Post Earnings Coverage as BlackBerry Surpassed Revenue and Earnings Expectations

Upcoming AWS Coverage on Level 3 Communications

LONDON, UK / ACCESSWIRE / April 12, 2017 / Active Wall St. announces its post-earnings coverage on BlackBerry Ltd. (NASDAQ: BBRY). The Company posted its fourth quarter and fiscal 2017 financial results on March 31, 2017. The smartphone maker-turned-software Company quarterly loss narrowed. Register with us now for your free membership at:

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One of BlackBerry’s competitors within the Diversified Communication Services space, Level 3 Communications, Inc. (NYSE: LVLT), is expected to report for its fiscal quarter ending March 2017 earnings results on May 03, 2017 after market close. AWS will be initiating a research report on Level 3 Communications following the release of its next earnings results.

Today, AWS is promoting its earnings coverage on BBRY; touching on LVLT. Get our free coverage by signing up to:

http://www.activewallst.com/register/

Earnings Reviewed

For the quarter ended February 28, 2017, BlackBerry’s non-GAAP revenue was $297 million, while GAAP revenue of $286 million in Q4 FY16. The Company’s revenue numbers came in ahead of analysts’ consensus of $288 million.

BlackBerry’s Q4 FY16 non-GAAP Company total software and services revenues was $193 million, this represented an increase of 25% year-over-year and 12% quarter-over-quarter. The Company’s Device revenue was $55 million, representing 19% of revenue. Total SAF revenue for Q4 FY17 was $49 million, representing 16% of revenue.

BlackBerry stated that approximately 80% of the Software & Services segment revenue (excluding IP licensing and professional services) was recurring. BlackBerry had over 3,500 enterprise customer orders in the reported quarter.

During Q4 FY17, BlackBerry posted consolidated gross margin of 65% compared to 49% a year ago. The gross margin improvement of 1,600 basis points over a year ago is attributed to growth of software and services and more favorable revenue mix. The Company posted Q4 FY17 adjusted EBITDA of $42 million which was positive for thirteenth consecutive quarter.

For Q4 FY17, BlackBerry’s GAAP operating loss was $57 million, which includes $28 million in amortization of acquired intangibles, $25 million in restructuring charges, a benefit of $16 million of fair value adjustment related to the debentures and other amounts. The Company’s non-GAAP operating income was $13 million,

BlackBerry’s GAAP net loss for Q4 FY17 was $47 million, or ($0.09) per basic share, compared to net loss of 238 million, or $0.45 per share, in the year ago same period. Excluding non-recurring items, adjusted earnings per share came in at $0.04per share, which was above market expectations for a breakeven quarter.

Cash Flow & Balance Sheet

At the end of the fiscal fourth quarter, the Company’s total cash, cash equivalents, short-term and long-term investments increased by $89 million to approximately $1.7 billion as of February 28, 2017. This reflected free cash flow of $16 million, which also included cash flow from operations of $19 million and capital expenditures of $3 million. Excluding $605 million in the face value of the Company’s debt, the net cash balance at the end of the quarter was approximately $1.1 billion. Aggregate contractual obligations, which included purchase obligations, operating lease obligations, interest payments, and other goods and services utilized in operations was approximately $398 million at the end of Q4 FY17. There were no purchase orders with contract manufacturers at the end of the reported quarter compared to $35 million at the end of the previous quarter and down from $162 million a year ago.

“I am pleased to report that our Q4 results came in at or above expectations in all major metrics,” said John Chen, Executive Chairman and CEO of BlackBerry, “In the quarter, we continued to grow our mix of software and services revenue across the company. In turn, this allowed us to expand our operating margin and report positive free cash flow. In addition, our balance sheet continues to strengthen and benefit from reduced capital requirements with our focus on software and licensing.”

Stock Performance

At the closing bell, on Tuesday, April 11, 2017, BlackBerry’s stock slightly fell 0.13%, ending the trading session at $7.70. A total volume of 6.42 million shares were traded at the end of the day, which was higher than the 3-month average volume of 4.86 million shares. In the last month and previous three months, shares of the Company have rallied 9.69% and 8.15%, respectively. Moreover, the stock gained 11.76% since the start of the year. At Tuesday’s closing price, the stock’s net capitalization stands at $4.14 billion.

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