[app_Developer]

I used to think that...until the market was flooded with unicorns.

But how many of those first made for the themselves the reputation of burning tens of billions in shareholder value.

BB has a higher burden to prove because they had a such a notable fall and then a turnaround that is taking quite some years now. Whether that’s fair is a fair question, but it is reality in all parts of life. The new up and comer who hasn’t lost tens of billions of dollars will always be viewed more favorably.

BB just has to show that they are a growth story again. They can do it, but it can’t be a story that satisfies the most ardent fans. It has to be a story that a broader audience can believe.

Again, I think BB can do this. But they have to actually DO it.

[smithm565]

FedRAMP: BlackBerry - BlackBerry Cloud - AtHoc Services for Government

- Has just added TSA as a user of this service

https://marketplace.fedramp.gov/#/pr...rt=productName

[drobbie]

Sarah McKinney, Head of Corp. Communications has left BB.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarahspencermckinney

Good news
Less people blowing hot air. All about executing

[farmwersteve]

Hey Morgan
just checking in to say hi.

[smithm565]

Update on Patent Suits:

BB v FB/SNAP:
- 6/29: Snap added attorney Andrew M. Legolvan
- 7/1: BB added attorney Dawn M. David
- 7/9: FB & Snap file proposed motions for summary judgement as to invalidity of patent# 8,296,351 & 8,676,929 & 9,349,120. Motion set for hearing on 8/29/19.

- 7/10: Judge Wu STRIKES FB & Snap motions for summary judgement of invalidity and said if they want to refile, it must be within 7 days and all must be on one 40 page consolidated motion. BB can file a 40 page opposition as well. Hearing would still be set for 8/29.
- 7/11: BB, FB, & Snap filed joint resolution to push back some dates for pretrial events, but left trial start dates unchanged.
-Snap trial sched start 3/17/20.
-FB trial sched start 4/13/20.

[smithm565]

https://www.mumbrella.asia/2019/07/b...ged-idea-theft

This may seem like a negative, but the positive is they are engaging PR firms to increase marketing efforts.

[smithm565]

Judge confirms down to MSFT & AMZN for JEDI Cloud contract. Award expected in August.

https://fcw.com/articles/2019/07/12/...ily_120719&m=1

[EchoTango]

https://www.mumbrella.asia/2019/07/b...ged-idea-theft

This may seem like a negative, but the positive is they are engaging PR firms to increase marketing efforts.

This is nothing new.

I've seen this many times in corporate RFP's where the losing responses are routinely gleaned for technical innovations and creative content for future use. In fact, I have participated in RFP's that got cancelled subsequent to receiving the responses, only to take the project "in-house". Of course there is text in the RFP cover this contingency so as not to attract trailing bad faith legal action.

As with any business activity, the company can elect to participate or not. To publicly complain or to imply chicanery seems somewhat juvenile.

[BanffMoose]

But how many of those first made for the themselves the reputation of burning tens of billions in shareholder value.

BB has a higher burden to prove because they had a such a notable fall and then a turnaround that is taking quite some years now. Whether that’s fair is a fair question, but it is reality in all parts of life. The new up and comer who hasn’t lost tens of billions of dollars will always be viewed more favorably.

BB just has to show that they are a growth story again. They can do it, but it can’t be a story that satisfies the most ardent fans. It has to be a story that a broader audience can believe.

Again, I think BB can do this. But they have to actually DO it.

Unicorns are starting from scratch, with no history of making a profit, and yet are assigned billions of undeserved "value" derived from a VC bubble. It's in the VC's interest to overstate the value that you perceive. Much of what they've created has been cool to see but detrimental to either society as we knew it or to personal privacy.

I get that BlackBerry has to climb themselves out of a hole they dug.

For the most part unicorns haven't earned their valuations and in some cases, the seat at the table they've been given.

[Dunt Dunt Dunt]

Unicorns are starting from scratch, with no history of making a profit, and yet are assigned billions of undeserved "value" derived from a VC bubble. It's in the VC's interest to overstate the value that you perceive. Much of what they've created has been cool to see but detrimental to either society as we knew it or to personal privacy.

I get that BlackBerry has to climb themselves out of a hole they dug.

For the most part unicorns haven't earned their valuations and in some cases, the seat at the table they've been given.

Most these Unicorns aren't starting from scratch... they have spent a few years as a private "company". Most can point to huge increase in the revenues and general growth that BlackBerry shareholder can only dream about. The possibilities are exciting... and people invest.

Show me someone at BlackBerry really excited.... What did people do after the investor meeting with Chen and Company building them up and pumping the future?

