BlackBerry Shares Jump Following Q1 Results

Shares of BlackBerry Ltd BBRY jumped more than 8 percent in pre-market trading after the company reported results for its fiscal first quarter. The Waterloo, Canada-based company reported quarterly net income of $68 million, or $0.13 per basic share, versus a year-ago profit of $23 million, or $0.04 per basic share. The company's loss per diluted share came in at $0.10 per share, compared to a loss of $0.37 per share. Excluding non-recurring items, BlackBerry lost $0.05 per share. Its revenue slipped to $658 million from $966 million. However, analysts were expecting a loss of $0.03 per share on revenue of $679.06 million. The average estimate among 78 Estimize users was for earnings of $0.02 per share and revenue of $699.10 million. Its software and technology licensing revenue jumped 150 percent to $137 million. Gross margin widened to 47.1 percent in the latest quarter, from 46.7 percent in the year-ago quarter. At the end of the fiscal quarter, the company had cash and investments balance of $3.32 billion. The company also named Dr. Laurie Smaldone Alsup to the Board of Directors. "I am pleased with the strong performance of our software and technology business. This is key to BlackBerry's future growth," said Executive Chairman and CEO John Chen. "Our financials reflect increased investments to sales and customer support for our software business. In addition, we are taking steps to make the handset business profitable. We believe these actions are prudent and necessary to grow the business and we believe the remaining milestones in our strategic plan are achievable." BlackBerry continues to expect positive free cash flow. BlackBerry shares gained 8.04 percent to $9.94 in pre-market trading.