BlackBerry's stock surges after reporting surprise adjusted profit
Shares of BlackBerry Ltd. surged 4.2% in premarket trade Friday, after the mobile communications company reported a surprise fiscal fourth-quarter adjusted profit. For the quarter to Feb. 28, the net loss narrowed to $47 million, or 10 cents a share, from $238 million, or 45 cents a share, in the same period a year ago. Excluding non-recurring items, adjusted earnings per share came to 4 cents, while the FactSet consensus was for a breakeven quarter. Revenue fell to $286 million from $464 million, while revenue on an adjusted basis was $297 million. The FactSet revenue consensus was $288 million. Revenue from software and services totaled $166 million and from mobility solutions was $82 million. For the current fiscal year, BlackBerry said it expects to profitable on an adjusted basis and generate positive free cash flow. "In the quarter, we continued to grow our mix of software and services revenue across the company," said Chief Executive John Chen. "In turn, this allowed us to expand our operating margin and report positive free cash flow." The stock has gained 0.9% year to date through Thursday, while the S&P 500 has gained 5.8%.
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