TORONTO, June 4, 2026, 05:01 EDT
- BlackBerry got its latest investor spark from CFO Tim Foote and QNX President John Wall, who spoke at the Baird conference on Tuesday.
- U.S.-listed shares last traded at $10.18 in premarket, off 15 cents from the prior close.
- BlackBerry’s next earnings report is set for June 25, when the company will release fiscal Q1 numbers.
BlackBerry’s recent rally could hit a hurdle, as executives told investors at a Baird event this week that the company’s QNX embedded-software unit is now positioned as a growth engine, not a turnaround play.
BlackBerry shares in the U.S. were at $10.18, off 15 cents from where they ended last session, with trading in New York and Toronto still hours out. The stock is still near its recent 52-week high of $10.72.
BlackBerry’s next earnings report is coming up, with fiscal Q1 results slated for June 25. Investors are looking to see if hope for QNX, robotics, and government security contracts will turn into actual revenue with the update under three weeks away.
BlackBerry’s turnaround is “complete” and the company is “now a growth company,” CFO Tim Foote said Tuesday at Baird’s Global Consumer, Technology & Services Conference, according to a transcript. Baird analyst Luke Junk, who covers electronic solutions and vehicle tech, introduced BlackBerry as focused on QNX and secure communications. Seeking Alpha
QNX is a real-time operating system built for situations where software has to react fast and can’t afford delays. It’s found in cars and other machines where timing is critical. Baird’s Junk called it safety-certified software and said it runs inside more than 275 million vehicles.
BlackBerry put out a new pitch after turning in a solid April update. The company reported fiscal Q4 revenue of $156 million, up 10% on the year. QNX saw record quarterly revenue at $78.7 million, up 20%. BlackBerry also said its QNX royalty backlog climbed to about $950 million.
BlackBerry CEO John Giamatteo said in the release that QNX is now a “Rule of 40” business, using a metric that combines revenue growth and profit margin. The company said it calculates the figure as revenue growth plus adjusted EBITDA margin, with EBITDA referring to earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization. Newswire
Canada’s S&P/TSX Composite Index fell 1.1% to 34,801.54 on Wednesday after reaching a record high the day before. Tech and metal-mining names dropped, pressuring the wider market. The pullback leaves BlackBerry with less buffer if traders judge the shares have moved too far ahead of fundamentals.
The competitive set looks different now. BlackBerry isn’t up against handset makers anymore; with QNX, it’s lined up against safety-software players like Wind River, SYSGO and Green Hills Software. ABI Research in April listed those firms, and QNX, as leaders in the commercial real-time operating system market for robotics functional safety.
The push for safety-certified RTOS is getting more important as robotics firms deal with tighter validation and a shift to software-based systems, according to George Chowdhury, senior analyst at ABI Research. This gives BlackBerry a more defined narrative, but also means higher standards to meet.
BlackBerry is pushing partnerships as part of its strategy. In April, QNX said it was building on its work with Nvidia, targeting safety-critical edge AI in areas like robotics, industrial automation, and medical devices. The project uses QNX OS for Safety 8.0 along with Nvidia’s IGX Thor and the Halos Safety Stack. “Safety and determinism cannot be afterthoughts,” QNX president John Wall said. WebDisclosure
Investors might be ahead of real business growth. Automotive software deals often take years to show up as royalties, and growth in areas like robotics or medical devices may not cover any stalling in connected-car programs soon. If the June outlook misses the mark, or if TSX and Nasdaq weakness lasts, QNX—the pitch that boosted the stock—could turn into a sell signal.
