COGT - Cogent Inc - fingerprint biometrics solutions to governments - homeland security play - net profit margin of 28.5% - no debt

Cogent is on the right side of the law. Strong demand from law enforcement agencies sent revenues soaring. Over the past 90 days, this year's earnings estimates have increased almost 10% to 37 cents per share. Analysts are pegging earnings to jump 32% next year. The stock has an amazing net profit margin of 28.5%, with no debt on the balance sheet. Full Analysis Cogent, Inc. (COGT) provides automated fingerprint identification systems (AFIS) and other fingerprint biometrics solutions to governments, law enforcement agencies, and other organizations worldwide. Its AFIS solutions enable customers to capture fingerprint images electronically, encode fingerprints into searchable files, and compare a set of fingerprints to a database of fingerprints. The company offers two primary AFIS solutions, which include Cogent Automated Fingerprint Identification System (CAFIS) and Cogent Live-ID. CAFIS is a networked AFIS solution for local, regional, and national systems. Cogent Live-ID enables its customers to identify individuals who submit their fingerprints for border crossings, background checks, fraud prevention, criminal investigation, document identification, voting stations, and other activities where security is a concern. The stock got a boost in September when the company settled a patent lawsuit against defense contractor Northrop Grumman Corp. Northrop Grumman will pay $25 million to settle the suit, which concerned a fingerprinting system it developed for a British law enforcement group using Cogent fingerprint-matching technology. In early-August, the company said that second-quarter profits nearly tripled as demand from domestic and international law-enforcement agencies sent revenue soaring. Net income jumped to $10.6 million, or 11 cents per share, from $3.6 million, or 4 cents per share, in the year-ago period. The latest period included a $4 million charge to cover legal costs of ongoing intellectual property litigation. The result surpassed estimates on Wall Street, where analysts expected profit of eight cents per share. Revenue more than doubled to $31.3 million to $13.2 million last year. Analysts expected $30 million. "Solid revenue and improved gross margin led to net income growth of 70% from the prior quarter," commented Ming Hsieh, President and Chief Executive Officer of Cogent. "Revenue contribution was driven by a broad set of customers from around the world, and we continue to receive new contract awards in all of our key markets. We are also expanding our presence with new business entities and key personnel in the U.K. and Canada. Over the next 12 months we expect several sizable procurements to be awarded by large government agencies and believe our leading technology gives us a strong competitive position." Content Courtesy: Zacks Investment Research #1 Ranked Stocks Highlight Archive To truly take advantage of the Zacks Rank, you need to first understand how it works. That is why we created the free special report: Zacks Rank Guide: Harnessing the Power of Earnings Estimate Revisions. | Blog Home| VitalStocks Home