The Successful Investor Hotline – Friday, March 29, 2013

Article Excerpt

BLACKBERRY INC., $15.09, Toronto symbol BB, rose 2% on Thursday after the company reported much better-than-expected earnings. In its 2013 fourth quarter, which ended March 2, 2013, BlackBerry earned $114 million, or $0.22 a share (all amounts except share price in U.S. dollars). These figures exclude charges related to a restructuring plan that includes cutting the company’s workforce and simplifying its product lines. On that basis, the latest results easily beat the consensus forecast of a $0.34-a-share loss. A year earlier, BlackBerry lost $118 million, or $0.23 a share. Revenue fell 35.9%, to $2.7 billion from $4.2 billion. That’s mainly because customers were waiting for the company to launch new smartphones that use its BlackBerry 10 software. The company began selling these devices in Canada, the U.K. and other markets in February 2013. It started selling them in the U.S. on March 22, 2013. BlackBerry shipped 6.0 million smartphones in the quarter, including 1 million of its new Z10 touch-screen model. That’s down…