BlackBerry isn't plummeting as fast as most analysts expected, thanks to a reinvention effort by new CEO John Chen. The company reported a net gain of $23 million for the first quarter of this year.
That $23 million income, however, is largely due to changes in the value of the company's debentures and restructuring charges. Excluding that one-time income boost, BlackBerry lost $60 million, still less than half the loss analysts predicted. Under Chen, the company is scaling back and focusing more on software and services and less on its smartphone, which are struggling to maintain a foothold in a market dominated by Apple and Samsung.
BlackBerry reported $966 million in total revenue. It's only a slight decrease from $976 last quarter but a big loss compared to 2013 revenue with $3.07 billion. However, the company actually lost $84 million during that quarter despite the sales. The decreased losses this quarter are the result of major cost-cutting efforts by Chen, which reduced expenses by 57 percent compared to last year, and 13 percent over last quarter. BlackBerry is also having some success with sales of its low-end Z3 smartphone in developing markets such as Indonesia.
"Over the past six months, we have focused on improving efficiency in all aspects of our operations to drive cost reductions and margin improvement," says [pdf] Chen in a statement. "Looking forward, we are focusing on our growth plan to enable our return to profitability."
Under Chen, BlackBerry is focusing more on its array of business services. The company earned 54 percent of its revenue in this area, as compared to 26 percent last quarter. Hardware accounted for 39 percent of the company's income this quarter, with approximately 2.6 billion smartphones sold. The total value of BlackBerry's cash and investments is now $3.1 billion, up from $2.7 billion last quarter.
The announcement caused BlackBerry stock to jump 9.7 percent on one day, from $8.29 to $9.09 per share. Chen has also grown more confident that he can turn the company around. He put the odds of returning BlackBerry to profitability at 80 percent in May, compared to a previous estimate of 50 percent. However, stock analysts aren't as hopeful, predicting that shares will be trading $7.96 by 2015. BlackBerry stock is already down 36 percent from early 2013, and most believe that it will continue to fall, although much more slowly.
