BlackBerry (NYSE:BB) Shares Gap Up Following Strong Earnings

BlackBerry Limited (NYSE:BB)’s stock price gapped up prior to trading on Thursday following a better than expected earnings announcement. The stock had previously closed at $2.21, but opened at $2.30. BlackBerry shares last traded at $2.46, with a volume of 3,847,470 shares traded.

The company reported ($0.03) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.04) by $0.01. The company had revenue of $144.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $132.05 million. BlackBerry had a negative net margin of 25.80% and a negative return on equity of 6.30%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 61.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.04 earnings per share.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on BB shares. Cibc World Mkts upgraded BlackBerry from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Raymond James dropped their price target on BlackBerry from $5.50 to $4.75 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Canaccord Genuity Group reduced their price objective on BlackBerry from $3.25 to $2.70 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Canaccord Genuity Group dropped their target price on shares of BlackBerry from $3.25 to $2.70 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Finally, TD Securities reduced their price target on shares of BlackBerry from $3.00 to $2.75 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, BlackBerry presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $3.20.

Institutional Trading of BlackBerry

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in BB. Highlander Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in BlackBerry by 77.8% during the fourth quarter. Highlander Capital Management LLC now owns 8,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 3,500 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in BlackBerry in the 4th quarter valued at $58,000. Oxford Asset Management LLP bought a new stake in BlackBerry in the fourth quarter valued at $60,000. Private Advisor Group LLC raised its stake in BlackBerry by 28.4% during the fourth quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 25,522 shares of the company’s stock worth $90,000 after acquiring an additional 5,645 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Breakwater Capital Group bought a new position in shares of BlackBerry during the fourth quarter valued at $107,000. 54.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

BlackBerry Stock Performance

The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $2.76 and a 200-day simple moving average of $2.96. The company has a quick ratio of 1.43, a current ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The company has a market capitalization of $1.47 billion, a P/E ratio of -8.60 and a beta of 1.37.

About BlackBerry

BlackBerry Limited provides intelligent security software and services to enterprises and governments worldwide. The company operates through three segments: Cybersecurity, IoT, and Licensing and Other. The company offers CylanceENDPOINT, an integrated endpoint security solution; CylanceGUARD, a managed detection and response solution; CylanceEDGE, an AI-powered continuous authentication zero trust network access solution; CylanceINTELLIGENCE, a contextual cyber threat intelligence service; BlackBerry Dynamics offers a development platform and secure container for mobile applications; BlackBerry Workspaces a secure Enterprise File Sync and Share (EFSS) solution; BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) Enterprise, an enterprise-grade secure instant messaging solution for messaging, voice and video; BlackBerry SecuSUITE is a certified, multi-OS voice and text messaging solution; BlackBerry AtHoc, a secure networked critical event management solution; and BlackBerry unified endpoint management (UEM) solutions.