Q2 2026 IDEX Biometrics ASA Earnings Call
Speaker #1: Let's dive into the highlights for Q2. Q2 was very active in IDEX; we tripled our active pilots from Q1. We have estimates around $20 million of revenues from that portfolio of pilots.
[Company Representative] (IDEX Biometrics): Let's dive into the highlights for Q2. Q2 was very active in IDEX. We tripled our active pilots from Q1. We have estimated around 20 million of revenues from that portfolio of pilots. We had four POs in Q2, both in access and pay. Our channel partner network is really growing and are being activated, is now standing at 25 versus nine in Q1. This is really helping us to build a global presence with the best distributors available. One example is Infinigate, which was initially a Norwegian agreement, has now been lifted up to cover all of Europe. On the certification side, we are now certified by FIDO level two.
[Company Representative] (IDEX Biometrics): Let's dive into the highlights for Q2. Q2 was very active in IDEX. We tripled our active pilots from Q1. We have estimated around 20 million of revenues from that portfolio of pilots. We had four POs in Q2, both in access and pay. Our channel partner network is really growing and are being activated, is now standing at 25 versus 9 in Q1. This is really helping us to build a global presence with the best distributors available. One example is Infinigate, which was initially a Norwegian agreement, has now been lifted up to cover all of Europe. On the certification side, we are now certified by FIDO level 2. That means broadening our reach to high security customers. But also when we combine that with our certified Visa biometric card, we are the first in the world to have a certified Visa FIDO2 card.
Speaker #1: We had four POs in Q2, both in Access and Pay. Our channel partner network is really growing and is being activated. It's now standing at 25 versus 9 in Q1, and this is really helping us to build a global presence with the best distributors available.
Speaker #1: One example is InfiniGate, which was initially a Norwegian agreement and has now been lifted up to cover all of Europe. On the certification side, we are now certified by FIDO Level 2; that means broadening our reach to high-security customers.
Speaker #1: But also, when we combine that with our certified Visa biometric card, we are the first in the world to have a certified Visa FIDO2 card.
[Company Representative] (IDEX Biometrics): That means broadening our reach to high security customers. But also when we combine that with our certified Visa biometric card, we are the first in the world to have a certified Visa FIDO2 card.
Speaker #1: We're also on the product development side. We have two products in process: one is preparing for the post-quantum world and also making our card work seamlessly with mobile.
[Company Representative] (IDEX Biometrics): We're also on the product development side, we have two products in process. One is preparing for the post-quantum world and also making our card work seamlessly with the mobile. When we look at the highlights on the financial side, the backlog is up to NOK 23.7 million, and it's all committed for 2026. Revenue was NOK 1.6 million in the quarter, and gross margin is 19%. There's two things to say on the gross margin. New POs has substantially higher gross margin, but also we are delivering from our inventory, so the cash effect is close to one-to-one. OPEX, pretty much stable at around NOK 20 million, and our cash position is at NOK 28.5 million. We have no interest-bearing debt as we cleaned out the convertible in the previous quarter.
[Company Representative] (IDEX Biometrics): We're also on the product development side, we have two products in process. One is preparing for the post-quantum world and also making our card work seamlessly with the mobile. When we look at the highlights on the financial side, the backlog is up to NOK 23.7 million, and it's all committed for 2026. Revenue was NOK 1.6 million in the quarter, and gross margin is 19%. There's two things to say on the gross margin. New POs has substantially higher gross margin, but also we are delivering from our inventory, so the cash effect is close to one-to-one. OPEX, pretty much stable at around NOK 20 million, and our cash position is at NOK 28.5 million. We have no interest-bearing debt as we cleaned out the convertible in the previous quarter. We do expect in the H2 to have both strong growth in POs and revenues.
Speaker #1: If we look at the highlights on the financial side, the backlog is up to $23.7 million, and that's all committed for 2026. Revenue was $1.6 million in the quarter, and gross margin is 19%.
Speaker #1: There are two things to say on the gross margin: new POs have substantially higher gross margin, but also, we are delivering from our inventory, so the cash effect is close to one-to-one.
Speaker #1: OPEX is pretty much stable at around 20, and our cash position is at 28.5. We have no interest-bearing debt, as we cleaned out the convertible in the previous quarter.
