BlackBerry (NYSE:BB) Shares Gap Up on Earnings Beat

BlackBerry Limited (NYSE:BB)’s stock price gapped up before the market opened on Wednesday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. The stock had previously closed at $4.33, but opened at $4.81. BlackBerry shares last traded at $5.08, with a volume of 13,581,839 shares changing hands.

The company reported $0.02 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.01) by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $121.26 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $112.18 million. BlackBerry had a positive return on equity of 2.29% and a negative net margin of 6.44%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 15.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($0.03) EPS.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on BB. Wall Street Zen raised BlackBerry from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, June 22nd. CIBC reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of BlackBerry in a research note on Tuesday. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of BlackBerry from $4.00 to $5.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on shares of BlackBerry from $3.75 to $4.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, June 20th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price objective on shares of BlackBerry from $4.25 to $4.60 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $4.38.

Insider Buying and Selling at BlackBerry

In related news, SVP Jennifer Armstrong-Owen sold 29,940 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $2.99, for a total value of $89,520.60. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 42,398 shares in the company, valued at approximately $126,770.02. The trade was a 41.39% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Philip S. Kurtz sold 16,217 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.25, for a total transaction of $85,139.25. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 57,503 shares in the company, valued at approximately $301,890.75. This trade represents a 22.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 53,433 shares of company stock worth $197,164 over the last three months. 0.37% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of BlackBerry

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new position in BlackBerry in the 4th quarter worth approximately $40,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of BlackBerry during the 4th quarter valued at $97,000. Bravias Capital Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of BlackBerry during the 4th quarter valued at $45,000. Global Strategic Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in BlackBerry during the 4th quarter worth about $76,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of BlackBerry during the fourth quarter valued at about $544,000. Institutional investors own 54.48% of the company’s stock.

BlackBerry Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $2.81 billion, a P/E ratio of -78.75 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a quick ratio of 1.72, a current ratio of 1.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $3.89 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $4.05.

About BlackBerry

BlackBerry Limited provides intelligent security software and services to enterprises and governments worldwide. The company operates through three segments: Cybersecurity, IoT, and Licensing and Other. The company offers CylanceENDPOINT, an integrated endpoint security solution; CylanceGUARD, a managed detection and response solution; CylanceEDGE, an AI-powered continuous authentication zero trust network access solution; CylanceINTELLIGENCE, a contextual cyber threat intelligence service; BlackBerry Dynamics offers a development platform and secure container for mobile applications; BlackBerry Workspaces a secure Enterprise File Sync and Share (EFSS) solution; BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) Enterprise, an enterprise-grade secure instant messaging solution for messaging, voice and video; BlackBerry SecuSUITE is a certified, multi-OS voice and text messaging solution; BlackBerry AtHoc, a secure networked critical event management solution; and BlackBerry unified endpoint management (UEM) solutions.