One-glance verdict
Not enough data
Fair value unavailable
Not enough cash-flow history to value this one with our method.
Fundamentals snapshot
BIO-key International, Inc.
BKYI · NCM · Industrials · Security & Protection Services
Current price
$2.58
52-week range
$2.40 - $19.70
Market cap
$3.71M
Balance sheet
Healthy
-71.19x Concerning
Net cash $517.45K. Interest coverage shows how many times profit covers the interest bill.
What stands out
1 Reward
2 Risks
1 rewards · 2 risks
- Reward Revenue grew 111.8% last year.
- Risk Return on equity was -107.9% last year — the company lost money on shareholders' equity.
- Risk Insider ownership is only 8.7% (peer median: 11.1%).
What this company does
BIO-key International, Inc.
BIO-key International sells security technology that uses unique traits like fingerprints to make sure people are who they say they are. It mainly makes money by selling its software and physical scanners to businesses and governments, which is important as the need to protect digital information from hackers grows.
How the company got here
Founded in 1993, BIO-key started by developing advanced fingerprint identification technology. A key shift happened in 2020 when it acquired a company called PistolStar, which brought in the PortalGuard software platform. This acquisition was a major turning point, moving BIO-key from just a fingerprint specialist to a broader provider of Identity and Access Management (IAM), which refers to the tools and policies that make sure the right people can access the right digital resources. More recently, the company has been focused on expanding its software sales and growing its presence in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia.
What it actually does
BIO-key helps organizations make sure that the people accessing their computer systems, applications, and data are who they say they are. Think of it as a high-tech security guard for the digital world. Instead of just relying on passwords, which can be stolen, BIO-key uses multiple ways to check someone's identity, with a special focus on biometrics (using unique body features like a fingerprint, face, or even the palm of a hand to verify someone). Their products are used by businesses, schools, and government agencies to prevent unauthorized access and protect sensitive information.
Software Licenses
This is the company's main way of making money and represents the largest share of its revenue. Companies pay BIO-key for the right to use its core software product, called PortalGuard. This software acts as a central hub for managing user access and can be installed on a company's own servers or used as a cloud service (a version called PortalGuard IDaaS, where BIO-key manages the software for the customer). This part of the business is important because software can be sold to many customers without a corresponding increase in production cost, leading to higher gross margins (the profit left after subtracting the direct costs of making and selling the product).
Hardware
BIO-key also sells physical devices that capture biometric information. This includes a variety of fingerprint scanners designed for different uses, like small USB readers for laptops or more rugged devices for shared workstations in places like hospitals or police departments. While this is a smaller part of the business compared to software, it's an important piece of the puzzle. The hardware works together with the software to provide a complete security solution for customers who want to use fingerprint identification.
Services
This segment involves the support and custom work BIO-key provides to its customers. When a company buys BIO-key's software, they also often pay for ongoing maintenance and customer support, which creates a recurring (repeating) source of income. This part of the business also includes one-time fees for helping new customers get everything set up and integrated with their existing systems. This ensures that customers can effectively use the software and hardware they've purchased.
What management is betting on now
The company's main focus is to increase its software license sales, especially those that generate recurring revenue (predictable income from subscriptions). Management is targeting profitability by growing sales while carefully managing costs. They are also pushing for international expansion, particularly in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and India, by working with local partners to sell their products. A key part of their strategy is to convince customers that identity-bound biometrics (tying a person's physical identity to their digital one) is more secure than just relying on things people have, like their phones or tokens.
Price history
How the share price has moved
—
Loading price history…
Earnings history
Last 8 quarters — what happened
Click any quarter to read the call summary and what the numbers say.
FY2024 Q3
$-1.30M
FY2024 Q4
$-524.56K
FY2025 Q1
$-839.88K
FY2025 Q2
$-881.49K
FY2025 Q3
$-1.12M
FY2025 Q4
$-1.84M
FY2026 Q1
$-358.00K
FY2026 Q2
$-845.75K
Revenue
—
Net income
$-576.85K
Diluted EPS
—
Operating cash flow
$-845.75K
Free cash flow
$-845.75K
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
—
Net income
$-205.04K
Diluted EPS
—
Operating cash flow
$-358.00K
Free cash flow
$-358.00K
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
—
Net income
$-4.29M
Diluted EPS
—
Operating cash flow
$-1.83M
Free cash flow
$-1.84M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
—
Net income
$-964.85K
Diluted EPS
—
Operating cash flow
$-1.12M
Free cash flow
$-1.12M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
—
Net income
$-1.17M
Diluted EPS
—
Operating cash flow
$-880.01K
Free cash flow
$-881.49K
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
—
Net income
$-736.54K
Diluted EPS
—
Operating cash flow
$-835.31K
Free cash flow
$-839.88K
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
—
Net income
$-1.38M
Diluted EPS
—
Operating cash flow
$-514.56K
Free cash flow
$-524.56K
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
—
Net income
$-738.96K
Diluted EPS
—
Operating cash flow
$-1.28M
Free cash flow
$-1.30M
Fetching…
Sources
Is it cheap or expensive?
Fair value — vs current price $2.58
We couldn't calculate a fair value right now.
Is it drowning in debt?
Healthy
Net cash $517,448 - more cash than debt. Interest coverage -71.2x.
Net debt
$-517.45K
Interest coverage
-71.19x
BIO-key International, Inc.'s profit covers its interest bill about 0.0 times over. which is weaker than most peers shown here and 4 peers sit below 1x, which is the danger zone where profit does not fully cover the interest bill.
Healthy
Worse cushion
Baseline
Better cushion
BKYI
BASELINE
BIO-key International, Inc.
Total debt $861.85K Interest coverage -71.19x This is the baseline the peer rows are being compared against.
Total debt $3.81M Interest coverage -6.97x Neither company has much profit cushion over interest right now.
Total debt $0.00 Interest coverage 217.20x This peer still has a real interest-payment cushion, while BKYI does not.
Total debt $23.16M Interest coverage -0.13x Neither company has much profit cushion over interest right now.
Total debt $750.00K Interest coverage -9.38x Neither company has much profit cushion over interest right now.
Total debt — Interest coverage -24.69x Neither company has much profit cushion over interest right now.
What you should know
The case for and against BKYI
1 Reward
2 Risks
Rewards
-
Revenue grew 111.8% last year.
Risks
-
Return on equity was -107.9% last year — the company lost money on shareholders' equity.
-
Insider ownership is only 8.7% (peer median: 11.1%).
The numbers
All the key metrics, grouped by purpose
Tap any ? icon to learn what it means.
Valuation
How expensive the stock looks
P/E (TTM)
—
Forward P/E
11.75x
P/B
0.65x
P/S
0.55x
EV/EBITDA
-1.02x
PEG ratio
—
Profitability
How much profit each dollar creates
Gross margin
81.3%
Operating margin
-27.6%
Net margin
-90.1%
ROE
-107.9%
ROA
-22.8%
Health
Liquidity and balance-sheet strength
Debt / equity
0.20x
Current ratio
1.26x
Quick ratio
1.03x
Total debt
$861.85K
Total cash
$1.38M
Growth
How the business has been compounding
Revenue TTM
$6.30M
Revenue 5Y CAGR
33.5%
EPS TTM
-7.91
EPS 5Y CAGR
—
Cash flow
How much cash the business throws off
Operating CF TTM
$-4.16M
Free CF TTM
$-4.68M
FCF margin
-74.3%
Dividend
Shareholder payout
Yield
—
Payout ratio
0.0%
Last ex-div date
—