BlackBerry's Results Beat Expectations

BlackBerry Ltd.'s latest quarterly results beat expectations, and the company showed progress in its strategy of expanding software and services sales.

The Canadian smartphone company said Friday that it had a net loss of $89 million, or 17 cents a share, in the fiscal third quarter ended Nov. 28, compared with a loss of $148 million, or 28 cents, a year earlier. The latest results included numerous items, including pretax charges of $38 million for restructuring and acquisition costs and amortization of intangibles of $18 million.

Adjusted to exclude items, BlackBerry said it lost 3 cents a share a share. Analysts had expected BlackBerry to report a loss of 14 cents a share in the latest period, according to a Thomson Reuters poll.

Revenue of $548 million was down about 31% from a year earlier, but still came in ahead of expectations. The Thomson Reuters projection was $489 million.

BlackBerry said it generated $162 million in software and services revenue. That was up from $74 million in the second quarter.

Through cost-cutting and other moves, BlackBerry Chief Executive John Chen has been working to turn BlackBerry's fortunes around since joining the company about two years ago. He is focusing on new mobile device-management software, new smartphones�including BlackBerry's first ever Android-powered device�and acquisitions to bolster revenue.

The company said Friday that the Priv, its Android-based device, has been well received and that it plans to expand distribution to carriers around the world in the next several quarters. BlackBerry launched the phone in November.

"To sustain our current direction, we are stepping up investments to drive continued software growth and the additional Priv launches. I anticipate this will result in sequential revenue growth in our software, hardware and messaging businesses in Q4," Mr. Chen said in a statement.

Write to Carolyn King at carolyn.king@wsj.com