AWARE INC MA

Note 1 – Description of the Company and Basis of Presentation

Description of the Company

We are a global biometric platform company that uses data science, machine learning, and artificial intelligence to tackle everyday business and identity challenges through biometric solutions. Our portfolio enables government agencies and commercial entities to enroll, identify, authenticate and enable using biometrics, which comprise physiological characteristics, such as fingerprints, faces, irises and voices.

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Enroll: Register biometric identities into an organization’s secure database

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Identify: Utilize an organization’s secure database to accurately identify individuals using biometric data

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Authenticate: Provide frictionless multi-factor, passwordless access to secured accounts and databases with biometric verification

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Enable: Manage the lifecycle of secure identities through optimized biometric interchanges

We have been engaged in this business since 1993. Our comprehensive portfolio of biometric solutions is based on innovative, robust products designed explicitly for ease of integration, including customer-managed and integration ready biometric frameworks, platforms, software development kits (SDKs) and services. Principal government applications of biometrics systems include border control, visa applicant screening, law enforcement, national defense, intelligence, secure credentialing, access control, and background checks. Principal commercial applications include mobile enrollment, user authentication, identity proofing, and secure transaction enablement.

Our products span multiple biometric modalities including fingerprint, face, iris and voice, and provide interoperable, standards-compliant, field-proven biometric functionality. Our products are used to capture, verify, format, compress and decompress biometric images as well as aggregate, analyze, process, match and transport those images and templates within biometric systems. For large deployments, we may provide project management and software engineering services. We sell our biometrics software products and services globally through a multifaceted distribution strategy using systems integrators, original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), value added resellers (VARs), partners, and directly to end user customers.

Certain amounts in the consolidated financial statements and associated notes may not add due to rounding. All percentages have been calculated using unrounded amounts.

Basis of Presentation

The accompanying unaudited consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the instructions for Form 10-Q and therefore do not include all information and notes necessary for a complete presentation of our financial position, results of operations and cash flows, in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles. We filed audited financial statements which included all information and notes necessary for such presentation for the two years ended December 31, 2023 in conjunction with our 2023 Annual Report on Form 10-K. This Form 10-Q should be read in conjunction with that Form 10-K.

The accompanying unaudited consolidated balance sheets, statements of operations and comprehensive loss, statements of cash flows, and statements of stockholders’ equity reflect all adjustments (consisting only of normal recurring items) which are, in the opinion of management, necessary for a fair presentation of financial position at September 30, 2024, and of operations and cash flows for the interim periods ended September 30, 2024 and 2023.

The results of operations for the interim periods ended September 30, 2024 are not necessarily indicative of the results to be expected for the year.

Principles of Consolidation

The consolidated financial statements include the accounts of Aware, Inc. and its subsidiaries, Aware Security Corporation and Fortr3ss, Inc. Intercompany accounts and transactions have been eliminated in consolidation.

Use of Estimates

The preparation of our consolidated financial statements in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America requires us to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and the reported amount of revenues and expenses during the reporting period. The most significant estimates included in the financial statements pertain to revenue recognition, reserves for credit losses, valuation of the contingent acquisition payment, valuation of the investment in the note receivable, goodwill and long-lived asset impairment and valuation allowance for deferred income tax assets. Actual results could differ from those estimates.

Recent Accounting Pronouncements

In November 2023, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued Accounting Standard Update (“ASU”) No. 2023-07, Segment Reporting (Topic 280): Improvements to Reportable Segment Disclosures, which requires retrospective disclosure of significant segment expenses and other segment items on an annual and interim basis. Additionally, it requires disclosure of the title and position of the Chief Operating Decision Maker (“CODM”). This ASU will be effective for our fiscal year ending on December 31, 2024 and interim periods beginning in fiscal 2025, with early adoption permitted. We are assessing the impact of the standard on our consolidated financial statements.

In December 2023, the FASB issued ASU No. 2023-09, Income Taxes (Topic 740): Improvements to Income Tax Disclosures, which requires an annual tabular effective tax rate reconciliation disclosure including information for specified categories and jurisdiction levels, as well as, disclosure of income taxes paid, net of refunds received, disaggregated by federal, state/local, and significant foreign jurisdiction. This ASU will be effective for our fiscal year ending on December 31, 2025, with early adoption permitted. We are assessing the impact of the standard on our consolidated financial statements.

