
While the company experienced challenges in Q2, BIO-key remains confident in its long-term growth prospects. “We continue to expect to benefit from the rollout and enforcement of increasingly stringent regulatory standards and cyber insurance underwriting requirements, much of which are now mandating multi-factor authentication or passwordless security solutions that BIO-key is well positioned to provide on a very competitive basis,” added DePasquale. “Given our size, our performance will likely remain variable on a quarter to quarter and year over year basis, based on the impact and timing of customer contracts, though we remain confident in our ability to drive sequential growth on a full year basis. Importantly, we are building a growing base of high-margin annually recurring revenues (ARRs) with solid potential to expand as we move forward.”
BIO-key’s shares closed at $1.34 on Thursday.
