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AI (artificial intelligence) has been all the rage in the past year. From chipmakers to software giants, everyone wants a piece of the artificial intelligence pie.NVIDIA’s (NVDA) market cap recently hit a staggering $2 trillion, largely thanks to It focuses on AI chip production. While AI-focused semiconductor companies have been the focus of AI momentum, “niche AI” is also showing a lot of alpha. What I mean by “niche AI” is AI companies that focus on niche markets or vertical products. We’ve already seen interest in stocks like C3.ai (AI) and Palantir (PLTR)gained. Airship AI is an artificial intelligence company focused on niche markets worthy of analysis (NASDAQ:NASDAQ:AISP).Airship AI recently went public and successfully landed on Nasdaq Business merger with BYTE Acquisition Corp. December 2023.
Airship AI – Company Profile
Airship AI was founded in the United States in 2006 and is currently headquartered in Redmond, Washington. The company specializes in providing surveillance solutions in the fields of video, sensors and data management to government, law enforcement, military and commercial enterprises.
Airship AI’s airship-like logo (Company website)
The company’s logo features an image resembling an airship.this Background story sharing The choice of logo, presented by the company’s president, Paul Allen, relates to the historical use of balloons or airships for surveillance. While the logo may not look like the typical schematics associated with artificial intelligence, don’t let the simplicity fool you; the company provides cutting-edge hardware and software products and solutions.
Airship artificial intelligence products
airship products Developed for and specifically targeted at law enforcement, military, and commercial enterprise organizations. These products help organizations proactively respond and rapidly ingest and analyze footage and associated metadata at the edge, ensuring seamless distribution of this data when and where it is needed.
Airship Acropolis Operating System
Acropolis is an operating system (OS) that provides a single integration framework for high-performance IP and analog video surveillance. The operating system includes the Enterprise Management System (EMS), Evidence Discovery System (EDS), Evidence Archiving Server (EAS) and Health Monitoring Server (HMS), which together provide a comprehensive monitoring and data management solution. Airship Acropolis OS has a special law enforcement version with personalized cases for evidence preservation workflows, advanced auditing capabilities, and sensitive data management. The Acropolis operating system is designed to scale, ensuring that the system can adapt to different deployment sizes and continue to scale to meet growing demand.
Other standardized features of the Acropolis operating system are compliance with U.S./Canadian Internet security encryption standards, including FIPS 140-2, NIST 800-53and DHS 4300A Sensitive Systems Brochure. This type of cybersecurity compliance ensures that data transmission and system operations adhere to strict security protocols to protect sensitive information from leaks. The operating system also features an intuitive, easy-to-use user interface.
airship command
Airship Command is a set of visualization tools that allow users to view and analyze data obtained from the edge. Edge computing involves processing data at the source where it is generated. In the context of airship AI, the edge refers to the devices that generate surveillance data. Data visualization from the edge reduces latency and enhances privacy and security.
The Airship Command suite includes a thick client called Airship Nexus Client, a thin client called Nexus Video Portal, and an Android and iOS mobile client called Nexus Mobile. By providing multiple client types, Airship ensures users can access the Command suite across a variety of platforms and devices. Different client types can meet different user needs and preferences. For example, the thick client (Airship Nexus client) provides advanced features and functionality for power users who require extensive control and functionality. In comparison, thin clients (Nexus Video Portal) and mobile clients (Nexus Mobile) provide simplified interfaces that optimize accessibility and ease of use, making them suitable for users who prefer a more streamlined experience.
airship outpost
Outpost is Airship’s dedicated hardware device designed for edge computing applications. The device is optimized to perform data processing and storage tasks and has built-in analytics to process and analyze data at the edge of the network, where it is generated. Outpost analytics include advanced object detection and recognition algorithms that instantly identify and classify objects, people or events without the need to send data to a centralized server for analysis.