Speaker #1: We do expect, in the second half, to have both strong growth in POs and revenues. We have already booked $4.5 million for Q3, and we have committed $8.5 million.
[Company Representative] (IDEX Biometrics): We do expect in the H2 to have both strong growth in POs and revenues. We have already booked NOK 4.5 million for Q3, and we have committed NOK 8.5 million. That is before any conversion of pilots and new business, which we think are meaningful in both Q3 and Q4. So we feel very good about our H2 of the year. This marks a big shift for IDEX, which is now delivering revenues and cash flow. As you can see from the table here, where were we in May, we were at seven pilots, now at 23. We had one pilot converted, which was an Indian bank. That is an area to follow.
Speaker #1: That is before any conversion of pilots and new business, which we think are meaningful in both Q3 and Q4. So, we feel very good about our second half of the year. This marks a big shift for IDEX, who is now delivering revenues and cash flow.
[Company Representative] (IDEX Biometrics): We have already booked NOK 4.5 million for Q3, and we have committed NOK 8.5 million. That is before any conversion of pilots and new business, which we think are meaningful in both Q3 and Q4. So we feel very good about our H2 of the year. This marks a big shift for IDEX, which is now delivering revenues and cash flow. As you can see from the table here, where were we in May, we were at seven pilots, now at 23. We had one pilot converted, which was an Indian bank. That is an area to follow. No pilots have been discontinued, and we have more pilots in the near term. We do estimate this to be around 20 million of potential POs. This is before our partners are taking our product to their customers. So we're actively out right now working with the partners, coming back to that.
Speaker #1: As we can see from the table here, in May we were at 7 pilots; now we're at 23. We had 1 pilot converted, which was an Indian bank—that is an area to follow.
Speaker #1: No pilots have been discontinued, and we have more pilots in the near term. We do estimate this to be around $20 million of potential POs, and this is before our partners are taking our product to their customers.
[Company Representative] (IDEX Biometrics): No pilots have been discontinued, and we have more pilots in the near term. We do estimate this to be around 20 million of potential POs. This is before our partners are taking our product to their customers. So we're actively out right now working with the partners, coming back to that.
Speaker #1: So we're actively out right now, working with the partners—coming back to that. But what our customers are looking for is to eliminate phishing risk and consolidate physical and digital access, which is a very important driver at the moment with the cybersecurity issues that we are facing.
[Company Representative] (IDEX Biometrics): What our customers are looking for is to eliminate phishing risk and consolidate physical and digital access, which is a very important driver at the moment with the cybersecurity issues that we are facing. Getting a little bit into the details on the channel partners, we are now at 25, up 16. This really means that we can leverage our product. We are very good operationally geared and working well with partners, the best partners that we can find. We get proper scale. Infinigate, as I mentioned, is now a PAN EMEA agreement in place. Avnet is the world's largest NXP reseller, and we're working actively with that partnership across several geographies. Swotera, a new one, which is the platform for personalization of access cards, and they are working and deliver their products to the leading physical access security companies.
[Company Representative] (IDEX Biometrics): What our customers are looking for is to eliminate phishing risk and consolidate physical and digital access, which is a very important driver at the moment with the cybersecurity issues that we are facing. Getting a little bit into the details on the channel partners, we are now at 25, up 16. This really means that we can leverage our product. We are very good operationally geared and working well with partners, the best partners that we can find. We get proper scale. Infinigate, as I mentioned, is now a PAN EMEA agreement in place. Avnet is the world's largest NXP reseller, and we're working actively with that partnership across several geographies. Swotera, a new one, which is the platform for personalization of access cards, and they are working and deliver their products to the leading physical access security companies.
Speaker #1: Getting a little bit into the details on the channel partners: we are now at 25, up 16, and this really means that we can leverage our product.
Speaker #1: We are very well operationally geared and working well with partners. With the best partners that we can find, we achieve proper scale. Infinigate, as I mentioned, now has a 10-country EMEA agreement in place. Advenide is the world's largest NXP reseller, and we're working actively with that partnership across several geographies.
Speaker #1: So, Terra—a new one—which is the platform for personalization of access cards, is working on delivering their products to the leading physical access security companies.
Speaker #1: HID NXP—we are working very well with that, and we'll be very interested in the second half of the year. So, a little bit about where we are on the product development, and what the principles are.
