Benefited By The COVID-19 Pandemic, Blackberry's Revenue Exceeds Target

Blackberry revenue is now on the rise. (photo: unsplash doc)

JAKARTA - BlackBerry Ltd, surpassed Wall Street estimates in its third-quarter earnings forecast on Tuesday, December 22. The soaring revenue for the company, headquartered in Waterloo, Canada, has been helped by continued demand for cybersecurity and Internet of Things products.

The demand for cybersecurity software is growing stronger as more businesses and government organizations migrate to cloud-based solutions to support remote work during the COVID-19 pandemic.

BlackBerry posted third-quarter cybersecurity revenue of $128 million and estimates that to be between $125 million and $135 million in the fourth quarter, below the $143 million forecast by one analyst, according to Refinitiv data.

Shares of US companies fell 1.2% to 9.14 dollars in extended trading.

Chief Executive Officer, John Chen, said on a conference call that BlackBerry expects automotive supply chain issues to ease in the fourth quarter and help boost demand for its QNX car software, which is used by automakers including Volkswagen, BMW, and Ford Motor.

BlackBerry reported a net profit of $74 million in the third quarter, compared with a loss of $130 million a year earlier.

Excluding items, the company broke even per share, beating the average analyst estimate of a loss of 7 cents per share.

Revenue fell to $184 million for the quarter ended Nov. 30, from $218 million a year earlier, but beat analysts' median expectations of $177.25 million, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.