Fargo Electronics Shares Rise on Upgrade

Oct. 14, 2004
Company attributes strength to government directive toward a unified access card

Shares of identification card technology maker Fargo Electronics Inc. jumped more than 7 percent at midday Thursday on a Raymond James and Associates upgrade.

Shares of the Eden Prairie, Minn., company rose 81 cents to $11.56 on the Nasdaq after the research firm changed its rating to ``Outperform'' from ``Market Perform.''

``We anticipate a positive impact from the president's Homeland Security directive,'' said Chris Quilty, an analyst with Raymond James.

In August, the White House mandated that within the next 14 months, all federal employees must be issued standard, secure identification cards. Quilty said Fargo is well-positioned to be selected for this most recent mandate, under which between 5 million and 7 million cards will required, based on its ongoing relationship with the federal government on similar projects.

Earlier this year, Fargo was one of two companies selected by the defense department to supply printers for its common access card project, which provides standard identification cards for about 4 million personnel. Last week the company said it received a contract to supply card printer and encoder systems to an unidentified federal agency.

Fargo is scheduled to release its third-quarter earnings Tuesday.