What to watch for in BlackBerry's quarterly numbers
BlackBerry's turnaround strategy is set to come under scrutiny Friday as the Waterloo, Ont.-based smartphone maker releases its fourth quarter results.
According to tech analyst Carmi Levy, the number of handset sales reported is expected to drop, since many in the consumer market have moved on to other devices. However, he says the company's greater turnaround strategy is to shift from hardware to providing services and software for companies.
"The crucial numbers that we're going to see are the percentage of revenue the company makes from its software and its services," said Levy. "Those numbers need to come up fairly quickly to make up for the fact that BlackBerry sells fewer handsets."
"Investors are going to look for signs that the future pieces of its software and services business are coming together. If they see that, they'll be happy. If they don't, expect the stock to take another beating," added Levy.
In its last earnings report last December, BlackBerry posted a $148 million US loss and revenue was $793 million versus analyst predictions of $931 million. The company sold 1.9 million smartphones in the quarter, falling short of the 2.1 million sold in the previous quarter that year.
