BlackBerry results exceed expectations as company boosts forecast for second time this year

BlackBerry results exceed expectations as company boosts forecast for second time this year SEAN SILCOFF TECHNOLOGY REPORTER PUBLISHED 54 MINUTES AGO Open this photo in gallery: Blackberry reported its sixth consecutive profitable quarter on Thursday. MIKE BLAKE/REUTERS COMMENTS SHARE SAVE FOR LATER Listen to this article Learn more about audio Log in or create a free account to listen to this article. BlackBerry Ltd. BB-T -2.31% decrease reported stronger-than-expected second-quarter results Thursday and increased its financial forecasts for the second time this fiscal year. The company, based in Waterloo, Ont., said it generated US$163-million in revenue in the quarter ended Aug. 31, 26-per-cent higher than the same period a year earlier. That was driven by a 27-per-cent increase in its sales from its vehicle software unit, QNX. Analysts had expected revenues of just US$145.3-million, according to consensus estimates from S&P Global Market Intelligence. The company in June had forecast revenue for the quarter would be no higher than US$148-million. The company’s slower-growing secure communications business generated revenue of US$60.9-million, in line with expectations, while its licensing business – involving the collection of payments from other companies for use of its intellectual property – delivered a better-than-expected windfall of $22.1-million in high-margin revenue. The higher overall revenue translated into US$47-million in operating earnings, up 81 per cent year-over-year. The company and analysts had forecast operating earnings would be US$30-million or less. BlackBerry also delivered adjusted earnings of 7 cents per share, close to double what analysts and the company had forecast, and 6 cents of GAAP basic earnings per share. It was the company’s sixth consecutive profitable quarter after three years of losses. “This is another rock solid beat-and-raise quarter for BlackBerry, our third quarter in a row of 20-per-cent-plus revenue growth on the QNX side, and we’re projecting another strong quarter” in the period ending Nov. 30, chief executive officer John Giamatteo said in an interview. The company also increased its financial forecasts for the year. It now foresees revenue of between US$616-million and US$636-million a year, up from a previous range of US$594-million to US$621-million. It increased its adjusted EBITDA forecast to as much as US$158-million, up from a previous upper limit of US$139-million, and predicted…