Stocks/AWRE

AWRE

Aware, Inc.
Technology·Software - Application
$1.52
$33M market cap
Claude Rating
2/10SHORT
Revenue
$17.1M
Free Cash Flow
$-5.3M
Rev Growth
-6.2%
FCF Margin
-30.8%
P/FCF
--
EV/FCF
--
Fwd EV/EBITDA
--
Fair Value
$0.75
Upside
-50.7%

Aware, Inc. provides biometrics software products and solutions in the United States, Brazil, the United Kingdom, and internationally. It offers biometrics software products, including biometric search and matching software development kits (SDKs); biometric enrollment SDKs and application programming interfaces (APIs); and imaging products for medical and advanced imaging applications, such as JPEG2000 product to compress, store, and display images, as well as software maintenance services. The

2-Year Price History

$1.25-32.4%
$1.2$1.4$1.6$1.8$2.0$2.2$2.4$2.6$2.8volJun 24Oct 24Jan 25May 25Sep 25Jan 26May 26

Quarterly Financials & Projections

Quarterly Waterfall ($ M)
PeriodRevEBITDAOpInNIOCFFCFCapExCashDebtSharesROICIntCovEV/EBITDA
Est2028-Q14.2-0.6---0.8---1.2-0.112.7----------
Est2027-Q45.2-0.3---0.5--0.1-0.113.9----------
Est2027-Q35.0-0.5---0.7---0.6-0.113.8----------
Est2027-Q24.2-0.7---0.8---0.8-0.014.4----------
Est2027-Q13.8-0.8---1.0---1.5-0.015.2----------
Est2026-Q44.8-0.7---0.9---0.4-0.116.7----------
Est2026-Q34.5-0.8---1.0---1.1-0.017.1----------
Est2026-Q23.8-1.1---1.2---1.3-0.018.2----------
Act2026-Q13.4-3.7-3.7-3.5-2.7-2.7-0.019.63.921.6-375.2%----
Act2025-Q44.7-1.3-1.5-1.51.10.9-0.122.34.021.4-146.4%----
Act2025-Q35.1-0.9-1.3-1.1-2.4-2.4-0.022.54.021.2-127.8%----
Act2025-Q23.9-1.6-2.0-1.8-1.2-1.2-0.023.74.121.4-190.8%----
Act2025-Q13.6-1.7-1.9-1.6-2.9-3.0-0.024.84.221.3-158.7%----
Act2024-Q44.8-1.3-1.5-1.20.70.7-0.027.84.221.2-95.2%----
Act2024-Q33.9-1.3-1.5-1.2-0.8-0.8-0.027.44.321.2-80.4%----
Act2024-Q24.3-1.2-1.3-1.1-0.7-0.7-0.027.44.421.1-66.0%----
Act2024-Q14.4-1.1-1.3-1.0-2.4-2.4-0.028.54.421.1-55.6%----
Act2023-Q44.4-1.7-4.5-4.23.13.1-0.030.94.521.0-177.8%----
Act2023-Q36.40.10.81.12.52.5-0.027.54.521.121.6%----
Act2023-Q23.2-2.8-2.9-2.7-2.2-2.2-0.025.14.621.0-93.2%----
Act2023-Q14.3-1.7-1.9-1.6-1.5-1.5-0.027.34.621.0-49.4%----
Act2022-Q44.1-1.7-2.0-1.8-0.5-1.1-0.629.04.521.4-48.5%----
Act2022-Q33.0-3.12.42.6-2.0-2.1-0.131.00.021.866.0%----
Act2022-Q24.2-1.1-1.4-1.3-0.2-0.2-0.025.00.021.7-44.4%----
Act2022-Q14.7-1.1-1.3-1.3-2.4-2.8-0.025.10.021.6-39.0%----
Historical Valuation

Multiples vs the company's own history — cheap or rich relative to itself? Historical fiscal years, then TTM, then forward projections (E). Forward rows hold today's price against projected earnings, so the multiple compresses if the company grows into it.

YearPriceRev GrEBITDA %EBITDAEV/EBITDAEV/FCFP/EP/S
20221.71-43.7%-7
20231.66+14.0%-33.3%-6
20241.95-4.7%-28.6%-5
20251.85-0.6%-31.9%-6
TTM1.52+3.0%-43.7%-70.0×0.0×0.0×0.0×
2027E1.52+6.6%-0.1%-00.0×0.0×0.0×0.0×

EBITDA in reporting-currency $M. Historical multiples use year-end market cap (split-adjusted price history); TTM & forward years use today's.

