BlackBerry Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) shares have surged 16% in the pre-market on Wednesday after the company won a binding interim arbitration decision against chip-maker QUALCOMM, Inc. (NASDAQ:QCOM). Specifically, the company won a binding interim arbitration award requiring Qualcomm to refund an amount of $814.9 million, plus interest and lawyer fees, to BlackBerry Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) related to royalties for certain past sales of subscriber units. The decision is not appealable and would certainly make a big difference in BlackBerry’s fundamentals. Shares of the Canadian tech company were worth a collective ~$4.1 billion before the decision. The two companies originally agreed to arbitrate a dispute relating to whether Qualcomm’s voluntary per unit royalty cap program applied to BlackBerry’s non-refundable prepayments of royalties for sales of a specified number of subscriber units from 2010 through the end of 2015.
CEO John Chen said, ‘BlackBerry and Qualcomm have a longstanding relationship and continue to be valued technology partners. We are pleased the arbitration panel ruled in our favor and look forward to collaborating with Qualcomm in security for ASICs and solutions for the automotive industry’.
What Does The Smart Money Sentiment Say?
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Smart money sentiment surrounding BlackBerry was stable in Q4. According to our data, 22 elite funds had a bullish position in BlackBerry Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) at the end of the fourth quarter, down one from the previous quarter. Prem Watsa‘s Fairfax Financial Holdings was one of the biggest believers, reporting a stake of 46.7 million shares at the end of December.
The Bottom Line
BlackBerry Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) shares are in the spotlight due to the company winning a binding interim arbitration decision. For more reading, check out ‘7 Best Smartphones With A Stylus‘.
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