BlackBerry Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY)’s disastrous results were about as expected, but thanks to the offer from the consortium led by Fairfax, the company’s stock might not drop much lower than it is now. Unless, of course, that deal falls through.
BlackBerry reports falling revenue everywhere
Baird analysts William V. Power, Steven J. Beckert and Andrew T. Flis issued a report to investors after Friday’s results were released. Of course as preannounced the week before, BlackBerry Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) reported second fiscal quarter revenue of $1.6 billion and adjusted losses of 47 cents per share.
The company’s service revenue was reported to be $723.6 million, which was an 8.9 percent sequential decline and 28 percent decline year over year. What’s especially disturbing for investors was the fact that revenues from every geographical region were affected. North America and Latin America declined the most. North American revenue dropped 52.3 percent year over year, while Latin America revenue fell 62.3 percent. Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, as well as the Asia Pacific region, had been BlackBerry Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) relative areas of strength, but the former fell 36.9 percent, while Asia Pacific revenue declined 28.2 percent.
BlackBerry’s devices continue to weigh it down
The Baird analysts said the results suggest that BlackBerry’s device margins are back to being negative. The company reported consolidated adjusted gross margins of 36.2 percent for the quarter. In addition, they note that the struggling company burned through $502 million in cash during the quarter, which is almost $1 per share.
[drizzle]Nonetheless, they see limited downside to BlackBerry Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) because of the offer from Fairfax. Of course it is far from being complete because the company still has to pass a due diligence period, and there’s a chance (albeit a small one), that a higher bid for the company will emerge.
BlackBerry estimates lowered
The analysts lowered their fiscal 2014 revenue for BlackBerry from $7.3 billion to $7.1 billion. Their earnings per share estimate dropped from a loss of $1.47 per share to a loss of $1.81 per share. They did leave their fiscal 2015 estimates about the same at $4.4 billion and a loss of 86 cents per share.
The analysts remain Neutral rated on BlackBerry Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) with a $9 per share price target.
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