[app_Developer]

Unicorns are starting from scratch, with no history of making a profit, and yet are assigned billions of undeserved "value" derived from a VC bubble. It's in the VC's interest to overstate the value that you perceive. Much of what they've created has been cool to see but detrimental to either society as we knew it or to personal privacy.

I get that BlackBerry has to climb themselves out of a hole they dug.

For the most part unicorns haven't earned their valuations and in some cases, the seat at the table they've been given.

Well what “deserved” or “earned” is an interesting philosophical question.

But what they haven’t done is spend 10 years destroying 90+% of their value. That gives investors some reason for hope.

Companies need to show great growth or good earnings. That hasn’t changed.

[Sigewif]

Why Crowdflare had so much interest and value to investors compared to what we have seen from Cylance/BlackBerry, appears to be embedded in this article. An interesting read. The information about Crowdflare comes closer to the end of the article. I read this and thought, "well that seems to explain it." https://techcrunch.com/2019/07/08/th...=pocket-newtab

[BanffMoose]

Well what “deserved” or “earned” is an interesting philosophical question.

But what they haven’t done is spend 10 years destroying 90+% of their value. That gives investors some reason for hope.

Companies need to show great growth or good earnings. That hasn’t changed.

What good is growth if there's no path to profitability? That's the problem with unicorn valuations.

I wouldn't only blame BlackBerry for the destruction of BlackBerry shareholder value either. Wireless telcos are the king makers in the wireless industry. No one can deny that. Wireless is not the PC industry where any device with an ethernet port can connect to the internet.

By refusing to carry BB10 phones, or offering for sale but making it hard to buy, the wireless telcos effectively removed BlackBerry from the 4G market pretty much from the get go. That destroyed BlackBerry shareholder value.

[BanffMoose]

Why Crowdflare had so much interest and value to investors compared to what we have seen from Cylance/BlackBerry, appears to be embedded in this article. An interesting read. The information about Crowdflare comes closer to the end of the article. I read this and thought, "well that seems to explain it." https://techcrunch.com/2019/07/08/th...=pocket-newtab

Crowdstrike or Cloudflare? Isn't Cylance's competitor Crowdstrike?

[Sigewif]

Crowdstrike or Cloudflare? Isn't Cylance's competitor Crowdstrike?

Oh, maybe I got the names mixed up. But this also sounds like it could be a competitor as well in the realm of security.

[app_Developer]

What good is growth if there's no path to profitability? That's the problem with unicorn valuations.

Maybe not a path to profitability that you believe. That's your judgement to make and you put your money where you believe that path exists. Others put their money where they believe there is money to be made. The aggregate sum of all those perspectives is the stock price.

More people with more money believe in the unicorns than they do in BB. It's really that simple.

I wouldn't only blame BlackBerry for the destruction of BlackBerry shareholder value either. Wireless telcos are the king makers in the wireless industry. No one can deny that. Wireless is not the PC industry where any device with an ethernet port can connect to the internet.

By refusing to carry BB10 phones, or offering for sale but making it hard to buy, the wireless telcos effectively removed BlackBerry from the 4G market pretty much from the get go. That destroyed BlackBerry shareholder value.

The war in phones was lost before BB10. Storm was their chance. They blew that. The lack of urgency and pure hubris that drove the BB10 investments then almost bankrupted the company. They got out of phones just in time.

But most investors are not fans of companies. They are fans of their own retirement, or their children's education, or the dream house they want. They care about their own goals, as well they should. They don't give two hoots about why BB failed in phones. They aren't paid to save BB. They have $X to invest and they choose the best bets (in their opinion) that will get them to their goals the quickest.

So again, the company that lost 90% of its value over a decade AND isn't showing anything special in growth right now AND isn't making money yet doesn't sound all that appealing.

Given the security market will be strong (IMO) in 2020 and 2021, I think BB will start showing substantial growth soon. (IF Cylance maintains their focus and retains their talent). As soon as BB shows this is happening, I can easily see a SP of $10 or $15 or even $20.

But they must execute *before* most people will trust them again.

[smithm565]

https://seekingalpha.com/article/427...counters?app=1

[_dimi_]

https://seekingalpha.com/article/427...counters?app=1

Jack Chen... LOL

[_dimi_]

I was wondering.. has anyone sold options back when BlackBerry was at 10 USD? Also, has it resulted in a loss (including the premium)?

[Corbu]

So, here are the answers/information that we were able to gather from BlackBerry management, recently, after the Q1 results.

It was not possible to ask all the questions that were submitted. or to get an answer to some of them. Thank you, still, for contributing. We'll do this again.

