BlackBerry Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) (TSE:BB) has been in poor position for quite a while now, and the company’s future is far from secured on the back of huge setbacks in the last four years. Companies have recovered from such circumstances before, however, and there is little certainty in betting against Blackberry right now. There is a groundswell of support for Blackberry in the market, and the company has a double opportunity it could leverage for success.
Last week, Blackberry Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) (TSE:BB) shares gained more than 12%. Friday’s market pushed the company’s stock up by more than 2%. Starting from a low base, and a fairly low valuation, it’s not all that surprising to see the company’s valuation rise. There may also be good reason behind the increase, however. Blackberry has two major opportunities to make serious money, and it may be on the verge of grabbing them.
Blackberry knows security is key
In a report titled “How Blackberry Can Deliver A Double” Marketocracy founder Ken Kam offers an interview with one of that service’s money managers as a theoretical path for Blackberry Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) (TSE:BB) to grow. Written at Forbes, the key takeaway was that Blackberry is undervalued by the market, and that the company has a way out of its current difficulties.
The answer to the company’s problems lies, according to Mike Koza, the Marketocracy manager presented by the Forbes piece, is in the companies current user base: “There is a pervasive loyalty found in remaining Blackberry users that I find thought provoking. I wonder what drives it and what aspects of the products—particularly the new line—these individuals find so compelling. I’d like to know what their brand loyalty is attributed to.”
Security has always been a driving force behind the success of Blackberry Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) (TSE:BB) smart phones, and the Marketocracy community appears to agree that secure mobile tech will drag it out of their current crisis and into a market where it can thrive. Mike Koza reckons the company’s value may even double over the medium term.
Blackberry is still the king of messaging
The release of Blackberry Messenger onto Android and iOS was a little bit of a disaster, but that doesn’t mean that the company has lost its value in that area. Mike Koza, who’s clearly being pushed as an investment manager by Marketocracy founder Ken Kam, says that BBM alone could justify the entire market cap of Blackberry Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) (TSE:BB) right now.
The mobile messaging space is the single hottest social media sphere out there, and successful companies in the area are commanding extremely high prices. WhatsApp had about five times the 80 million users that BBM has, and was worth around $19 billion according to what Facebook paid for it. Koza reckons that Blackberry Messenger users could be worth a proportional amount to the right buyer .
There is no clear method of valuing Blackberry Messenger, and the way that Facebook valued WhatsApp will probably mystify investors for years. It is clear that Blackberry Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) (TSE:BB) is sitting on an asset worth a substantial amount, however, and, given the company’s other opportunity for growth, it might be better off ridding itself of it rather than diverting its attention in multiple directions.
