Did Aware bid for any role in Mexico's national biometric ID system?

Ajay Amlani stated that as a matter of policy, Aware does not comment on specific customer pursuits or bids. He emphasized the global trend of governments leveraging biometrics as a source of truth for identity, especially given AI-enabled threats and the limitations of physical documents. “As a matter of policy, we don't comment on specific customer pursuits or bids or potential opportunities, but we do and can say, right, that governments globally are leveraging biometrics is sort of the source of truth when it comes to identity frameworks.”

Is Aware involved in multilateral biometric data sharing agreements like the DHS CARICOM partnership?

Ajay Amlani again declined to comment on specific government programs or agreements. He highlighted increased public activity around biometric modernization and border security, noting Aware's deep experience and relevance, especially as a U.S.-based company with a "buying American" prioritization. “What we can say, though, is that there's an increased public activity around biometric modernization, interoperability, border security, traveler processing, identity verification. These are all areas where Aware has a really deep experience, where our technology is highly relevant and under new DHS policies, it's really well fit for companies like ours.”

What were the results of the Orlando MCO Airport biometric exit program trial, and did Aware demonstrate a competitive advantage?

Ajay Amlani declined to comment on specific pilot results or performance against other vendors. He emphasized the large and growing market for biometrics in aviation globally and domestically, where Aware's orchestration, liveness, and matching capabilities are well-positioned. “the program itself that was announced, but we don't comment on the specific programs, the results of pilots, right, or performance against any other vendors in those environments.”

AWRE

Aware (AWRE) Q2 FY26 earnings call: guidance and Q&A

Earnings call· Jun 2026 (Q2 FY26)· Information Technology· Jul 29, 2026

Source: earnings call transcript

Executive summary

Aware, Inc. Q2 FY26 — Revenue Miss Amidst Federal Shutdown and Platform Transition

Aware, Inc. experienced a challenging Q2 FY26 with revenue below expectations, primarily due to slower federal procurement and the ongoing transition to its SaaS-based Awareness Platform. Despite the near-term variability and increased losses, the company is sharpening its strategic focus on biometric orchestration, liveness, and matching, while implementing cost reductions. Management anticipates a stronger second half driven by typical seasonality and subscription renewals, emphasizing the long-term potential of its platform strategy amidst rising AI-driven fraud.

Highlights

Ended the quarter with a strong balance sheet, holding approximately $16.8 million in cash, cash equivalents, and marketable securities with no debt.
Successfully renewed a key customer, a top 15 global financial institution, for its second year and is exploring expanding the relationship.
Made significant updates to the Awareness Platform, including 10x lower false non-match rate for matching algorithms and under 2-second passive liveness detection.
Secured two new integrated technology partners, ROC and Mitek, strengthening the Awareness Platform's capabilities.

Concerns

Q2 FY26 revenue was $3.3 million, below expectations and down from $3.9 million in the prior year period.
Net loss for Q2 FY26 increased to $2.6 million ($0.12 per diluted share) from $2.0 million ($0.08 per diluted share) in Q2 FY25.
Adjusted EBITDA loss for Q2 FY26 widened to $2.3 million from $1.4 million in the prior year period.
Federal procurement activity was slower due to a government shutdown, creating a meaningful headwind during the quarter.

Guidance & targets

Category	Target	Timeline	Confidence
Revenue seasonality	weighted more heavily toward the back half of the year compared to the first half of the year medium materiality	H2 FY26	Medium
Revenue	improve from Q2 levels high materiality	H2 FY26	Medium
Expenses	to be lower medium materiality	H2 FY26	Medium
Recurring revenue baseline	support a more normalized baseline medium materiality	H2 FY26	Medium
Operating profile	stronger operating profile than Q2 high materiality	H2 FY26	Medium
Business scalability	continue as the Awareness Platform helps to unlock a more scalable model high materiality	Longer term	High

Product announcements

Product	Type	Timeline
Awareness Platform updates	update	Q2 FY26
Intelligent Liveness enhancements	update	Q2 FY26
Intelligent Matching advancements	update	Q2 FY26

Deals & partnerships

ROC integrated technology partner

ROC's biometric matching technologies provide a high-performance foundation for identity decisioning workflows within the Awareness Platform.

Mitek integrated technology partner

Mitek's identity verification and liveness detection capabilities bring additional high assurance fraud protection functionality into the platform.

