Meme stock Blackberry's IoT software in demand from electric vehicle makers

Blackberry Ltd (NYSE:BB)(TSE:BB) reported mixed results overnight and its newfound status as a ‘meme stock’ this year means its shares could go either way.

The phone manufacturer-turned-security software specialist slashed its net loss from US$636mln a year ago to US$62mln, or US$0.11 per share, which is worse than the US$0.07 consensus forecast as per FactSet.

It reported revenue of US$174mln for the first quarter, including US$43mln from its internet of things (IoT) business, US$107mln from cyber security.

This was a smaller fall than expected from the US$206mln a year ago.

In IoT, its products for the automotive market made “strong progress” as demand for electric cars offset the industry’s chip shortage problems, said executive chairman and CEO John Chen.

He said design activity “remains strong” and that the number of vehicles with Blackberry’s QNX software embedded has increased to 195mln, with the royalty revenue backlog of $490mln up 9% on a year ago. 

On the cybersecurity side, the Canadian group announced two new product launches during the period that it said were “significant” as part of its XDR strategy, which stands for ‘Extended Detection and Response’.

BlackBerry Gateway is the company’s first AI-empowered zero trust network access (ZTNA) product, and Optics 3.0, a ‘next-generation cloud-based endpoint detection and response (EDR) solution’.

Story by ProactiveInvestors