Updating Blackberry Ltd. and Linamar Corp.

Article Excerpt

BLACKBERRY LTD. $8.45 (www.blackberry.com) hopes to spur demand for its smartphones with two new models that run on Google’s Android software instead of its own operating system. The company uses a modified version of Android with additional security features. That should appeal to BlackBerry’s securityconscious corporate and government customers. However, if handset sales continue to decline, the company may shut down this business. That would let it focus on its more-promising software operations. In the quarter ended May 31, 2016, software supplied 39% of BlackBerry’s revenue compared to 36% from phone sales. Fees from wireless carriers to access its networks provided the remaining 25%. Hold. LINAMAR CORP. $43 (www.linamar.com) is down 43% since the start of 2016. That’s partly due to the U.K. vote to leave the European Union. Linamar gets 23% of its revenue from Europe, and the vote increases its currency risk. As well, automakers are shifting away from gasoline-powered cars to electric vehicles. In response, the company…