BlackBerry reports strong earnings, topping expectations
Shares in BlackBerry Ltd. were mostly flat in after-hours trading today despite the company delivering solid beats for its fiscal third-quarter earnings.
For the quarter that ended on Nov. 30, BlackBerry reported adjusted earnings per share of two cents, up two cents from the same quarter of the previous year, on revenue of $162 million. Analysts had been expecting a loss of one cent per share on revenue of $145 million.
The revenue figure includes $19 million in revenue from Cylance, BlackBerry’s cybersecurity arm. It was announced last week that BlackBerry had agreed to sell the Cylance unit to Artic Wolf Networks Inc for $160 million and 5.5 million Arctic Wolf shares. The deal is expected to close between Dec. 1 and Feb. 28.
By sector, BlackBerry’s Internet of Things revenue came in at $62 million, up 13% year-over-year; cybersecurity revenue was $93 million, up 7%, and licensing revenue exceeded guidance at $7 million. BlackBerry finished the quarter with $266 million in cash, cash equivalents and investments on hand.
Business highlights in the quarter included BlackBerry announcing that its QNX embedded technology now powers over 255 million vehicles, with Hyundai Mobis selecting QNX for its next-generation digital cockpit platform. QNX also saw the introduction of a software-defined functional safety platform in collaboration with Intel Corp. that targets industrial automation.
BlackBerry AtHoc, the company’s critical event management platform that enables organizations to securely communicate and coordinate during emergencies, ensuring rapid response and safety, was also announced to be “in process” for achieving FedRAMP high authorization. The authorization is a strict U.S. government security standard that certifies cloud services to handle highly sensitive data, including controlled unclassified information. If confirmed, AtHoc will be the first critical event management solution to achieve this level of compliance.
“Driven by a combination of strong revenue performance for both our Cybersecurity and IoT divisions and continued focus on costs and efficiency, the company delivered stronger than expected profitability and a return to positive cash flow ahead of schedule,” Chief Executive John J. Giamatteo said in the company’s earnings release. “The announcement of a definitive agreement for the sale of Cylance to Arctic Wolf is a further transformational step for the company, placing BlackBerry on a path to accelerating profitability post-close.”
For its fiscal fourth quarter, BlackBerry expects to break even at the midpoint on revenue of $126 million to $135 million. For the full year, the company expects a loss of one cent per share at the midpoint, on revenue of $517 million to $526 million.
Photo: BlackBerry
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