WATERLOO, Ont. — BlackBerry Ltd. (TSX:BB) shares jumped as much as 13 per cent in early morning trading after it said revenue from its software and services business hit a record in the latest quarter.
The Waterloo, Ont.-based company reported US$19 million in net income for its fiscal second quarter, a big swing from the loss reported during the comparable period last year.
Its key software and services revenue for the fiscal second quarter ended Aug. 31 hit a high of $185 million, comprising roughly three-quarters of the total for the period.
BlackBerry CEO John Chen says this metric, as well as the company's improved margins, is a reflection of "our compete transformation to a software company."
"We made great progress in all our key growth initiatives... all of these accomplishments position us well for future growth," he told analysts on a conference call this morning.
Shares of BlackBerry in New York were up more than 12.5 per cent to US$10.40 at around 10 a.m. The Waterloo, Ont.-based company's shares in Toronto were up as much as 13 per cent to $13.03.
BlackBerry has made a strategic shift to producing mainly software and services over the past few years as its smartphones lost market share to Apple Inc. and Samsung Electronics Co.
The company's profit in the latest quarter amounted to four cents per basic share, reported in U.S. currency. That compared with a year-earlier loss of 71 cents per basic share, or US$372 million in total.
BlackBerry's revenue for the three months ended Aug. 31 was US$238 million, down from $334 million in last year's second quarter but up $3 million from the previous quarter ended May 31.
The Canadian Press
