BlackBerry Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY), to say the least, has been taking shots on the chin lately, as the company has been recording some underwhelming sales numbers with its handsets and a lukewarm response to the BlackBerry 10 operating system, despite some general acclaim by tech blogs and analysts. With the bad streak going – the stock has dropped about 30 percent since late April – the shareholders have perhaps lit a bunsen burner under the seat of CEO Thorsten Heins (below).
BlackBerry Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY): Analyst Says Not So Fast
So while the seat is getting hotter and hotter with more bad news piling on, especially with the latest market-share news that showed that Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) Windows Phone OS has taken over the No. 3 spot in smartphones, blowing past BlackBerry, there has been talk that the impatience of shareholders might be starting to affect not just Heins, but also members of the board of directors.
Heins admitted recently that the board was discussing the possibility of going private, according to The Canadian Press.
The story came out with with anonymous sources who supposedly have knowledge of the workings of the board. There was no indication whether the board was actively looking to sell the company or whether it was just in the evaluation stage of options.
However, there is one analyst who is seeing through the talk, which has been stemmed by anonymous sources. Colin Gillis, an analyst at BGC Partners, told MarketWatch Friday morning that “I don’t buy it.”
He continued: “I don’t expect this rally to last. Never say never but my read on this is this is just talk. … You have to be highly skeptical of anonymous sources when there are no sources of capital. The company’s turnaround position is still very questionable.”
Though Gillis is not convinced, BlackBerry Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) stock jumped more than 5 percent in early Friday trading.
But Finally, Some Good Security News
One of the dependable things for BlackBerry in recent years has been the favorability ratings for the security measures of BlackBerry handsets. The company’s state-of-the-art security features on its handsets had helped BlackBerry be a favorite mobile choice for many government agencies and contractors. For years the company has had security clearance from the U.S. Department of Defense, which would guarantee thousands of devices.
However, there was some sweating at BlackBerry Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) when the budget sequester came up and the DoD stated that iOS and Android handsets were being approved, but that BlackBerry was not going to be in future plans.
Tomas Jivanda, however, wrote on the ITProPortal website that the Department of Defense finally did rule on BlackBerry handsets, giving the company the very important “Authorize to Operate” designation by the Pentagon, allowing contractors and staffers to use the touchscreen-only Z10 and physical-keyboard Q10 devices for official business.
“Being the first smartphones to be supported on U.S. Department of Defense networks further establishes BlackBerry’s proven and validated security model,” said Scott Totzke of BlackBerry.
While you consider BlackBerry Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) for buying or selling in your portfolio, what would you think about the recent news for fund managers like John Thaler, Andreas Halvorson, Philippe Laffont and Jim Simons? While considering this, take a look at the below about the BlackBerry Q10 handset.
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