BB - BlackBerry gains 6% as revenue doubles losses shrink

2023-06-28 17:24:44 ET

BlackBerry stock ( NYSE: BB ) jumped 6% after hours following a fiscal first-quarter earnings report where it posted revenue that more than doubled year-over-year and sharply narrowed its operating loss.

Revenues grew to $373M from a year-ago $168M, due largely to a gain in billings and pipeline. Internet of Things revenue was $45M (with an 80% gross margin) and cybersecurity revenue was $93M (60% gross margin).

Cost of sales tripled, though, and gross margin overall dropped to 48% from a year-ago 61.9%.

But absent a litigation settlement that affected last year's quarter, operating expenses declined, and BlackBerry posted an operating loss of $11M, down from a year-ago loss of $177M.

"This quarter we delivered sequential revenue growth in our Cybersecurity business unit," CEO and Chair John Chen said. "Revenue growth was driven by a year-over-year increase in billings and pipeline, anchored on strength in our core verticals, particularly government."

For the quarter, cybersecurity annual recurring revenue came to $289M, with an 81% dollar-based net retention rate. Total contract billings came to $122M, with recurring software product revenue at about 90%.

"In our IoT business unit we saw some temporary delays to the start of new programs as a number of customers review their plans to capitalize on the software-defined vehicle trend, impacting revenue this quarter," Chen said.

"However, we see no change to the strong secular trends that are a multi-year tailwind for QNX and BlackBerry IVY. We continue to expect to achieve revenue consensus for both our IoT and Cybersecurity business units this fiscal year," he added.

The company will discuss more specific guidance on its call.

Conference call to come at 5:30 p.m. ET .

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