Shares of BlackBerry Ltd. rose more than 6% in the extended session Wednesday after the tech company surprised investors with an adjusted profit in its latest quarter, showing hefty sales growth for its cybersecurity and internet-of-things businesses.
Its fiscal fourth quarter was the “strongest-ever quarter” for the company’s internet-of-things division, and BlackBerry BB, +0.36% also “took small, but important steps forward for the cybersecurity division,” Chief Executive John J. Giamatteo said in a statement.
The company is making “good progress with efforts to both separate the divisions and drive towards profitability,” and its operating cash burn more than halved in the quarter as compared with fiscal third quarter, Giamatteo said.
BlackBerry lost $56 million, or 10 cents a share, in the quarter, compared with a loss of $495 million, or 85 cents a share, in the year-ago period.
Adjusted for one-time items, the company earned 3 cents a share. Analysts polled by FactSet expected BlackBerry to report an adjusted loss of 4 cents a share.
Revenue rose to $173 million, from $151 million a year ago. FactSet consensus called for sales of $150 million.
That includes revenue of $66 million, a 25% year-over-year increase, for its internet-of-things business, and revenue of $92 million for its cybersecurity business, a 5% year-over-year increase.
BlackBerry’s devices were once powerful status symbols in business circles and elsewhere before losing ground to Apple Inc.’s AAPL, +0.48% iPhone and other smartphones, and the company has pivoted to internet-of-things, cybersecurity and vehicle software.
The company guided for a fiscal first-quarter per-share loss between 4 cents and 6 cents on sales between $130 million and $138 million. That compares with FactSet expectations of a per-share adjusted loss of 3 cents on sales of $148 million.
For fiscal 2025, BlackBerry guided for a per-share adjusted loss between 3 cents and 7 cents on sales of $586 million and $616 million. That compares with FactSet consensus of an adjusted loss of 6 cents a share on sales of $624 million.
Shares of BlackBerry have lost about 38% in the past 12 months, which contrasts with an advance of about 26% for the S&P 500 SPX.
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