---

Fundamentals of the business have not changed. Stock reaction is overdone. Perceived weakness in Enterprise is unfounded. Not happy with Enterprise number but affirm full-year guidance. Temporary headwind associated with new leadership, product refresh cycle which will catalyse revenue this year and future years, etc.

Q1 Cylance 19 M$ deferred revenue: deferred revenue for full year should be about 60 M$.

MarketWatch article: obvious hit piece to which BB briefly responded. BB was in accordance with the rules and the company has been reporting this way for a number of years. Could it be that some HF or some competitor is trying to manipulate the stock based on this non-issue? Who knows…

Cylance’s guidance for the year: remains 25 to 30%.

Licensing revenue: expect Q2 to be lower and for revenue to then pick up in Q3 and Q4.

All other businesses will exhibit sequential revenue growth.

Q2 could give rise to spending in investments, R&D, marketing, etc. so one could perhaps expect a slight loss in Q2 while remaining profitable and generate FCF for the full year.

Slowdown in automobile sales has no effect on QNX.

Have BTS, ESS and IoT been bundled so as to cover for some stagnation in ESS? No. Change is attributable to the way the business is run and the reporting structure.

Radar still on track to generate 100 M$ in sales: yes. Need to execute.

Crowstrike, Cylance, etc.: Cylance represents a good deal for BB in terms of its technology and products that will be integrated in BB’s future IoT strategy. BB is more relevant to large enterprises and should help Cylance access this market. There are opportunities for both Crowdstrike and Cylance in the market. Not a winner-take-all market.

Litigation: No specific comment. The aim is to maximize value for shareholders.

Share price and its demotivating effect: what can be done to put a floor? Buy converts? Buy shares back? John believes that if the business executes, people will understand the story better and this will have an effect on the price. Lots of baggage on the name and people haven’t evolved with the changes that have been happening. It’s a show me story. So, the key is for the company to execute.

What else can be done? Rebrand? Perhaps. Product education? Absolutely. Need to broaden the reach (new customers, new industries). Buyback makes no sense since for it to have a meaningful effect, it would probably require all available cash.

Institutional investors (II): the numbers have gone down slightly. But some may be back.

The key message seems to remain the same: the company needs to execute…

[Corbu]

https://thriveglobal.com/stories/rea...h-some-of-the/
Rear Admiral Robert “Bob” E. Day Jr of BlackBerry Corporation

[EchoTango]

So, here are the answers/information that we were able to gather from BlackBerry management, recently, after the Q1 results.

It was not possible to ask all the questions that were submitted. or to get an answer to some of them. Thank you, still, for contributing. We'll do this again.

---

Fundamentals of the business have not changed. Stock reaction is overdone. Perceived weakness in Enterprise is unfounded. Not happy with Enterprise number but affirm full-year guidance. Temporary headwind associated with new leadership, product refresh cycle which will catalyse revenue this year and future years, etc.

Q1 Cylance 19 M$ deferred revenue: deferred revenue for full year should be about 60 M$.

MarketWatch article: obvious hit piece to which BB briefly responded. BB was in accordance with the rules and the company has been reporting this way for a number of years. Could it be that some HF or some competitor is trying to manipulate the stock based on this non-issue? Who knows…

Cylance’s guidance for the year: remains 25 to 30%.

Licensing revenue: expect Q2 to be lower and for revenue to then pick up in Q3 and Q4.

All other businesses will exhibit sequential revenue growth.

Q2 could give rise to spending in investments, R&D, marketing, etc. so one could perhaps expect a slight loss in Q2 while remaining profitable and generate FCF for the full year.

Slowdown in automobile sales has no effect on QNX.

Have BTS, ESS and IoT been bundled so as to cover for some stagnation in ESS? No. Change is attributable to the way the business is run and the reporting structure.

Radar still on track to generate 100 M$ in sales: yes. Need to execute.

Crowstrike, Cylance, etc.: Cylance represents a good deal for BB in terms of its technology and products that will be integrated in BB’s future IoT strategy. BB is more relevant to large enterprises and should help Cylance access this market. There are opportunities for both Crowdstrike and Cylance in the market. Not a winner-take-all market.

Litigation: No specific comment. The aim is to maximize value for shareholders.

Share price and its demotivating effect: what can be done to put a floor? Buy converts? Buy shares back? John believes that if the business executes, people will understand the story better and this will have an effect on the price. Lots of baggage on the name and people haven’t evolved with the changes that have been happening. It’s a show me story. So, the key is for the company to execute.