[Company Representative] (IDEX Biometrics): HID and NXP, we are working very well with that ecosystem and will be a very interesting second half of the year. A little bit about where we are on the product development and what the principles are. We are working along two really important vectors. One is we need a product that can work well in the post-quantum world. Industry-leading security levels we will have and are having today. We are also focusing on how can we reduce friction and improve user friendliness, and we have improved enrollment significantly, and IDEX Mobile will make it a seamless experience to use our products with the mobile. This is just to demonstrate what we are doing on the quantum side. This is what enrollment looks like at scale. Very easy to enroll for corporations and banks, et cetera, their IDEX portfolio.
[Company Representative] (IDEX Biometrics): HID and NXP, we are working very well with that ecosystem and will be a very interesting second half of the year. A little bit about where we are on the product development and what the principles are. We are working along two really important vectors. One is we need a product that can work well in the post-quantum world. Industry-leading security levels we will have and are having today. We are also focusing on how can we reduce friction and improve user friendliness, and we have improved enrollment significantly, and IDEX Mobile will make it a seamless experience to use our products with the mobile. This is just to demonstrate what we are doing on the quantum side. This is what enrollment looks like at scale. Very easy to enroll for corporations and banks, et cetera, their IDEX portfolio.
Speaker #1: We are working along two really important vectors. One is that we need a product that can work well in the post-quantum world. So, industry-leading security levels—we will have, and are having, today.
Speaker #1: But we're also focusing on how we can reduce friction and improve user friendliness. We have improved enrollment significantly, and IDEX Mobile will make it a seamless experience to use our products on mobile.
Speaker #1: So, this is just demonstrating what we're doing on the quantum side. This is what enrollment looks like at scale—very easy to enroll for corporations, banks, etc.
Speaker #1: Their IDEX portfolio—and here, how can we make sure that everybody is carrying a mobile and they can use our card together with it? So, the financial highlights: our backlog is up to $23.7 million; this is strong development. In the period, we see also acceleration of POs in Q3 and Q4.
[Company Representative] (IDEX Biometrics): Here, how can we make sure that everybody is carrying a mobile and they can use our card together with it? The financial highlights, our backlog is up to 23.7. This is a strong development in the period, and we see also acceleration of POs in Q3 and Q4. This backlog, again, is fully committed for the second half of 2026, and because we are delivering it from our inventory, it carries almost 100% gross margin. Q2 revenues came in at 1.6, which is a little bit up from last year. What is really to bear in mind here is where we are now in Q3 already. We have 8.5 million committed and already 4.5 million shipped. The gross margin is expected to improve significantly as we are rolling out our access control with full commercial pricing. Costs, no meaningful changes.
[Company Representative] (IDEX Biometrics): Here, how can we make sure that everybody is carrying a mobile and they can use our card together with it? The financial highlights, our backlog is up to 23.7. This is a strong development in the period, and we see also acceleration of POs in Q3 and Q4. This backlog, again, is fully committed for the H2 of 2026, and because we are delivering it from our inventory, it carries almost 100% gross margin. Q2 revenues came in at 1.6, which is a little bit up from last year. What is really to bear in mind here is where we are now in Q3 already. We have 8.5 million committed and already 4.5 million shipped. The gross margin is expected to improve significantly as we are rolling out our access control with full commercial pricing. Costs, no meaningful changes.
Speaker #1: This backlog, again, is fully committed for the second half of 2026, and because we are delivering it from our inventory, it carries almost 100% gross margin.
Speaker #1: Q2 revenues came in at $1.6 million, which is a little bit up from last year, but what's really to bear in mind here is where we are now in Q3 already.
Speaker #1: We have 8.5 million committed, and already 4.5 million shipped. The gross margin is expected to improve significantly as we are rolling out our access control with full commercial pricing.
Speaker #1: Costs: No meaningful changes. We are managing to scale the commercial activities without increasing costs. Cash position: We ended the period with $28.5 million in cash. The capital raise we did earlier this year enabled us to clean out the balance sheet.
Speaker #1: We had an EBITDA negative of 20 in Q2. When we're looking at the backlog of 23.7 for the remainder of the year—which is more or less 100% cash conversion—and the pilots, and also meaningful POs that do not require pilots.
