Blackberry CEO on Why His Company Beat Earnings Estimates
Blackberry’s turnaround is in full swing, and the company’s CEO told Cheddar he’s expanding its software, cybersecurity, and automotive services to drive growth in 2018.
“Our software are now embedded into a lot of the chipset or optimizers of people like Qualcomm,” John Chen said in an interview Wednesday. “The strength comes in from that.”
Blackberry shares jumped to near three-year highs Wednesday, after the company reported earnings and revenue in the latest quarter above analyst estimates. While sales fell 25 percent from a year ago, the drop wasn’t as bad as expected. And profit came in at 3 cents a share, while analysts were expecting the company to break even.
The company was a pioneer in the smartphone market, but lost ground to rivals like the iPhone and Samsung products. But it’s shifted into new areas.
Chen said that, while Blackberry has been in the auto industry for about a decade, it began making a “major push” into the space four years ago.
“We focused on designing new components of cars like lane-changing, advanced driver assistance, telematics that talk to the internet,” he said.
The chief exec says 60 million cars on the road currently operate on Blackberry software.
Google could be gearing up to release its own wearable device as rumors swirl about a potential smartwatch with the Pixel brand. Jon Prosser, the creator of Front Page Tech, who tweeted a possible leak about the product, joined Cheddar's "Closing Bell" to discuss potential the benefits of it entering the same space as the Apple Watch. Prosser said, while he doesn't expect it to launch until at least 2023, the Pixel Watch will be "one of the most vital, most important wearables that we can have on the market," noting that it won't likely challenge Apple for much market share but will set the standard for other Android wearables to come.
Members of Congress have voted to advance a bill meant to address antitrust concerns related to tech giants including Amazon, Apple, Google, and Meta. The 'American Innovation and Choice Online Act' is largely seen as one of the best chances for the government to reign in Big Tech's dominance
Seth Schachner, Managing Director StratAmericas; Digital Business Executive joined Cheddar's Opening Bell to discuss.
The Federal Reserve released its highly-anticipated research weighing the pros and cons of a digital dollar in the U.S. The report comes as economic rivals like china have already piloted their own central bank digital currencies. Edward Moya, Senior Market Analyst, The Americas, Oanda, joined Cheddar's Opening Bell to discuss.
Verizon and AT&T officially launched their 5G wireless services Wednesday across the U.S. Despite pushback from U.S. airlines and the FAA over safety concerns, the telecom giants rolled out the next generation of wireless cellular technology, with speeds up to 20 times faster than 4G LTE. John Biggs, Editor, Tech Crunch joined Cheddar's Opening Bell to discuss.
Earnings season kicks into high gear this week as big players are on tap to report their Q4 numbers, including Microsoft, Apple, and Tesla. Investors will be watching for key indicators on how the companies are dealing with inflation, Omicron and interest rates. Christine Short, VP of Research, Wall Street Horizon joined Cheddar's Opening Bell to discuss.
Stan Farnsworth, chief marketing officer at PulseForge, joined Cheddar to talk about his company's debut at CES 2022 and how it plans to innovate the sustainable tech manufacturing space. PulseForge is bringing a new approach to industrial thermal processing, which contributes to 30 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, according to Farnsworth. "By using 85 percent less energy in the processing of materials through a variety of manufacturing processes, we can make a direct impact in reducing carbon output and reducing carbon footprint associated with manufacturing," he said.