AI Analysis

LLM Evaluations

Claude2/10SHORTFV: $0.75

Aware is a chronically unprofitable micro-cap biometrics company burning through its cash reserves while attempting a high-risk pivot to a platform model it admitted it was too slow to pursue. Revenue has been flat-to-declining for years (~$17M annually), losses are widening, and management is now paying CEO compensation in stock to preserve cash — a textbook sign of distress. The $19.6M cash balance provides a runway, but at ~$5M annual burn (post-restructuring), this is a 4-year fuse with no demonstrated ability to reach profitability. Executive compensation at 14.3% of revenue is egregious for a company this size. The option exchange program to reset underwater strikes, combined with aggressive RSU issuance, signals that insiders are extracting value while shareholders bear dilution. The complete absence of analyst questions on the Q1 FY26 call is a damning signal of institutional abandonment. While insider buying appears optically positive, much of it reflects the RSU-for-salary scheme rather than conviction purchases. The biometric orchestration market opportunity is real, but Aware is late, under-resourced, and competing against far larger players. The stock trades at ~$1.17/share, and even the current $25M market cap seems generous given the trajectory.

Catalyst A significant multi-year federal government contract win through the Awareness Platform, or a strategic acquisition by a larger identity/security player seeking DHS-certified biometric technology could unlock value. Without either, the stock continues to drift toward cash-per-share.
Risk Cash exhaustion before the platform pivot generates meaningful revenue, forcing either highly dilutive equity raises at sub-$1 prices or a fire-sale of assets/IP, destroying remaining shareholder value.
Trend
DETERIORATING
Mgmt
3/10
Quarter
2/10
Exp. Move
-12.0%

Latest Earnings Call

Transcript Summary

Aware’s Q1 FY '26 results were characterized by a revenue miss and a significant admission of strategic misalignment with the rapidly evolving AI-driven biometric market. Revenue fell to $3.4 million, while net losses expanded to $3.5 million due to higher operating costs and one-time severance charges. CEO A.J. Amlani took full responsibility for the company's failure to anticipate the speed of market changes, specifically the heightened need for liveness detection to combat deepfakes. In response, Aware is pivoting to a platform-first strategy, focusing on its new Awareness Platform for biometric orchestration. This involves a $4 million reduction in annualized expenses and a shift away from legacy law enforcement products toward federal and cloud-based enterprise solutions. While the company maintained a healthy cash position of $19.6 million and no debt, management warned of continued near-term variability. The transformation is structured in three steps, with scaling expected later in 2026. Despite management's transparency and the technical validation of their technology by the DHS, the total absence of analyst questions underscores the high uncertainty surrounding the company's transition.

Valuation & Metrics

Market Stats

Price$1.52
Market Cap$33M
Enterprise Value$17M
P/S Ratio1.9x
P/FCF--
EV/FCF--
FCF Margin (TTM)-30.8%
FCF Yield-16.0%
Dividend Yield (TTM)115.1%
Annual Dilution1.5%
CurrencyUSD

TTM Financial Snapshot

Revenue$17.1M
Net Income$-7.7M
Free Cash Flow$-5.3M

Revenue Growth (YoY)-6.2%
EBITDA Margin-43.7%
Net Margin-45.3%
FCF Margin-30.8%
CapEx % of Revenue0.7%
SBC % of Revenue5.8%
ROIC-210.0%
WC Change % Rev9.7%
Interest Coverage--

DCF Fair Value Estimate

$-0.12
-107.8% upside
Fair Enterprise Value$-26M
− Net Debt$-16M
= Fair Equity$-3M
Revenue Growth10.1% → 3.0%
FCF Margin-30.8% → 8.0%
Discount Rate16.0%
Terminal EV/FCF10.0x

Forward Outlook & Risk

Short Interest

Short % of Float0.3%
Short Shares0.0M
Days to Cover1.0
Change (vs Prior)+8.8%
Short % Float History
0.30%-0.10pp
0.2%0.4%0.6%0.8%1.0%04-3007-1509-1511-1401-1504-30

