Blackberry posts Q4 earnings beating estimates

Smartphone veteran brand and cyber-security firm Blackberry (BB) posted upbeat fourth-quarter 2019 earnings result before the opening bell on Friday, March 29, 2019.

For the fourth quarter, total company GAAP revenue grew 9% year-over-year to $255 million. Non-GAAP revenue was $257 million, up 8%.

Adjusted earnings were 11 cents per diluted share, on a non-GAAP basis. GAAP EPS was 9 cents per diluted share.

GAAP Software and Services revenue jumped 16% to $246 million.

The Street expected the Canadian phone maker-turned-cybersecurity firm to earn 8 cents per share in the quarter on expected revenue of about $227 million.

“We delivered on all of our fiscal 2019 financial commitments and created a solid foundation for continued profitable revenue growth in fiscal 2020,” said CEO John Chen.

“I am pleased to note that BlackBerry is recognized as a $1 billion-plus revenue company in security software. The combination of BlackBerry Cylance’s lightweight AI and machine learning cybersecurity capabilities with BlackBerry Spark, our secure communications platform, will make our endpoint management and embedded software products stronger and more essential for enterprises to generate value from the Internet of Things,” he added.

Earlier this month, BlackBerry launched its unit, BlackBerry Government Solutions, that focussed on its Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP) initiatives to work alongside US federal agencies.

BlackBerry Government Solutions is now headquartered in Washington, D.C., and has a separate corporate governance structure from BlackBerry parent company to comply with US national security requirements. Led by Retired Coast Guard Rear Admiral Robert “Bob” E. Day, this new unit would push BlackBerry products through FedRAMP and Agency/Component Authority to Operate (ATO) certifications, along with mandated continuous monitoring and maintenance of BlackBerry FedRAMP cloud services.

“A tidal wave of connected devices is in sight and I believe BlackBerry is uniquely positioned to help the U.S. government securely build and connect all ‘things’ from ATVs and drones to documents, emails, and the data that flows between,” said Blackberry CEO Chen, Executive Chairman and CEO, BlackBerry.

“This new subsidiary allows us to deepen our reach within the U.S. government sector by ensuring our next-generation cybersecurity solutions and Spark platform meet FedRAMP and ATO certifications, as well as provide our customers with a higher level of service,” the chief added.

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