Blackberry reports adjusted profit for fiscal third quarter

Blackberry reported an adjusted profit for its fiscal third quarter, surprising Wall Street.

The Canadian company’s stock climbed almost 3 percent in Friday premarket trading. For the period ended Nov. 29, the company lost $148 million (roughly Rs. 936 crores), or 28 cents per share. That compares with a loss of $4.4 billion (roughly Rs. 27,845 crores), or $8.37 per share, a year earlier.

Stripping out some charges, earnings were a penny per share. Analysts polled by Zacks Investment Research predicted a loss of 6 cents per share.

Revenue declined to $793 million (roughly Rs. 5,018 crores) from $1.19 billion (roughly Rs. 7530 crores). Analysts were looking for $927.8 million (roughly Rs. 5,871 crores), according to Zacks.

Blackberry said that it continues to target sustainable adjusted profitability some time in fiscal 2016.

Earlier reports suggest that BlackBerry launched its long-awaited Classic, a smartphone it hopes will help it win back market share and woo those still using older versions of its physical keyboard devices.

The Canadian mobile technology company said the new device, which bears striking similarities to its once wildly popular Bold and Curve handsets, boasts a larger screen, longer battery life, an expanded app library with access to offerings from Amazon.com’s Android App store, and a browser three times faster than the one on its legacy devices.

With inputs from Associated Press