Options

Call IV (ATM)--
Put IV (ATM)--
ATM Spread--
Call $OI (near money)$538
Put $OI (near money)$0
ATM ExpiryJuly 17, 2026 (56D)
ATM Strike$2.5
Major Expirations1
Near-money chain · July 17, 2026
StrikeCall Bid/AskCall OIPut Bid/AskPut OI
$2.50--/$0.35146$0.95/$1.450
$5.00--/$1.4012$3.30/$4.100
$7.50--/$0.105$5.70/$6.700
Snapshot: 2026-05-22

Forward Projections & Estimates

NTM Revenue Growth-1.0%
Forward FCF Margin-25.8%
Forward EBITDA Margin-20.0%
Forward P/FCF--
Forward EV/FCF--
Forward Int. Coverage--
Model Risk Score8/10
Bankruptcy Odds8%
Est. Borrow Rate14.0%
Terminal EV/FCF10.0x
LT Growth3.0%
LT FCF Margin8.0%

Employees

Headcount64
Revenue / Employee$266,750
Gross Profit / Employee$244,688
2022: 82 → 2023: 73 → 2024: 64 → 2025: 80 (-1% CAGR)

Cash Runway

44.7months
WATCH

Institutional Ownership

Headline & net flow

BALANCED

In Q1 2026 so far (quarter still filing), institutions are roughly balanced — bought 1.1% of float, sold 0.4%.

Net flow · Q1 2026still filing
+0.6% of float (net)
Bought 1.1% · Sold 0.4%
31 filers reported (last quarter: 34)

Ownership composition

Active
7.5%(-3.9% YoY)
19 filers
hedge / family / endowment
Retail funds
Fidelity, Schwab, 401(k)
Passive
10.3%(-3.5% YoY)
7 filers
Vanguard, iShares, SPDR
Market makers
0.2%(-0.1% YoY)
4 filers
Citadel, Susquehanna
Insiders
33.0%
Form 4 — latest per insider
0%25%50%75%100%2022-062023-032023-122024-092025-062026-03
ActiveRetail fundsPassiveMarket makersRetail direct

Top holders

Fund$ valueCost basisΔ QoQΔ YoYα lifeFund AUM
VANGUARD CAPITAL MANAGEMENT LLCPassive$973K$1.25+$973K+$973K$4.04T
DIMENSIONAL FUND ADVISORS LPPassive$925K$2.33−$19K−$178K-0.4%$480.92B
RENAISSANCE TECHNOLOGIES LLC$820K$1.79+$13K−$60K+1.2%$63.91B
Herald Investment Management Ltd$538K$1.45+$0+$0-0.4%$718M
BlackRock, Inc.Passive$479K$1.87+$3K+$2K-0.2%$5.69T
GEODE CAPITAL MANAGEMENT, LLCPassive$202K$1.71+$3K−$16K+2.3%$1.61T
RBF Capital, LLC$173K$1.71+$0−$2K+0.1%$2.03B
CITADEL ADVISORS LLC$94K$1.71+$43K+$57K-0.4%$138.22B
STATE STREET CORPPassive$94K$3.00+$0+$0-0.2%$2.89T
Aristides Capital LLC$90K$1.88+$2K−$76K-0.2%$295M
VANGUARD FIDUCIARY TRUST COPassive$78K$1.25+$78K+$78K$395.83B
CIBC Bancorp USA Inc.$75K$2.41−$25K+$75K+2.7%$74.02B
ESSEX INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT CO LLC$54K$1.98+$0−$0+0.0%$632M
BRIDGEWAY CAPITAL MANAGEMENT, LLC$48K$1.69+$0−$31K-2.3%$4.93B
XTX Topco Ltd$40K$1.56+$19K+$40K-1.9%$5.74B
NORTHERN TRUST CORPPassive$31K$2.11+$0−$0-0.2%$755.34B
GMT CAPITAL CORP$31K$3.00+$0+$0-0.4%$2.19B
SUSQUEHANNA INTERNATIONAL GROUP, LLPMM$30K$1.80+$3K−$28K-0.6%$77.14B
BLAIR WILLIAM & CO/IL$26K$3.00+$0+$0-0.5%$34.73B
GOLDMAN SACHS GROUP INC$22K$1.74+$0−$21K-0.2%$760.93B
Cost basis is a volume-weighted estimate from accumulation periods within our 13F history; holders who built their position before our window started will show a stale basis. % above the cost basis is the unrealized gain at the current price.