Note 2 – Revenue Recognition

We recognize revenue in accordance with Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) Topic 606, “Revenue from Contracts with Customers” (“ASC 606”). Under ASC 606, we apply the following five step model:

1. Identify the contract with the customer;

2. Identify the performance obligations in the contract;

3. Determine the transaction price;

4. Allocate the transaction price to the performance obligations in the contract; and

5. Recognize revenue when (or as) each performance obligation is satisfied.

We categorize revenue as software licenses, software maintenance, or services and other. Revenue from software licenses is recognized at a point in time upon delivery, provided all other revenue recognition criteria are met. We recognize software maintenance revenue over time on a straight-line basis over the contract period. Services revenue is recognized over time as the services are delivered using an input method (i.e., labor hours incurred as a percentage of total labor hours budgeted), provided all other revenue recognition criteria are met. Other revenue includes hardware sales that may be included in a software license, is recognized at a point in time upon delivery provided all other revenue recognition criteria are met.

In addition to selling software licenses, software maintenance and software services on a standalone basis, a significant portion of our contracts include multiple performance obligations, which require an allocation of the transaction price to each distinct performance obligation based on a relative standalone selling price (“SSP”) basis. The SSP is the price at which we would sell a promised good or service separately to a customer. The best estimate of SSP is the observable price of a good or service when we sell that good or service separately. A contractually stated price or a list price for a good or service may be the SSP of that good or service. We use a range of selling prices to estimate SSP when we sell each of the goods and services separately and need to determine whether there is a discount that needs to be allocated based on the relative SSP of the various goods and services within multiple performance obligation arrangements. In instances where SSP is not directly observable, such as when we do not sell the product or service separately, we typically determine the SSP using an adjusted market assessment approach using information that may include market conditions and other observable inputs. We typically have more than one SSP for individual goods and services due to the stratification of those goods and services by customer. In these instances, we may use information such as the nature of the customer and distribution channel in determining the SSP.

When software licenses and significant customization engineering services are sold together, they are accounted for as a combined performance obligation, as the software licenses are generally highly dependent on, and interrelated with, the associated customization services and therefore are not distinct performance obligations. Revenue for the combined performance obligation is recognized over time as the services are delivered using an input method (i.e., labor hours incurred as a percentage of total labor hours budgeted).

When subscription-based software is sold, the subscription-based software and software maintenance are generally considered distinct performance obligations. The transaction price is allocated to subscription-based software and the software maintenance based on the relative SSP of each performance obligation. We sell subscription-based software for a fixed fee and/or a usage-based royalty fee, sometimes subject to a minimum guarantee. When the amount is in the form of a fixed fee, including the guaranteed minimum in subscription-based royalties, revenue is allocated to the subscription-based software and recognized at a point in time upon delivery, provided all other revenue recognition criteria are met. Revenue allocated to the software maintenance is recognized over the contract term on a straight-line basis. Any subscription-based software fees earned not subject to the guaranteed minimum or earned in excess of the minimum amount are recognized as revenue when the subsequent usage occurs.

Our contracts can include variable fees, such as the option to purchase additional usage of a previously delivered software license. We may also provide pricing concessions to clients, a business practice that also gives rise to variable fees in contracts. We include variable fees in the determination of total transaction price if it is not probable that a future significant reversal of revenue will occur. We use the expected value or most likely value amount, whichever is more appropriate for specific circumstances, to estimate variable consideration, and the estimates are based on the level of historical price concessions offered to clients.

The amount of consideration is typically not adjusted for a significant financing component if the time between payment and the transfer of the related good or service is one year or less under thepractical expedient in the guidance. Our revenue arrangements are typically accounted for under such expedient, as payment is typically due within 30 to 60 days. However, during the three and nine months ended September 30, 2024, we identifiedone contract that contains a significant financing component, due to the inclusion of extended payment terms exceedingone year.

For this contract, we have adjusted the transaction price to reflect the time value of money using an interest rate of 11%. The financing component resulted in the recognition of $2,000 in interest income during the periods. The total amount of revenue recognized in the three and nine months ended September 30, 2024 from this contract was $0.2 million, excluding the financing adjustment.

Also, as we expand our Software as a Service (SaaS) offerings, including AwareID, revenue from SaaS contracts will be recognized ratably over the subscription period. For the three and nine months ended September 30, 2024, we generated $0.1 million of revenue from SaaS contracts, which is included in maintenance revenue. For the three and nine months ended September 30, 2023, we generated a de minimis amount of revenue from SaaS contracts.

Disaggregation of Revenues

We organize ourselves into a single segment that reports to the Chief Executive Officer who is our CODM. We conduct our operations in the United States and sell our products and services to domestic and international customers. Revenue generated from the following geographic regions was (in thousands):

Revenue by timing of transfer of goods or services was (in thousands):

Revenue by contract type was (in thousands):

Revenue from subscription-based contracts include revenue that may be recognized at a point in time or over time and be part of a fixed fee and or minimum guarantee as well as fees earned and allocated to software maintenance.