Risks & headwinds

Slower federal procurement activity Q2 FY26

meaningful headwind

Mitigation:Renewed activity across the federal government market particularly in areas tied to homeland security, border modernization, airport infrastructure, traveler processing and biometric identity verification.

Near-term variability during business transformation ongoing

Q2 is a difficult quarter

Mitigation:Focusing the company, building around the Awareness Platform, strengthening liveness and matching, pursuing near-term opportunities with discipline and aligning resources to the markets where we believe we can win.

Cyclicality of business ongoing

Our business can be cyclical, and individual quarters can vary based on procurement timelines, renewal schedules and customer decision-making

Mitigation:Expect the second half of the year should reflect a stronger operating profile than Q2.

AI-enabled threats (deepfakes, synthetic identities, injection attacks) ongoing

As deepfakes, synthetic identities, injection attacks and other AI-enabled threats become more sophisticated, identity is becoming critical infrastructure

Mitigation:Focused so deliberately on the Awareness Platform, Intelligent Liveness enhancements, and Intelligent Matching advancements.

What to watch in Q3 FY26

Revenue improvement from Q2 levels

H2 FY26

Current $3.3 million in Q2 FY26

Target Stronger revenue than Q2 FY26

Why it matters

Indicates successful execution of seasonal patterns and customer activity, crucial for overall financial health.

Looking at the second half of the year, we expect revenue to improve from Q2 levels and expenses to be lower as the cost reduction actions we discussed last quarter became more visible in our results.

Find out whether AWRE delivers this. Inve re-checks your case every morning.

Q&A highlights

How does the emphasis on government opportunities impact the commercial business?

Ajay Amlani explained that both government and commercial organizations face similar challenges (AI-enabled fraud, regulatory pressure) and benefit from a "two-way exchange" where commercial views government-adopted tech as high-grade, and government seeks commercial-like usability. The Awareness Platform is highly relevant for both.

“Commercial organizations view technologies adopted by government vendors or -- by government as government grade, right? Like they look at it as a higher threshold, a higher bar for security, for accuracy, for scalability, for reliability.”

asked by Delaney Gembis · answered by Ajay Amlani

2 min read 6 chapters

Detailed narrative

Strategic Transformation and Platform Focus

Aware is undergoing a significant transformation, shifting from a fragmented product portfolio to focusing on the SaaS-based Awareness Platform. This platform unifies biometric orchestration, decisioning, liveness detection, matching, and partner technologies, addressing the increasing complexity of biometric environments for government and commercial organizations. The transition creates near-term variability but is aimed at building a more scalable business around competitive areas.

Awareness Platform Enhancements

During the quarter, Aware made important updates to the Awareness Platform, positioning it as an intelligent control plane for identity. This includes enabling configuration of enrollment, verification, authentication, and identification workflows, orchestrating multiple liveness detection and identity verification providers, and benchmarking vendors in production. The platform is designed to address the fragmentation customers face with multiple biometric systems.

Advanced Biometric Capabilities

The company advanced its Intelligent Liveness capabilities to combat sophisticated AI-driven fraud, using optical and spectral analysis for passive, sub-2-second verification without user interaction. Additionally, advancements in Intelligent Matching delivered approximately 10x lower false non-match rates and scalable architecture for sub-second one-to-end matching across large datasets. These improvements are foundational for high-confidence identity systems in critical environments.

Federal Government Market Activity

Renewed activity in the federal government market, particularly in homeland security, border modernization, and traveler processing, is noted. Following the normalization of DHS operations in May, Aware has seen increased conversations, RFIs, and procurement activity. This reinforces confidence in the federal government market as a key focus area, aligning with broader priorities for modernizing security infrastructure and leveraging trusted U.S.-based technology providers.

Partnerships and Ecosystem Expansion

Aware welcomed two new integrated technology partners, ROC and Mitek, to the Awareness Platform. These partnerships enhance the platform's capabilities by providing high-performance biometric matching and additional high-assurance fraud protection functionality. This strategy reinforces the principle that the future of identity lies in better orchestration across multiple technologies and vendors, offering flexibility and visibility to customers.

Financial Performance and Outlook

Q2 FY26 revenue was $3.3 million, below expectations, impacted by timing of product business and federal shutdown. The company reported increased net and Adjusted EBITDA losses for both the quarter and the first half of the year. However, management expects revenue to improve and expenses to be lower in the second half due to typical seasonality, subscription renewals, and previously implemented cost reductions, including $4 million annualized savings starting in Q2 2026.

Summary of the company's earnings call; see how call summaries are prepared. Not investment advice.