BlackBerry revenue misses on weak demand for cybersecurity, car softwares

(Reuters) – Canada’s BlackBerry Ltd, missed Wall Street estimates for third-quarter revenue on Thursday, hit by poor demand for its cybersecurity products and QNX car software.

Surging COVID-19 cases in the Unites States have slowed the pace of auto sales in BlackBerry’s biggest market, squeezing demand for the firm’s QNX software, which is used by automakers including Volkswagen (DE:VOWG_p), BMW and Ford Motor (NYSE:F) .

In the previous quarter, when U.S. auto sales was recovering from pandemic lows hit in April, BlackBerry said demand for QNX was expected to normalize by early next year.

BlackBerry, which also sells security software to companies and governments, widened its customer base during the quarter but revenue fell 18% to $218 million, compared with analysts’ estimate of $219.7 million, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.

Net loss widened to $130 million, or 23 cents per share, in the third quarter ended Nov. 30 from $32 million, or 7 cents per share, a year earlier, owing to fair-value adjustments to long-term debt.