Toronto, May 22, 2026, 13:06 EDT
BlackBerry Ltd. shares rose over 16% on Friday, hitting new 52-week highs on both the Toronto and New York exchanges. Investors came back to the Canadian software group’s auto and secure-comms business.
Shares in Toronto were at CA$10.69, up 16.45% at 12:39 p.m. ET, after touching a high of CA$10.93. The U.S.-listed stock traded at $7.78, up 16.99%, as of 12:05 p.m. ET. Trading volumes were strong in Toronto. Google Finance put volume at 4.65 million shares, just under the 4.73 million average.
Canadian tech stocks had a strong session, with the S&P/TSX Composite closing at a record high Friday. Reuters said earlier that BlackBerry was a standout gainer in the sector. Allan Small, senior investment advisor at Allan Small Financial Group with iA Private Wealth, said investors were focused on “the tech world” as the market climbed. Reuters
No new contract awards were released on Friday. Shares moved after a week packed with investor and government security headlines. BlackBerry said its AtHoc emergency communications platform finished 2026 Class D (High) FedRAMP recertification. FedRAMP is the government cloud security program.
BlackBerry AtHoc general manager Ramon Pinero said the recertification showed the platform’s “security rigor.” Senior vice-president for public sector Dubhe Beinhorn called the platform a “trusted and compliant communications infrastructure.” BlackBerry said 80% of U.S. federal government agencies use AtHoc. Nasdaq
Senior management spent time with investors this week. CFO Tim Foote and QNX President John Wall were on the schedule to speak Thursday at CIBC’s Technology & Innovation Conference in Toronto. They’re also set for the Baird Global Consumer, Technology & Services Conference on June 2.
QNX still drives the bull case here. This is BlackBerry’s embedded OS unit, with its software used in cars and other machines that need to be reliable. BlackBerry posted QNX revenue of $78.7 million in the fourth quarter, up 20%. It also put the QNX royalty backlog — what it expects from future royalties from customer design wins — at about $950 million.
BlackBerry is still working to turn itself into a software-focused firm after pulling back from phones for years. Last month, Reuters said BlackBerry predicted first-quarter revenue would come in higher than Wall Street expected. CEO John Giamatteo cited steady demand for what he called “mission-critical solutions.” Reuters
The trade is part of a wider push for automotive software stocks. 24/7 Wall St. said Friday that Mobileye and Aurora Innovation both gained, even as Nvidia slipped. The move is being framed around investor demand for autonomous and software-defined vehicles, where code runs more of the car.
But the stock now has less margin for mistakes. BlackBerry still needs to turn its QNX backlog into sales, keep up demand for its government-security products, and prove that auto customers are still buying even if car output drops. 24/7 Wall St. pointed out shares traded above the average analyst target cited and sat at a forward valuation where a misstep could hit hard.
BlackBerry has its annual meeting and Q1 fiscal 2027 earnings set for June 25. Management is also scheduled to appear at a conference on June 2, so investors will be watching to see if the stock’s Friday rally is tied to actual new orders or just a stronger market.
