Founded as Research In Motion, BlackBerry Limited is a Canadian software company that is the maker of BlackBerry smartphones and tablets. The firm also has a licensing business. In addition, the company recently made an acquisition of Cylance, a company that specializes in artificial intelligence and speech recognition technologies.
Short sellers
Traders who are short BlackBerry stock have been covering all morning. The stock has fallen 10% since it spiked 28% to start the week.
BlackBerry has refocused on its software business and is progressing with its Internet of Things (IoT) and connected car software offerings. Nevertheless, the company has yet to prove it can deliver meaningful profitability.
The company’s revenues have declined nearly consistently over the last decade. As a result, its adjusted gross margin would have increased to 48% from 43%, but the company incurred $226 million in pretax restructuring charges. The company is also expected to see a drop in revenues by as much as 10% this fiscal year.
Similarly, BlackBerry’s operating cash flow has been negative for the past 12 months. As a result, the company’s diluted GAAP EPS was negative 37 cents, but it did manage to post a net income of $23 million.
Earnings per share rating
Despite its notorious corporate malfeasances, BlackBerry has rewritten the book on mobile device innovation with its upcoming BB10 operating system. If you’re lucky enough to score one of the coveted golden tickets, you’ll be the proud owner of an updated handset in no time at all. Of course, you’ll be in good company as BlackBerry’s competitors include iPhone, Samsung, Android, and Windows. With its slick suite of mobile security applications, BlackBerry covers you, from securing your digital privacy to protecting your phone from nefarious squatters. Using the company’s newest OS, you’ll find many security features, such as biometric authentication, secure data storage, and remote access to your files. Lastly, hundreds of apps and games are smacking around your mobile device, so you’ll never be left behind with the latest and greatest from your favorite brands.
Relative strength rating
During the first half of the 2000s, BlackBerry stock became a symbol of internet-enabled mobile phones. BlackBerry users called their phones “CrackBerry.” Amid the dot-com bubble, BlackBerry stocks gained more than 18% in value. However, the company has since fallen into a rut, with shares now trading at about $7.
BlackBerry’s earnings have declined by 10% on average in the last two quarters. As a result, Wall Street has forecast a net loss of 15 cents a share for February 2022. And, while analysts previously expected a profit of 3 cents a claim for the year’s fiscal year, they now expect it to be a negative result.
Investors should pay close attention to BlackBerry’s Relative Strength rating. This measure measures how the company’s stock price compares to other publicly traded companies. It’s calculated using a 1-to-99 score.
Cylance acquisition
During the third quarter of 2018, BlackBerry (NYSE: BB) made the biggest acquisition in its history, paying $1.4 billion to buy cybersecurity firm Cylance. At the time, the company was planning to file for an initial public offering.
Cylance is a cybersecurity firm that develops AI-based products to protect against cyberattacks. The firm has about 100 Fortune 500 companies and 100 government agencies as clients. In addition, the company is partnered with other cloud providers. It also has a significant amount of cash on hand.
BlackBerry’s management is hopeful that the Cylance acquisition will help the company with its Internet of Things (IoT) efforts. It will integrate the firm’s AI-powered cybersecurity technology into its Spark platform. However, the company hasn’t yet announced the details of the integration.
Licensing business
Until recently, BlackBerry was a leading smartphone maker with a brand that was well-known for security and durability. In recent years, however, the company lost its mobile market share, and now it’s looking to reorganize. It focuses on the licensing and IP (intellectual property) business and new device sales.
BlackBerry’s core products include the QNX operating system for cars and its IVY cloud-connected software platform. It’s also working on cybersecurity and IoT software. These technologies are patented and are licensed to other businesses. It’s a win-win situation for BlackBerry, as it’s gaining income and generating a lot of interest in its IP.
As of the end of August 2021, BlackBerry had $700 million in cash reserves. In February, BlackBerry announced it was acquiring Cylance for US$1.4 billion. This was a move to accelerate the growth of its software business.
