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BlackBerry revenue fails to meet expectations; stock price drops

BlackBerry introduced its latest smartphone, the Classic, earlier this week, returning to the style of its earlier phones.

By Frances Burns

NEW YORK, Dec. 19 (UPI) -- BlackBerry LTD, the now-troubled Canadian smartphone pioneer, reported Friday that its revenue for the most recent quarter failed to meet expectations.

The price of the company's stock fell even though it reported adjusted earnings of $0.01 per share for the third quarter, which ended in November. Analysts had forecast a $0.05 loss.

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Shortly after 12:30 p.m., the stock was trading at $9.83 on the NASDAQ, down $0.24 per share or 2.38 percent. In early 2010, BlackBerry (BBRY) traded for almost $77 a share, but the stock price tumbled in 2011.

The company reported $793 million in revenue, while analysts' forecasts were for $1 billion. The net loss for the quarter was $148 million of $0.28 per share, a significant improvement over the same quarter last year, when the net loss was $4.4 billion or $8.37 a share.

In a conference call with analysts, CEO and Executive Chairman John Chen said the company expects to be profitable in fiscal 2016 and to "sustain" that profitability. But he acknowledged the task may not be easy.

"Things are happening," Chen said. "I'm encouraged that they are happening, but I wouldn't say that all things are well. I mean we still need a lot of work and a lot of attention and working well together and that's what I'm spending most of my time on."

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BlackBerry, headquartered in Waterloo, Ontario, was a pioneer in mobile communications, first with its pager and then its smartphone. But it has been battered by competition from Apple and others.

Earlier this week, Chen presided at the launch of a new smartphone, the Blackberry Classic. The phone is in many ways a return to the company's older products, with a keyboard.

Chen said he visited top executives in New York who pulled out their old phones.

"Don't mess around with this thing," he quoted one financial executive telling him.

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