Trading behavior

Smart-money alpha (lifetime, %/qtr)BEARISH
Holders
+0.35%
avg per quarter
Holders (ex-self)
+0.35%
excl. this stock
Buyers (this Q)
-0.92%
5 buyers · $0.00B in
Sellers (this Q)
+2.46%
5 sellers · $0.00B out
alpha coverage: 78% of $ has a lifetime-alpha record
Holder behavior on this stocksource: stock
On big dips (−10%+)
-7.8%
how holders react when this stock falls
On quiet Qs
+5.1%
−10% to +10% baseline
On rallies (+10%+)
+14.5%
how they react when this stock rises
Holders' portfolio flow this Q
+3.6%
inflows — adds are organic
Sellers' portfolio flow this Q
+34.6%
Sellers grew AUM elsewhere — opinionated cut of this stock.
▸ Compare to holder-profile behavior (across all their stocks)
Holder dip (any stock)
-3.0%
Holder mid (any stock)
-8.1%
Holder rally (any stock)
-7.3%

Top-5 holders · 76.7%

VANGUARD CAPITAL MANAGEMENT LLC--
DIMENSIONAL FUND ADVISORS LP--
RENAISSANCE TECHNOLOGIES LLC--
Herald Investment Management Ltd--
BlackRock, Inc.--

Top Holders Over Time

5-year share-count history (top 10 holders by peak, incl. exited) + price

0880K1.8M2.6M3.5M$1.25$1.69$2.13$2.56$3.002021-062022-062023-062024-062025-062026-03
hover the chart for per-quarter detailprice (right axis)
PUNCH & ASSOCIATES INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT, INC.DG Capital Management, LLCRENAISSANCE TECHNOLOGIES LLC656KUnion Square Park Capital Management, LLCHerald Investment Management Ltd430KSPRING CREEK CAPITAL LLCAristides Capital LLC72KBRIDGEWAY CAPITAL MANAGEMENT, LLC38KESSEX INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT CO LLC43KRBF Capital, LLC139K

Analyst Coverage

Analyst Coverage
Consensus Estimates
QuarterRevenueEBITDANet IncEPSEPS Range# Analysts
2026 Q34M-1M-2M$-0.10$-0.10 – $-0.101
2026 Q44M-1M-2M$-0.10$-0.10 – $-0.101
2027 Q14M-1M-2M$-0.09$-0.09 – $-0.091
2027 Q25M-1M-1M$-0.06$-0.06 – $-0.061
2027 Q34M-1M-2M$-0.08$-0.08 – $-0.081
2027 Q43M-1M-3M$-0.14$-0.14 – $-0.141
2028 Q14M-1M-2M$-0.09$-0.09 – $-0.091
2028 Q24M-1M-2M$-0.08$-0.08 – $-0.081
2028 Q35M-1M-1M$-0.06$-0.06 – $-0.061
2028 Q45M-2M-0M$-0.02$-0.02 – $-0.021

Corporate

Executive Compensation (2022-2024)

Direct Pay$5.7M
Incentive & Other$1.9M
Total Compensation$7.6M
% of Revenue14.6%

Insider Trading (last 12mo)

Open-market only (Form 4 P-Purchase + S-Sale). Excludes grants, option exercises, tax withholding, gifts.
Officers & directors
Buys ($, 12mo)
$361K
20 txns · 4 insiders · 251,129 sh
Sells ($, 12mo)
$0
0 txns · 0 insiders · 0 sh
Recent transactions
DateSideInsiderTitleSharesPriceDollarsOwned $
2026-05-15BUYAmlani Ajay Kdirector, officer: President & CEO10,140$1.25$13K$1.13M
2026-05-14BUYAmlani Ajay Kdirector, officer: President & CEO734$1.21$888$1.08M
2026-05-14BUYSTAFFORD JOHN S IIIdirector57,937$1.25$72K$6.53M
2026-05-13BUYSTAFFORD JOHN S IIIdirector22,475$1.25$28K$6.46M
2026-05-08BUYAmlani Ajay Kdirector, officer: President & CEO9,480$1.30$12K$1.16M
2026-05-05BUYAmlani Ajay Kdirector, officer: President & CEO15,000$1.30$20K$1.15M
2026-05-05BUYSTAFFORD JOHN S IIIdirector3,868$1.25$5K$6.43M
2026-05-04BUYAmlani Ajay Kdirector, officer: President & CEO10,952$1.17$13K$1.02M
2026-05-04BUYSTAFFORD JOHN S IIIdirector15,720$1.25$20K$6.42M
2026-05-01BUYAmlani Ajay Kdirector, officer: President & CEO18,901$1.15$22K$985K
2026-03-17BUYTraverse David Kofficer: Chief Financial Officer4,500$1.15$5K$70K
2026-03-13BUYSTAFFORD JOHN S IIIdirector16,754$1.28$21K$6.56M
2025-11-04BUYAmlani Ajay Kdirector, officer: President & CEO2,262$2.26$5K$1.89M
2025-11-03BUYAmlani Ajay Kdirector, officer: President & CEO13,227$2.23$29K$1.86M
2025-09-02BUYAmlani Ajay Kdirector, officer: President & CEO10,679$2.20$23K$1.81M
2025-08-29BUYAmlani Ajay Kdirector, officer: President & CEO7,000$2.19$15K$1.78M
2025-08-29BUYKrause Brian Jofficer: Chief Revenue Officer5,000$2.20$11K$22K
2025-06-12BUYAmlani Ajay Kdirector, officer: President & CEO10,000$1.70$17K$765K
2025-06-10BUYAmlani Ajay Kdirector, officer: President & CEO14,000$1.70$24K$748K
2025-06-02BUYTraverse David Kofficer: Chief Financial Officer2,500$1.65$4K$88K

