Scalper1 News
Deep in a turnaround that aims to reverse a long deceleration in revenue, BlackBerry ( BBRY ) is set to report earnings before the market open Friday. The smartphone maker that once dominated the field prior to the Apple ( AAPL ) iPhone and Alphabet ’s ( GOOGL ) Android is pivoting to other areas. BlackBerry has made several acquisitions in the last two years, among them its $425 million purchase of software company Good Technology. The deal widely expanded BlackBerry’s security software platform to other smartphones and operating systems. BlackBerry will report fiscal fourth quarter earnings for the period that ended Feb. 29. The consensus estimate on revenue is $563.2 million — down 15% year over year but an improvement over the 31% drop in the prior quarter. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expect BlackBerry to report a loss of 10 cents per share. “While the company may currently be showing possible signs of a recovery, we note that much of this strength can be attributed to IP licensing sales of $53 million last quarter,” wrote Credit Suisse analyst Kulbinder Garcha. He has an underperform rating on BlackBerry and a price target of 6. BlackBerry stock closed at 8.09 Thursday, up 1%. Since hitting a low of 6.39 on Feb. 11, the stock is up 26%. “We believe the company is still faced with a challenging transition ahead,” Garcha wrote. “Despite strong software revenue last quarter of $162 million, we doubt the sustainability of the software business, as the IP licensing revenue seems unpredictable.” Scalper1 News
Scalper1 News