Contract Balances

When the timing of our delivery of goods or services is different from the timing of payments made by customers, we recognize either a contract asset (performance precedes contractual due date) or a contract liability (customer payment precedes performance). Customers that prepay are represented by the deferred revenue below until the performance obligation is satisfied.

Our contract assets consist of unbilled receivables. Our contract liabilities consist of deferred (unearned) revenue, which is generally related to software maintenance contracts. We classify deferred revenue as current or noncurrent based on the timing of when we expect to recognize revenue.

The following tables present changes in our contract assets and liabilities during the three and nine months ended September 30, 2024 and 2023 (in thousands):

Remaining Performance Obligations

Remaining performance obligations represent the transaction prices from contracts for which work has not been performed or goods and services have not been delivered. We expect to recognize revenue on approximately 97% of the remaining deferred revenue over the next 12 months, with the remainder recognized thereafter. As of September 30, 2024, the aggregate amount of the transaction prices allocated to remaining performance obligations for contracts with a duration greater than one year was $0.3 million.

Note 3 – Fair Value Measurements

The FASB Codification defines fair value and establishes a fair value hierarchy that prioritizes the inputs to valuation techniques used to measure fair value. The three levels of the fair value hierarchy under the FASB Codification are: Level 1 – valuations that are based on quoted prices (unadjusted) in active markets for identical assets or liabilities that the reporting entity has the ability to access at the measurement date; Level 2 – valuations that are based on quoted prices in markets that are not active or for which all significant inputs are observable, either directly or indirectly; and Level 3 – valuations that require inputs that are both significant to the fair value measurement and unobservable.

Cash and cash equivalents, which primarily include money market mutual funds were $11.2 million and $10.0 million as of September 30, 2024 and December 31, 2023, respectively. Marketable securities, which primarily consists of U.S. Treasuries and previously included corporate bonds, were $16.2 million and $20.9 million as of September 30, 2024 and December 31, 2023, respectively. Our assets and liabilities that are measured at fair value on a recurring basis included the following (in thousands):

Our investments in marketable securities are classified as available-for-sale and are carried at fair value, with the unrealized gains and losses, net of tax, reported as a component of accumulated other comprehensive loss in stockholders' equity.

Marketable securities by security type consisted of the following (in thousands):

Note 4 – Intangible Assets

Intangible assets and their estimated useful lives as of September 30, 2024 are as follows (dollars in thousands):

During each of the three months ended September 30, 2024 and 2023, we recorded $0.1 million of intangible assets amortization expense, and during each of the nine months ended September 30, 2024 and 2023, we recorded $0.3 million of intangible assets amortization expense. We expect to record amortization expense for the remainder of 2024 and each subsequent year and thereafter as follows (in thousands):

Note 5 – Computation of Earnings per Share

Basic earnings per share is computed by dividing net income or loss by the weighted average number of common shares outstanding. Diluted earnings per share is computed by dividing net income or loss by the weighted average number of common shares outstanding plus additional common shares that would have been outstanding if dilutive potential common shares had been issued. For the purposes of this calculation, stock options are considered common stock equivalents in periods in which they have a dilutive effect. Stock options that are anti-dilutive are excluded from the calculation. Potential common stock equivalents werenot included in the per share calculation for diluted earnings per share where we had a net loss, and the effect of their inclusion would be anti-dilutive.

Note 6 – Equity and Stock-based compensation

The following table presents stock-based compensation expenses included in our unaudited consolidated statements of operations and comprehensive loss (in thousands):

Stock Options -On January 17, 2024, our stockholders approved the Aware Inc. 2023 Equity and Incentive Plan (the “2023 Plan”). Following approval of the 2023 Plan, we ceased making awards under our previous 2001 Nonqualified Stock Plan (as amended, the “2001 Plan”).

Also on January 17, 2024, our stockholders approved a stock option exchange program (the “Exchange Offer”) pursuant to which eligible employees, primarily consisting of our executive officers and senior management, were able to exchange certain stock options (the “Eligible Options”) for replacement stock options with modified terms (the “New Options”) as described below. We commenced the Exchange Offer on January 19, 2024, pursuant to the Offer to Exchange certain outstanding stock options for New Options under Aware’s 2023 Equity and Incentive Plan.

The Exchange Offer expired on February 20, 2024. Pursuant to the Exchange Offer, nine employees elected to exchange their Eligible Options, and we accepted for cancellation Eligible Options to purchase an aggregate of 2,180,000 shares of common stock, representing approximately 96% of the total shares of common stock underlying the Eligible Options. Following the expiration of the Exchange Offer, on February 20, 2024, we granted New Options to purchase 933,073 shares of Common Stock, pursuant to the terms of the Exchange Offer and our 2023 Plan.