[Company Representative] (IDEX Biometrics): We are managing to scale the commercial activities without increasing costs. Cash position, we ended the period with 28.5 million in cash. The capital raise we did earlier this year enabled us to clean out the balance sheet. We had an EBITDA negative of 20 in Q2. When we are looking at the backlog of 23.7 for the remainder of the year, which is more or less 100% cash conversion and the pilots and also meaningful POs that does not require pilots, we feel very comfortable about the financial stability of IDEX. Outlook. This is what is the most pressing issue out there at the moment. We actually no longer know who is on the other side, a bot or a human, when a transaction or authentication takes place. IDEX, you all think about it as a sensor biometric company, but we are in the business of not delivering that.
[Company Representative] (IDEX Biometrics): We are managing to scale the commercial activities without increasing costs. Cash position, we ended the period with 28.5 million in cash. The capital raise we did earlier this year enabled us to clean out the balance sheet. We had an EBITDA -20 in Q2. When we are looking at the backlog of 23.7 for the remainder of the year, which is more or less 100% cash conversion and the pilots and also meaningful POs that does not require pilots, we feel very comfortable about the financial stability of IDEX. Outlook. This is what is the most pressing issue out there at the moment.
Speaker #1: We feel very comfortable about the financial stability of IDEX. So, outlook—this is what is the most pressing issue out there at the moment.
Speaker #1: We actually no longer know who is on the other side—whether it’s a bot or a human—when the transaction or authentication takes place. IDEX, you all think about it as a sensor biometric company, but we are in the business of not delivering that.
Speaker #1: We are in the business of verifying human identity in both the physical and digital worlds, and we're doing that much better than anyone else. So, this is how the automated systems that you see today identify, or try to identify, whether it's a human on the other side.
[Company Representative] (IDEX Biometrics): We actually no longer know who is on the other side, a bot or a human, when a transaction or authentication takes place. IDEX, you all think about it as a sensor biometric company, but we are in the business of not delivering that.
Speaker #1: There are puzzles, there are questions—math—and this takes time. There is no way that these puzzles can actually guarantee that there was a human there, but more importantly, whether it was the right human.
[Company Representative] (IDEX Biometrics): We are in the business of verifying human identity in both physical and digital world, and we are doing that much better than anyone else. This is how the automated systems that you see today identify or try to identify whether it is a human on the other side. There are puzzles, there are questions, math. This takes time, and there is no way that these puzzles can actually guarantee that there was a human there, but more importantly, whether it was the right human. Even Perplexity AI needs some help to verify whether you are a human, which is quite interesting. If you ask AI about what actually protects against identity theft, these are the results. It needs to be multi-factor, it needs to be phishing-resistant, it needs public key cryptography, it needs to be hardware bound on device biometrics.
[Company Representative] (IDEX Biometrics): We are in the business of verifying human identity in both physical and digital world, and we are doing that much better than anyone else. This is how the automated systems that you see today identify or try to identify whether it is a human on the other side. There are puzzles, there are questions, math. This takes time, and there is no way that these puzzles can actually guarantee that there was a human there, but more importantly, whether it was the right human. Even Perplexity AI needs some help to verify whether you are a human, which is quite interesting. If you ask AI about what actually protects against identity theft, these are the results. It needs to be multi-factor, it needs to be phishing-resistant, it needs public key cryptography, it needs to be hardware bound on device biometrics. Nobody scores better on that than IDEX.
Speaker #1: Even Perplexity needs some help to verify whether you are a human, which is quite interesting. So if you ask AI about what actually protects against identity theft, this is our result: it needs to be multifactor, it needs to be phishing-resistant, it needs public key cryptographic, it needs to be hardware-bound, and on-device biometrics.
Speaker #1: Nobody scores better on that than IDEX. So the macro backdrop: four drivers, just move from forecast to deadline. We all, in Q1, focused on the 7th of April, MITRE's announcement that gave us six to eighteen months.
Speaker #1: Warnings become live incidents in months. On the 7th of July, the ECB gave the banks a 4-month window to have a plan in place. On the 18th of August, close to us, Novo Nordisk was hacked, or it was the result of the hack that they had captured 1.3 terabytes of data.
