Just as BlackBerry surprised investors last quarter by posting a profit, so too has it surprised this quarter by posting a loss. The company on Friday reported a fiscal first-quarter loss of $0.13 per share, missing expectations that it would post a profit of $0.06 per share. The company recorded revenues of $3.1 billion, which also missed the consensus projection of $3.36 billion. The company shipped a total of 6.8 million smartphones in the quarter, and it did not state how many of those were BlackBerry 10 devices. The company did state in a subsequent earnings call that it had sold 2.7 million BlackBerry 10 devices on the quarter, however. BlackBerry shares plummeted more than 17% during Friday’s pre-market session following the company’s earnings report. BlackBerry’s full press release follows below.
BlackBerry Reports First Quarter Fiscal 2014 Results
WATERLOO, ONTARIO–(Marketwired – June 28, 2013) – Research In Motion Limited (doing business as BlackBerry®) (NASDAQ:BBRY)(TSX:BB), a world leader in the mobile communications market, today reported first quarter results for the three months ended June 1, 2013 (all figures in U.S. dollars and U.S. GAAP, except where otherwise indicated).
Q1 Highlights:
- Revenue $3.1 billion, up 15% sequentially from the previous quarter
- North America revenue grows sequentially 30%, APAC revenue grows 35%, EMEA revenue grows 9%
- LATAM revenue declines 6% as Venezuela foreign currency restrictions negatively impact $72 million of service revenue recognition in the first quarter; company gross margins negatively impacted by 2%
- Shipments of 6.8 million smartphones, up 13% sequentially from the previous quarter
- GAAP loss from continuing operations of $84 million, or $0.16 per share
- Adjusted loss from continuing operations of $67 million, or $0.13 per share
- Venezuela foreign currency restrictions impact reported GAAP earnings and adjusted earnings by approximately $0.10 per share; excluding such impact, adjusted earnings in-line with previously provided outlook of approaching breakeven financial results
- Cash flow from operations of $630 million
- Cash and investments balance of $3.1 billion
Q1 Results
Revenue for the first quarter of fiscal 2014 was $3.1 billion, up 15% from $2.7 billion in the previous quarter and up 9% from $2.8 billion in the same quarter of fiscal 2013. The revenue breakdown for the quarter was approximately 71% for hardware, 26% for service and 3% for software and other revenue. During the quarter, the Company shipped 6.8 million BlackBerry smartphones and approximately 100,000 BlackBerry PlayBook tablets.
GAAP loss from continuing operations for the quarter was $84 million, or $0.16 per share diluted, compared with a GAAP income from continuing operations of $94 million, or diluted earnings per share of $0.18, in the prior quarter and GAAP loss from continuing operations of $510 million, or $0.97 per share diluted, in the same quarter last year.
Adjusted loss from continuing operations for the first quarter was $67 million, or $0.13 per share diluted. Adjusted loss from continuing operations and adjusted diluted loss per share exclude the impact of pre-tax charges of $26 million ($17 million on an after tax basis) related to the Cost Optimization and Resource Efficiency (“CORE”) program. This impact on GAAP loss from continuing operations and diluted loss per share from continuing operations are summarized in the table below.
The total of cash, cash equivalents, short-term and long-term investments was $3.1 billion as of June 1, 2013, compared to $2.9 billion at the end of the previous quarter, an increase of approximately $200 million from the prior quarter. Cash flow from operations in the first quarter was approximately $630 million. Uses of cash included intangible asset additions of approximately $335 million and capital expenditures of approximately $83 million.
“During the first quarter, we continued to focus our efforts on the global roll out of the BlackBerry 10 platform,” said Thorsten Heins, President and CEO of BlackBerry. “We are still in the early stages of this launch, but already, the BlackBerry 10 platform and BlackBerry Enterprise Service 10 are proving themselves to customers to be very secure, flexible and dynamic mobile computing solutions. Over the next three quarters, we will be increasing our investments to support the roll out of new products and services, and to demonstrate that BlackBerry has established itself as a leading and vibrant player in next generation mobile computing solutions for both consumer and enterprise customers.”
Outlook
The smartphone market remains highly competitive, making it difficult to estimate units, revenue and levels of profitability. Throughout the remainder of fiscal 2014, the Company will invest in BlackBerry 10 smartphone launches, and the roll out of BlackBerry Enterprise Service 10, to continue to establish the new BlackBerry 10 platform in the marketplace. The Company will also invest resources to evolve BlackBerry Messenger into a leading cross platform mobile social messaging application, and launch other revenue initiatives associated with new services and emerging mobile computing opportunities. Based on the competitive market dynamics and these investments, the company anticipates it will generate an operating loss in the second quarter. The company will also continue to implement the cost savings and process-improving initiatives it started last year, in order to drive greater efficiency throughout the company, and redirect capital from these savings to areas of investment that will drive future revenue growth.