Order Flow (FINRA, ~3w lag)

68.6%retail+3.8pp
1.2%dark+1.5pp
week of 2026-04-13
0%20%40%60%80%24-1125-0225-0525-0825-1126-0226-04retail (non-ATS)dark (ATS)
Off-exchange volume from FINRA. Retail = non-ATS (wholesaler PFOF + broker internalization). Dark = ATS (dark-pool crossing networks, institutional). Lit-exchange = remainder.

Revenue Breakdown

Revenue Segments

By Product (2026-Q1)
Maintenance$2.1MNEW
License and Service$1.0M-65%
Service, Other$0.3MNEW
By Geography (2026-Q1)
UNITED STATES$1.6M-9%
Rest Of World$1.0M+17%

Filing Risk Analysis

Filing Risk Scores

Aware, Inc.: Administrative Metadata Void of Substantive Financial Disclosure

Overall Risk
5/10
Fraud
2/10
Dilution
3/10
Insolvency
4/10
Earnings Overstated
3/10
Hidden Liabilities
2/10
Legal
2/10
Audit Warnings
1/10
Hidden Upside
1/10
Contextually Acceptable
10/10

Counter-Thesis

Counter-Thesis & Recent News

📰 Recent News

Aware, Inc. reported a significant first-quarter 2026 earnings miss on April 29, 2026. Revenue fell to $3.4 million, down 5.6% year-over-year from $3.6 million, which CEO Ajay Amlani admitted was 'below internal expectations.' The net loss more than doubled to $3.5 million ($0.16 per share) from $1.6 million ($0.08 per share) in the prior-year period. Management cited 'product and market-readiness gaps' and an underestimation of how quickly AI has shifted the biometric landscape as primary drivers for the underperformance.

🐻 Bear Case

The bear case centers on a high-risk strategic pivot to a 'platform-first' model that has yet to demonstrate top-line traction. While the company is cutting costs ($4 million annualized starting Q2 2026), it is simultaneously 'downshifting' investment in legacy law enforcement products that have historically provided revenue. With fiscal 2025 revenue remaining flat and Q1 2026 revenue declining, skeptics argue that Aware is losing relevance in a market increasingly dominated by rapid AI-driven security advancements that the company admitted it underestimated.

🚩 Red Flags

Several critical red flags have emerged: 1) A recent downgrade to 'Underperform' by Barchart (April 20, 2026) citing persistent negative cash flow and valuation risk. 2) Significant cash burn, with cash and equivalents dropping from $7.3 million to $4.6 million in just three months. 3) A total lack of analyst participation during the Q1 2026 earnings call, suggesting a collapse in institutional interest. 4) Workforce reductions and $0.7 million in one-time severance costs indicating internal restructuring friction.

⚔️ Competitive Threats

Aware faces intense pressure from 'AI-driven fraud' (deepfakes, synthetic identities) which management acknowledged is expanding the threat surface faster than their existing architecture can evolve. The company is late to the 'biometric orchestration' market, where larger, more well-capitalized competitors are already entrenched. Management's admission of 'market-readiness gaps' suggests they are currently playing catch-up to more agile AI-native security firms.

