Originally Posted by
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.
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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…