Edge Artificial Intelligence Market Opportunities
The advancement and explosive growth of IoT (Internet of Things) devices has created parallel demands for edge artificial intelligence. Both industries are bound to experience cross-industry growth. Just as the popularity of smartphones has created a huge market for mobile applications and led to the growth of the mobile application development industry, the Internet of Things will lead to the growth of edge artificial intelligence. As more and more IoT devices (sensors, cameras, connected cars, etc.) are deployed and generate large amounts of data at the network edge, there is a growing need for edge AI solutions that process and analyze data close to the source of the data. And it’s real time. For applications such as self-driving cars and smart cities, local processing of real-time data is imperative.
Global Edge Artificial Intelligence Market (US market)
While market researchers’ forecasted growth figures for the AI edge market vary, some research firms predict a compound annual growth rate of between 21% and 26% by 2032. Market.us expects the edge artificial intelligence market to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 25.9%. Macroview Research With a compound annual growth rate of 21%, the market is expected to reach US$66.5 billion by 2030.
Airship AI has some blue-chip customers and is well established in the edge AI market, capturing significant market share in the AI surveillance and intelligence segments of the growing edge AI market. The company’s customers include the U.S. government. The company has secured multiple U.S. government contracts and continues to grow its customer base, which includes Fortune 500 companies such as FedEx (FDX) and Home Depot (HD).
a noteworthy U.S. government contracts Last year, an agency of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) awarded multiple fixed-price contracts worth $10.9 million in September 2023. Earlier this month, the company secured another major exclusive U.S. government contract.An agency within the Department of Justice (DoJ) Deploy the Acropolis operating system for its investigative operations. The contract is an expansion of a pilot program launched last year with Justice Department agencies.Outside the U.S., Airship AI recently signed a multi-year deal with Singapore Government Agenciesin which the agency will use the Acropolis to support the country’s border security measures.
Airship Artificial Intelligence Finance and Valuation
Airship AI’s SPAC merger happened just three months ago; as a newly public company, there isn’t enough financial data yet to analyze post-merger performance.inside Airship AI Enterprise Update In a report released in January, management expected triple-digit revenue growth and positive EBITDA in 2024, driven by a $11.8 million backlog (consisting primarily of U.S. government contracts) and Airship AI’s ongoing 1.4 Billion-dollar projected revenue pipeline. By 2024.
The pre-money equity value of Airship AI’s business combination with BYTE was approximately $225 million. Currently, AISP has a market capitalization of approximately $256 million and appears to be maintaining its valuation trajectory since the merger. The current enterprise value is US$258 million, indicating low and manageable debt levels.
airship
EV/Sales (TTM) It looks high at 26.6x. However, given the momentum that AI stocks have had over the last year, I think this EV/sales multiple is comparable to the multiples available for several AI-focused stocks. Peers such as C3.ai, Palantir and Cloudfare Inc. (net) All transactions were significantly higher than industry EV/sales.
I would expect Airship AI’s expected EV/sales to be much lower given the company’s current backlog and deal pipeline. With management currently guiding for triple-digit sales growth, EV/sales should be expected to be around 13x or lower, which may be more attractive to investors.
risk
Airships serve vertical markets that likely face minimal direct competition, at least for now. This is reflected in the exclusive contracts awarded to the company by U.S. government agencies. One of the risks I foresee is supply chain disruption. The components of the company’s Outpost device are made from third-party wafers. Outpost operates on Nvidia’s advanced system-on-a-chip (SoC) Jetson Orin modules. General supply chain disruptions may affect the timely delivery of Outpost orders.It will take some time for the United States to become Chip manufacturing self-relianceAccording to experts.Political or economic instability in Asia could lead to Semiconductor supply chain disruption.
take away
In summary, Airship AI offers a promising investment opportunity in the rapidly growing edge AI market. With its specialized surveillance solutions, government contracts, and impressive backlog and revenue pipeline, the company is poised for growth.
The company’s future growth is no longer restricted. Going public gives it the ability to raise capital and expand. Airship AI’s products and solutions have real-world needs and use cases.The current situation united states southern border The urgent need for such solutions provided by Airship is a practical example.
Airship AI checks most basic qualitative frameworks. AISP is a small-cap stock with huge market potential for fringe artificial intelligence. Investors will need to monitor financial results over the coming quarters and fiscal years in order to continue to make informed decisions about AISP.
