Blackberry Ltd. $9.84 - Toronto symbol BB

BLACKBERRY LTD. $9.84 (Toronto symbol BB; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 524.2 million; Market cap: $5.2 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.1; No dividends paid; TSINetwork Rating: Speculative; www.blackberry.com) has launched its first-ever smartphone powered by Google’s Android software. This device, called the Priv (which is short for “privacy”), has better security than most Android phones. However, these features won’t be as strong as they are on BlackBerry’s other devices, which use its BB 10 operating system. The Priv should appeal to users looking to access Android’s wider variety of apps, but the handset business (which supplies about 40% of the company’s revenue) needs to sell five million phones a year to break even. In the six months ended August 29, 2015, BlackBerry sold just 1.9 million smartphones, down 48.6% from a year earlier. BlackBerry is still a hold.

A professional investment analyst for more than 30 years, Pat has developed a stock-selection technique that has proven reliable in both bull and bear markets. His proprietary ValuVesting System™ focuses on stocks that provide exceptional quality at relatively low prices. Many savvy investors and industry leaders consider it the most powerful stock-picking method ever created.