[Company Representative] (IDEX Biometrics): Nobody scores better on that than IDEX. The macro backdrop. Four drivers just moved from forecast to deadline. We all in Q1, we focused on 7 April, MITRE's announcement that gave us six to 18 months. Warnings become live incidents in months. 7 July, the ECB gave the banks a four-month window to have a plan in place. On 18 August, close to us, Novo Nordisk was hacked, or it was the result of the hack that they had captured 1.3 terabyte of data, showing that the attacks are real and the world needs systems that make sure that not only that you protect the outside, but once the hackers are on the inside, you have systems that kind of stops them once they are on the inside.
[Company Representative] (IDEX Biometrics): The macro backdrop. Four drivers just moved from forecast to deadline. We all in Q1, we focused on 7 April, MITRE's announcement that gave us 6 to 18 months. Warnings become live incidents in months. 7 July, the European Central Bank gave the banks a four-month window to have a plan in place. On 18 August, close to us, Novo Nordisk was hacked, or it was the result of the hack that they had captured 1.3 terabyte of data, showing that the attacks are real and the world needs systems that make sure that not only that you protect the outside, but once the hackers are on the inside, you have systems that kind of stops them once they are on the inside.
Speaker #1: Showing that the attacks are real, and the world needs systems that make sure that not only do you protect the outside, but once the hackers are on the inside, you have systems that kind of stop them once they're on the inside.
Speaker #1: And I think that is something everybody needs to be aware of—that you should assume that you are hacked, and you have hackers inside your systems.
Speaker #1: They are not asking you for ransomware, but they are monitoring data and positioning themselves for bigger economic gain or other threats down the road.
Speaker #1: So what you need are systems that are protecting you, because they cannot move around once they’re on the inside. Compliance is another big macro backdrop.
[Company Representative] (IDEX Biometrics): I think that is something everybody needs to be aware of, that you should assume that you are hacked and you have hackers inside your systems. They are not asking for ransomware, but they are monitoring data and they are positioning themselves for bigger economic gain or other threats down the road. What you need is systems that are protecting you and assume, because they cannot move around once they are on the inside. Compliance is the other big macro backdrop. NIS2 Directive and Digital Operational Resilience Act, there is no guidance anymore. They are actively out there with fines and the entire ecosystem is affected, and this becomes now a leadership responsibility and not the IT department's. When we look at solutions out there, as I showed you, it is hard to verify a human, at least what we are seeing from the market. Visa acquired BioCatch two weeks ago.
[Company Representative] (IDEX Biometrics): I think that is something everybody needs to be aware of, that you should assume that you are hacked and you have hackers inside your systems. They are not asking for ransomware, but they are monitoring data and they are positioning themselves for bigger economic gain or other threats down the road. What you need is systems that are protecting you and assume, because they cannot move around once they are on the inside. Compliance is the other big macro backdrop. NIS2 DDORA, there is no guidance anymore. They are actively out there with fines and the entire ecosystem is affected, and this becomes now a leadership responsibility and not the IT department's. When we look at solutions out there, as I showed you, it is hard to verify a human, at least what we are seeing from the market. Visa acquired BioCatch two weeks ago.
Speaker #1: NIS2, ENDURA—there is no guidance anymore. They are actively out there with fines, and the entire ecosystem is affected. This now becomes a leadership responsibility and not just for the IT department.
Speaker #1: When we look at solutions out there, as I showed you, it's hard to verify if someone is a human, at least from what we're seeing in the market.
Speaker #1: Visa acquired BioCatch two weeks ago. That is to try to close, or get closer to, a solution. But again, this is a machine against machines, and it's not a permanent solution.
Speaker #1: And finally, quantum computers—we call it synthetic quantum—is that large data is already harvested, the large data sets. They might not be able to hack them today, but they will be able to decrypt them at a later stage.
Speaker #1: So, what's important here, and NSM was out there, is that you need to start implementing this now. So, where are we on the pilots-to-orders?
[Company Representative] (IDEX Biometrics): That is to try to close or get closer to a solution. But again, this is a machine against the machines, and it is not a permanent solution. Finally, quantum computers, we call this synthetic quantum, is that large data is already harvested. The large data sets, they might not be able to hack them today, but they will be able to decrypt them at a later stage. What is important here, and the same goes out there, is that you need to start implementing this now. Where are we on the pilots to orders? So far, we have had pilots that are now coming into orders, and then products will ship and revenue recognized. That will be the H2. The first part was the first part of the year.