💬 Customer Sentiment

Sentiment appears strained as evidenced by 'elongated procurement cycles' and 'delayed conversions.' Many customer engagements are stuck in testing and evaluation phases, particularly in government and large enterprise sectors, without moving to production. Internal employee sentiment is also weak; reviews from mid-2025 and 2026 highlight low scores for management (2.7/5) and job security (2.7/5), suggesting that the ongoing restructuring is weighing on morale and stability.

Full Earnings Call Transcript

Full Earnings Call Transcript — Q1 • 2026-04-29

Delaney Gembis: Good afternoon, and welcome to Aware's First Quarter FY '26 Conference Call. Joining us today are the company's CEO and President, A.J. Amlani; and CFO, David Traverse. [Operator Instructions] Before we begin today's call, I would like to remind everyone that the presentation today contains forward-looking statements that are based on current expectations of Aware's management and involve inherent risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those described. Listeners should please take note of the safe harbor paragraph that is included at the end of today's press release. This paragraph emphasizes the major uncertainties and risks inherent in forward-looking statements that management will be making today. Aware wishes to caution you that there are factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the results indicated by such statements. These risks and uncertainties are also outlined in the company's SEC filings, including its annual report on Form 10-K and quarterly reports on Form 10-Q. Any forward-looking statements should be considered in light of these factors. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance upon any forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date made. Although it may voluntarily do so from time to time, Aware undertakes no commitment to update or revise the forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable securities laws. Additionally, this call contains certain non-GAAP financial measures as that term is defined by the SEC and Regulation G. Non-GAAP financial measures should not be considered in isolation from or as a substitute for financial information presented in compliance with GAAP. Accordingly, Aware has provided a reconciliation of these non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable GAAP measures in the company's earnings release issued today. I would like to remind everyone that this presentation will be recorded and made available for replay via a link available in the Investor Relations section of the company's website. Now I would like to turn the call over to Aware's CEO and President, A.J. Amlani. A.J.?
Ajay Amlani: Thank you, Delaney, and good afternoon, everyone. First, let me start with our performance this quarter. Revenue for the first quarter was $3.4 million, which was below our expectations. Transparently, we underestimated the pace at which the market was shifting and the degree to which our existing product infrastructure and architecture needed to evolve to meet it. The rapid advancement of AI has simultaneously raised the stakes and expanded the threat surface for biometric systems, making liveness detection and identity assurance more critical than ever, while making the job of protecting against spoofing and deep fakes more demanding. We did not move fast enough to get ahead of that reality, and this quarter's results reflect that. As part of our ongoing transformation, we took deliberate steps during the quarter to further align the business with our platform-first strategy. This included removing approximately $4 million in expenses and simplifying our go-to-market operating model. These actions represent a meaningful reset of our cost structure and are designed to support a more focused, efficient organization aligned with our highest return opportunities. Stepping back, this quarter marks the next phase of our transformation. 2025 was about building the foundation, strengthening our technology, expanding certifications and deepening our understanding of customer requirements. We are now in step 2, focusing the company around a single scalable platform strategy. At the center of that strategy is the awareness platform. We are moving away from a fragmented portfolio of components and SDKs and toward a unified biometric orchestration platform designed to serve both federal government and enterprise customers at scale. We believe biometric orchestration represents a critical layer in modern identity infrastructure, enabling organizations to integrate, manage and scale biometric systems and workflows across their environments with increased efficiency and simplicity. More importantly, this is not just a product decision and is grounded in market demand and data. In our recently published market research, the state of biometric security in the age of AI fraud and a founding 98% of organizations already using biometrics said they're interested in investing in orchestration capabilities. Additionally, nearly 90% report concern over AI attacks targeting biometric systems, further illustrating why they need visibility into orchestrating biometric workflows. The report is available on our website, and I'd encourage you to read it. Taken together, this feedback reinforces that we are aligned with where the market is headed, allowing us to build with a clear understanding of the opportunity in front of us. We also believe Aware is uniquely positioned to lead in this category. Our decades of experience, our deep scientific foundation and our strong intellectual property portfolio, particularly in liveness detection, represent a durable competitive advantage. It is the critical capability that will determine winners and losers in this space, and it is where we have historically been strong and intend to lead. As part of this shift, we are prioritizing investment in the awareness platform and aligning our resources accordingly. This includes downshifting investment in certain legacy product areas, including portions of