BlackBerry's Shares Rally 8% on Q4 Earnings Beat, Revenues Surge Y/Y

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BlackBerry's Shares Rally 8% on Q4 Earnings Beat, Revenues Surge Y/Y

BlackBerry Limited BB reported fourth-quarter fiscal 2026 non-GAAP earnings per share (EPS) of 6 cents. The figure beat the company’s estimate of 3-5 cents. In the year-ago quarter, it reported a non-GAAP EPS of 3 cents. The Zacks Consensus Estimate was pegged at 5 cents per share.

BlackBerry reported quarterly revenue of $156 million, surpassing the top end of its guidance ($138-$148 million), driven by stronger-than-expected sales across both its QNX and Secure Communications divisions. Revenue also increased 10% year over year.

BlackBerry Limited Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

BlackBerry Limited Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

BlackBerry Limited price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | BlackBerry Limited Quote

For fiscal 2027, BlackBerry expects QNX revenue of $290–$307 million, with the higher end implying nearly 15% growth and serving as its target. However, due to macroeconomic uncertainty, it has included some downside risk into the lower end of the range. The company continues to invest in QNX to leverage growth opportunities and anticipates this will generate adjusted EBITDA of $69–$81 million for the year.

It expects Secure Communications to return to full-year growth for the first time in six years, marking a crucial inflection point. Growth is being propelled by digital sovereignty tailwinds and investments such as Secusmart iOS support, FedRAMP High for AtHoc and UEM BSI certification, which are stabilizing UEM and boosting AtHoc and Secusmart. Fiscal 2027 revenue is projected to grow 4–8% to $270–$280 million, with adjusted EBITDA forecasted at $57–$65 million.

BlackBerry’s licensing business remains a stable source of cash flow and profitability, with revenue of about $24 million and adjusted EBITDA of roughly $20 million. Overall, the company expects fiscal 2027 revenue to grow 6–11% to $584–$611 million, with adjusted EBITDA of $110–$130 million and non-GAAP EPS rising to 15–19 cents, excluding any potential share repurchases. Stronger cash conversion is expected to drive full-year operating cash flow to approximately $100 million, nearly doubling year over year.

Following better-than-anticipated performance, BB’s shares rose 8.22% in trading and closed at $3.82 yesterday. Shares also gained 2.3% in today’s pre-market trading. The stock has gained 21.7% over the past year, outperforming the Zacks Internet-Software industry’s fall of 0.3%.

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BB’s Fiscal Q4 in Details

QNX delivered record quarterly revenue of $78.7 million, up 20% year over year. It has also achieved the “Rule of 40”—a benchmark in SaaS indicating a healthy balance between growth and profitability. Revenue was fueled by record royalties and a strong quarter for development. QNX’s royalty backlog reached roughly $950 million, offering clear visibility into durable, multi-year growth. The growing relevance of software-defined vehicles is fueling QNX’s momentum. Partnerships with global automakers such as Mercedes-Benz and BMW Group demonstrate its strategic importance.

QNX is also expanding beyond automotive into robotics, industrial automation, medical systems and physical AI applications. With the release of QNX SDP 8.0 and Hypervisor 8.0, BlackBerry is positioning itself at the forefront of mission-critical, safety-certified computing. BB expected QNX revenue of $71 million–$77 million.

Secure Communication revenues were $72.5 million, up 8% year over year. The growth is being fueled by a powerful macro trend — digital sovereignty. Governments and enterprises increasingly demand secure, sovereign communication systems that protect sensitive data from foreign access. A major validation came from the Government of Canada expanding its partnership and increasing adoption of BlackBerry’s SecuSUITE platform across federal agencies. Segmental revenue was estimated at $61 million–$65 million.

Licensing revenue was $4.8 million, down from $8.6 million in the prior-year quarter due to normal quarterly variability in returns from existing agreements, and does not reflect any underlying business change.

BB’s Margin Performance

Adjusted gross margin was 77.8%, up from 73.5% in the year-ago period. QNX gross margin improved 1 percentage point year over year to 84%. Strong Secure Comms revenue drove operating leverage, with gross margins expanding 8 percentage points year over year to 72%, partly due to higher Secusmart software licensing revenue.

Adjusted operating expenses totaled $89.4 million, up from $87.4 million in the previous-year quarter.

Adjusted EBITDA expanded 71% year over year to $36.1 million. QNX’s adjusted EBITDA for the quarter came in near the high end of guidance ($17-$23 million) at $21.4 million, up 11% year over year. Secure Communications’ adjusted EBITDA beat expectations ($11-$15 million) of $19.5 million, up 55% year over year.

The licensing business generated $6.3 million in adjusted EBITDA for the quarter and $21 million for the full year, remaining a steady, largely passive source of profit and cash flow for BlackBerry.

BB’s Cash Flow & Liquidity

For the quarter that ended on Feb. 28, 2026, BlackBerry generated $45.6 million of net cash from operating activities, an improvement from $42 million from the prior-year quarter.

Free cash flow was $44.4 million at the end of the quarter compared with $41.5 million in the previous quarter.

As of Feb. 28, 2026, BlackBerry had $432.4 million in cash and investments, up from $378 million as of Nov. 30, 2025. This improved liquidity was supported in part by proceeds from the sale of Cylance assets to Arctic Wolf, as well as strong internal cash generation.

BlackBerry continued its share buyback program, repurchasing 6.7 million shares for $25 million. Since its launch in May last year, the company has bought back 15.5 million shares totaling $60 million. Despite returning capital through $60 million in share buybacks, the company still strengthened its balance sheet, an encouraging sign for long-term investors.

BB’s Fiscal Q1 Guidance

The company expects first-quarter fiscal 2027 revenues to be in the $132-$140 million range. For the Secure Communications unit, revenues are estimated to be in the band of $66-$70 million.

For the QNX business, revenues are expected to be in the range of $60-$64 million for the fiscal first quarter. Licensing & Other revenues are expected to be roughly $6 million.

Adjusted EBITDA is expected to be between $14 million and $22 million. QNX segment adjusted EBITDA is estimated at $4-$8 million, while Secure Communications segment adjusted EBITDA is projected at $14-$18 million.

Non-GAAP EPS is expected in the range of 2-3 cents. Fiscal first quarter is expected to be a seasonal low for cash flow due to billing and payment timing, but for the first time in three years, BlackBerry anticipates positive operating cash flow of breakeven to $10 million.

BB’s Zacks Rank

At present, BlackBerry carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Performance of Peer Companies

Guidewire Software, Inc. GWRE reported non-GAAP earnings per share of $1.17 for the second-quarter fiscal 2026 (ended Jan. 31, 2026) compared with 51 cents in the same period last year. Earnings surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 77 cents. The company reported revenues of $359.1 million, up 24% year over year. Revenues beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 4.8%. The figure also surpassed the company’s guided range of $339-$345 million. This uptick was driven by solid momentum across all business segments.

Autodesk ADSK reported fourth-quarter fiscal 2026 non-GAAP earnings of $2.85 per share, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 8.37% and increased 25% year over year. The company reported revenues of $1.95 billion, which beat the consensus mark by 2.48% and grew 19% year over year, both on a reported and constant currency (cc) basis.

Box BOX reported fourth-quarter fiscal 2026 non-GAAP earnings of 49 cents per share, which increased 16.7% year over year. The figure surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 48.48%. Total revenues of $305.9 million beat the consensus mark by 0.61%. The top line increased 9% year over year on a reported basis and 8% on a cc basis.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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