Struggling BlackBerry reports massive US$4.4B loss in Q3
by The Canadian Press
Revenue for three-months ended Nov. 30 was US$1.2-billion, down 56 per cent from last year
WATERLOO, Ont.—BlackBerry Ltd. reports it had a staggering US$4.4-billion net loss from continuing operations in its latest quarter as the company recorded a number of items related to its restructuring efforts.
Many of the items were of a non-cash nature and the company managed to increase its cash holdings to $3.2-billion at the end of November, which marked the end of BlackBerry’s third quarter.
But BlackBerry’s operational performance during the quarter was well below expectations and a huge drop from the same time last year.
Revenue for the three-months ended Nov. 30 was US$1.2-billion, down 56 per cent in the same quarter last year and $400-million lower than analyst estimates compiled by Thomson Reuters.
BlackBerry’s adjusted loss from continuing operations, which excludes restructuring and other items, was US$354-million, or 67 cents per share—23 cents below analyst estimates.
In pre-market trade, BlackBerry’s battered shares fell 45 cents or 7.2 per cent to US$5.80 after the earnings report.
A year earlier, BlackBerry’s had a small profit of US$14-million of three cents per share under standard accounting and US$2.7-billion of revenue.
Analysts expected BlackBerry adjusted loss would be 44 cents per share and its revenue would be about US$1.6-billion.
It’s the first financial report from BlackBerry since John Chen became chairman and interim chief executive of the struggling Canadian smartphone company.
Since Chen joined BlackBerry last month, replacing BlackBerry CEO Thorsten Heins, he has started a dramatic overhaul of its executive ranks and begun fresh efforts to turn around the company.