[Company Representative] (IDEX Biometrics): That is to try to close or get closer to a solution. But again, this is a machine against the machines, and it is not a permanent solution. Finally, quantum computers, we call this synthetic quantum, is that large data is already harvested. The large data sets, they might not be able to hack them today, but they will be able to decrypt them at a later stage. What is important here, and the same goes out there, is that you need to start implementing this now. Where are we on the pilots to orders? So far, we have had pilots that are now coming into orders, and then products will ship and revenue recognized. That will be the H2. The first part was the first part of the year.
Speaker #1: So far, we have had pilots that are now coming into orders, and then products will ship and revenue will be recognized. That will be in the second half.
Speaker #1: So, the first part was the first part of the year, but what we are also seeing now is that because we have proven that our product works, customers are skipping pilots and they go straight to shipment and delivery.
Speaker #1: So what to watch from here? A significant step up in both order intake and revenues. Conversion of pilots: we think that we estimate the current pilot portfolio to be around 20 million, in combined POs, Q3 revenues is already at standing at 8.5 million committed: 4.5 million shipped, the rest of the backlog is set for delivery in the second half.
[Company Representative] (IDEX Biometrics): What we are also seeing now is that because we have proven that our product works, customers are skipping pilots and they go straight to shipment and delivery. What to watch from here? A significant step up in both order intake and revenues. Conversion of pilots. We estimate the current pilot portfolio to be around NOK 20 million in combined POs. Q3 revenues is already standing at NOK 8.5 million committed, NOK 4.5 million shipped. The rest of the backlog is set for delivery in the H2. This excludes new orders. There might be some cost increases in Q3, but we are closely monitoring our expenses. New pilots will be launching. We will see significant scale from our channel partners.
[Company Representative] (IDEX Biometrics): What we are also seeing now is that because we have proven that our product works, customers are skipping pilots and they go straight to shipment and delivery. What to watch from here? A significant step up in both order intake and revenues. Conversion of pilots. We estimate the current pilot portfolio to be around NOK 20 million in combined POs. Q3 revenues is already standing at NOK 8.5 million committed, NOK 4.5 million shipped. The rest of the backlog is set for delivery in the H2. This excludes new orders. There might be some cost increases in Q3, but we are closely monitoring our expenses. New pilots will be launching. We will see significant scale from our channel partners.
Speaker #1: This excludes new orders. There might be some cost increases in Q3, but we are closely monitoring our expenses. New pilots will be launching, and we will see significant scale from our channel partners.
Speaker #1: A channel partner for us is not something we put in the drawer, and once it's signed, we are actively out there with them in the market.
Speaker #1: We see new customers, doing demos, giving them all the materials, so we are really partners in that. Finally, I would say something on IDEX Pay: IDEX Pay was something we were putting on the backlog; this is really coming back into full force.
Speaker #1: With the first PO in India, there are more to come. Also, banks in other markets, now both in the US and in Europe, are now seriously considering IDEX.
[Company Representative] (IDEX Biometrics): A channel partner for us is not something we put in the drawer, and once it's signed, we are actively out with them in the market, visiting their customers, doing demos, giving them all the materials. So we are really partners in that. Finally, I would say something on IDEX Pay. IDEX Pay was something we were putting on the backlog. This is really coming back into full force. With the first PO in India, there are more to come, but also banks in other markets are now, both in the US and in Europe, seriously considering IDEX. That's it for today. Any questions? Well, thank you everybody for attending, and again, I encourage you all to visit our website now to see the latest film and how we positioned IDEX. Identify yourself as a human. Thank you very much.
[Company Representative] (IDEX Biometrics): A channel partner for us is not something we put in the drawer, and once it's signed, we are actively out with them in the market, visiting their customers, doing demos, giving them all the materials. So we are really partners in that. Finally, I would say something on IDEX Pay. IDEX Pay was something we were putting on the backlog. This is really coming back into full force. With the first PO in India, there are more to come, but also banks in other markets are now, both in the US and in Europe, seriously considering IDEX. That's it for today. Any questions? Well, thank you everybody for attending, and again, I encourage you all to visit our website now to see the latest film and how we positioned IDEX. Identify yourself as a human. Thank you very much.
Speaker #1: That's it for today. Any questions? Well, thank you, everybody, for attending, and again, I encourage you all to visit our website now to see the latest film and how we position IDEX.