our law enforcement-focused offerings while continuing to fully support our existing customers and deliver on our commitments. At the same time, we are increasing our focus on the federal government, where our foundational capabilities have long proven and where we continue to see demand for modernization and biometric interoperability. In parallel, we have gained important insight from enterprise customers whose requirements are increasingly centered around cloud-based multi-tenant architectures. This feedback has directly shaped the design of the awareness platform, which is built to support scalable enterprise-grade deployments. The platform continues to evolve, and we are actively engaging with customers to refine capabilities and ensure a strong product market fit. We are encouraged by the feedback we are seeing and believe this positions us as we plan for a broader platform rollout later this year. Step 3, which we expect to begin in the coming quarters and accelerate into the fall is about scaling, bringing expanded platform capabilities to market, including continued advancements in liveness and providing single integration access to top-performing systems so that customers can test and evaluate performance as well as quickly deploy biometrics anywhere across their business. As we move through this transition, we expect near-term variability to continue. Our focus is not on optimizing for quarter-to-quarter results, but on building a more durable, modern and scalable business that can deliver steady, long-term growth and broader adoption of the platform. While this business did not meet our expectations this quarter, we are confident that the actions that we have taken position us more effectively for the future. A key example of continued progress is our performance in independent real-world government evaluations. During the quarter, we delivered strong results in the DHS remote identity validation rally Track 3, where our Intelligent Liveness solution demonstrated the ability to stop sophisticated attack ors while maintaining a high-quality user experience. We view results like these as more than technical milestones. They are a direct reflection of our commitment to building high assurance, production-ready technology that can operate at scale with speed and accuracy in the most demanding environments. These validations are critical prerequisites for winning large government and enterprise deployments, and they reinforce our confidence in the platform as we are continuing to build. With that, I will turn the call over to David to review our financial results in more detail. Over to you, David.
David Traverse: Thank you, A.J. Let's review our financial results for the first quarter of 2026, which ended on March 31, 2026. Revenue for the quarter was $3.4 million compared to $3.6 million in the prior year period. This decrease reflects lower perpetual software license revenue and was partially offset by higher maintenance and services and other revenue. Operating expenses for the quarter increased to $7 million compared to $5.5 million in the prior year quarter. The higher expenses included onetime severance costs of $700,000 as well as higher compensation costs related to hires we made in 2025. As A.J. noted earlier, we have reduced operating expenses by $4 million on an annualized basis starting in the second quarter of 2026. And we continue to make adjustments to our operating expenses as we continue to focus on our strategic objectives. Net loss for the quarter was $3.5 million or $0.16 per diluted share compared to $1.6 million or $0.08 per diluted share in the prior year period. Adjusted EBITDA loss was $3.2 million compared to $1.5 million in the prior year period. We ended the quarter with approximately $19.6 million in cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities, and we have no debt. Our balance sheet remains strong and provides flexibility as we execute on our strategic plan. We expect the savings of the actions taken this quarter to be more visible as we align our expenses with our strategic priorities. Given the nature of our business and the transition underway, we expect quarterly variability to continue. And as a result, we continue to believe performance is best evaluated over multiple quarters. With that, I'll hand it back to A.J. for closing remarks. A.J?
Ajay Amlani: Thanks, David. We have been transparent with you today about where we fell short. We underestimated both the fit and capability demands of the current market and the speed at which AI is reshaping what customers need for biometric infrastructure. That is on us, and the restructuring actions we have taken this quarter reflect genuine accountability, not a reaction to 1 quarter, but a deliberate reset towards our opportunity to lead us as a biometric orchestration platform player. We are intentionally moving away from products that will not be relevant in our new paradigm and concentrating our resources on the areas where we have a proven durable advantage. Chief among those is our liveness capability to help combat AI-powered spoofing and deep fake threats and our proven track record serving the federal government. The awareness platform is how we bring this to market at scale, giving customers a single integration point to access, evaluate and deploy best-in-class biometric capabilities across their environments. The early feedback reinforces that this is the right direction, and we remain focused on executing the rollout with discipline. We are building toward consistent long-term growth from a sharper, more defensible position. We believe the path forward is clear, and we are committed to it. That concludes our prepared remarks. We will now open the call for questions. Delaney, please provide the instructions.
Delaney Gembis: Thank you, A.J. At this time, there are no questions. That completes our Q1 FY '26 broadcast. As a reminder, this presentation is recorded and made available for replay via a link available in the Investor Relations section of the company's website. Thank you, and you may now disconnect.