The exercise price per share of the New Options granted pursuant to the Exchange Offer was $2.21 per share. Each New Option will vest and become exercisable, with respect to 50% of the shares of common stock underlying such New Option on the first anniversary of the grant date and, with respect to the remaining shares of common stock underlying such New Option, in twelve equal monthly installments thereafter, subject to the continuous service of the holder. The other terms and conditions of the New Options will be governed by the terms and conditions of the 2023 Plan and the nonstatutory stock option agreements entered into thereunder.

There wasno incremental expense for the New Options as calculated using the Black-Scholes option pricing model. The unamortized expense remaining on the Eligible Options, as of the modification date, will be recognized over the new vesting schedule.

We didnot grant any other stock options andno stock options were exercises in the three or nine months ended September 30, 2024 or 2023.

Restricted Stock Units - The 2023 Plan permits us to grant restricted stock units to our directors, officers, and employees. Upon vesting, each restricted stock unit entitles the recipient to receive a number of shares of common stock as set forth in the relevant restricted stock unit agreement. Stock-based compensation expense for restricted stock units is determined based on the fair market value of our stock on the date of grant, provided the number of shares in the grant is fixed on the grant date.

We granted 0 and 284,814 restricted stock units to directors, officers, and employees during the three andnine months ended September 30, 2024, respectively. Of the restricted stock units granted in the nine months ended September 30, 2024,70,406 vested shortly after June 30, 2024.60,000 of remaining shares are scheduled to vest in 15,000 share increments in October 2024, and April 2025, 2026 and 2027. Also,24,000 restricted stock units are scheduled to vest in 6,000 share increments in December 2024 and June 2025, 2026 and 2027 and 70,406 are scheduled to vest shortly after December 3,1 2024.60,000 restricted stock units were scheduled to be issued in 15,000 increments in July 2024 and January 2025, 2026 and 2027 but were forfeited in April 2024 as a result of an employee termination.

Unrestricted Stock Grants - Our 2001 Plan, which was replaced by our 2023 Plan, permitted us to grant shares of unrestricted shares of stock to our directors, officers, and employees. Stock-based compensation expense for stock grants is determined based on the fair market value of our stock on the date of grant, provided the number of shares in the grant is fixed on the grant date.

We issued 0 and 67,107 shares of unrestricted stock to directors, officers, and employees during the three and nine months ended September 30, 2024, respectively, in settlement of previously issued unrestricted stock grants.

We granted 0 and 134,211 unrestricted stock awards and issued 0 and 61,462 shares of unrestricted stock to directors, officers, and employees during the three and nine months ended September 30, 2023, respectively. Of the shares granted in the nine months ended September 30, 2023,67,104 were issued shortly after June 30, 2023 and 67,107 were issued shortly after December 31, 2023. Also,15,000 shares vested in August 2024 related to a grant in 2022.

Share Purchases - On March 1, 2022, our Board of Directors authorized a new stock repurchase program pursuant to which we may purchase up to $10.0 million of our common stock. On November 30, 2023, our Board of Directors extended the program through December 31, 2025. As of September 30, 2024 we have repurchased $1.8 million of our common stock pursuant to this program. During the three and nine months ended September 30, 2024 we purchased 0 and 35 shares of common stock, respectively. During the three and nine months ended September 30, 2023 we purchased 81,083 and 271,991 shares of common stock, respectively. The program does not obligate us to acquire any particular amount of common stock and the program may be modified or suspended at any time at our Board of Directors' discretion.

Note 7 – Income Taxes

During the three and nine months ended September 30, 2024, we recorded an income tax provision of $15,000 and $54,000, respectively.

We have evaluated the positive and negative evidence bearing upon our ability to realize our deferred tax assets, which primarily consist of net operating loss carryforwards and research and development tax credits. We considered the history of cumulative net losses, estimated future taxable income and prudent and feasible tax planning strategies and we have concluded that it is more likely than not that we will not realize the benefits of our deferred tax assets. As a result, as of September 30, 2024 and December 31, 2023, we have a full valuation recorded against our net deferred tax assets.

Note 8 – Subsequent Event

On October 30, 2024 we announced, Robert Eckel, our Chief Executive Officer and a member of our Board of Directors, will resign from these positions effective as of December 31, 2024. In anticipation of that transition we have engaged an executive strategic advisor to work with the Board and our management to evaluate our market position and sales strategy and provide strategic recommendations. In addition, we have engaged an executive search firm to assist in the identification of Mr. Eckel’s successor. We anticipate that we will recognize approximately $0.9 million of general and administrative expenses during the fourth quarter of 2024 related to this transition.