BlackBerry's Stock Surges After Strong Software, Technology Licensing Results

BlackBerry Ltd.'s stock surged 7.1% in premarket trade Tuesday, after the smartphone maker reported a wider-than-expected fiscal first-quarter loss, but posted strong results for its software and technology business. For the quarter ended May 30, the company reported net income of $68 million, or 13 cents per basic share, but a loss of 10 cents per diluted share, compared with a loss of 37 cents a diluted share in the year-earlier period. Excluding non-recurring items, the per-share loss came in at 5 cents, compared with the FactSet loss consensus of 3 cents. Revenue fell to $658 million from $966 million, missing the FactSet consensus of $682 million. Software and technology licensing revenue rose 150% to $137 million, well above the FactSet consensus of $82.1 million. "I am pleased with the strong performance of our software and technology business. This is key to BlackBerry's future growth," said Chief Executive John Chen. Looking ahead, the company still targets sustainable adjusted profitability "some time" in fiscal 2016. The stock had lost 16% year to date through Monday, while the S&P 500 had gained 3.1%.