What else can be done? Rebrand? Perhaps. Product education? Absolutely. Need to broaden the reach (new customers, new industries). Buyback makes no sense since for it to have a meaningful effect, it would probably require all available cash.

Institutional investors (II): the numbers have gone down slightly. But some may be back.

The key message seems to remain the same: the company needs to execute…

So the basic message seems to be "damn the torpedoes....full steam ahead".

I can't help but think moving the goalposts every quarter is not a real strategy and only serves to undermine any positive intervening events. Is Chen really thinking the market will continue buying his bullish verbiage with little or no earnings ? The stock is currently being punished because the company seems to be very efficient in converting investors money into more expenses and executive compensation. When will all the seemingly endless market maneuvering finally yield some gains ?

I suggest the institutional investors have had enough of Blackberry procrastinations and are fleeing in droves. The ones left are now hostages with seriously underwater portfolios. These are not happy people and Chen needs to realise that this contingent might make his AGM's a seriously more lively affair !

I'm so disappointed with this continued "head patting" from Blackberry that's making my hair go thin on top and is just so damn frustrating.

[abwan11]

Chen and company have had more then enough time. Too many get out jail free cards for these guys and now after all has been said and done, it's back to square one, burning cash.

There's always been a back story to this fiasco which is becoming more evident with each passing qtr. The accounting issues (plural) are tiny in comparison to other issues which have gone unnoticed or disregarded along the way.

The purchase of cylance is another cover for their blundering. They can't grow the business so they went and bought one that is growing.

Chen continues to by time while Prem continues to collect. There's no magic here, that's for sure.

Posted via CB10

[abwan11]

When Prem set out to buy the business, what do you think he was going to do with it? Soak it for all it was worth. Well he's done that, but without buying the business. Does that sound like a fair deal? Did institutional investors and analyst miss this? No. That's what you have here, a bunch of retail investors left to bare the burden of a opportunist.

Let's put this into context:
I go out to buy a car, but I change my mind about paying for it, instead I take the car, for an undisclosed amount of time, drive it to my hearts content, and promise to return it, to its rightful owners, with a story telling how it will be worth more once I'm done with it. Is there any dealers out there who would sign on for this?

Posted via CB10

[Seadog83]

So the basic message seems to be "damn the torpedoes....full steam ahead".

I can't help but think moving the goalposts every quarter is not a real strategy and only serves to undermine any positive intervening events. Is Chen really thinking the market will continue buying his bullish verbiage with little or no earnings ? The stock is currently being punished because the company seems to be very efficient in converting investors money into more expenses and executive compensation. When will all the seemingly endless market maneuvering finally yield some gains ?

Indeed, the most frustrating stock I've ever owned. But the only goal post moving seems to be on the part of WS. For years they prattled on about growth, finally got there. Now it's all about profitability, and not just that, but GAAP profitability, but years ago when they had hundreds of millions of GAAP profitability, it doesn't count, or it's from debentures. So it's like they've created their own method. Adjusted Non-GAAP which allows them to cherry pick whatever shows BB in the worst light. For years now, Chen has laid out a more or less consistent plan, and more or less been on track with high range, if not above range numbers. Going into earnings most analysts are saying "Those are your numbers, ok here are ours". Then when Chen beats both sets, the stock gets punished to the tune of 10-20% immediately, and 55% and counting cumulatively.

When Prem set out to buy the business, what do you think he was going to do with it? Soak it for all it was worth. Well he's done that, but without buying the business. Does that sound like a fair deal? Did institutional investors and analyst miss this? No. That's what you have here, a bunch of retail investors left to bare the burden of a opportunist.

Let's put this into context:
I go out to buy a car, but I change my mind about paying for it, instead I take the car, for an undisclosed amount of time, drive it to my hearts content, and promise to return it, to its rightful owners, with a story telling how it will be worth more once I'm done with it. Is there any dealers out there who would sign on for this?

Posted via CB10

I don't know that tired old trite gets rehashed over and over. This "sweet deal" that people love to go on and on about has left him in the hole something like $3-400m when you take into about his 50m shares @ ~$17, less whatever money he's made on interest. For every pissed off bullish investor, Prem has every reason to be so in spades.

I got in years later than Prem, so my BV is just over half is, and I wouldn't take his deal for a second.

A more accurate car comparison would be you can't afford one, so you buy a 10% share on a collectable one. Another poor friend also wants in, so you loan him 10% it's value as well at an attractive interest rate. He knows about cars, and is confident this one's value will go up, or at the very least hold it's value. Then your friend gets drunk, crashes the car, it gets sold for scrap, and the 20% you invested is cut down to 12%. But hey at least you got all that juicy interest!