Things have been looking awfully bleak for BlackBerry lately, and today the company revealed just how bad things have gotten in its newest earnings release. In fiscal Q2 2014, BlackBerry raked in a measly $1.6 billion in revenue (down from $2.9 billion in the year-ago quarter) and reported an adjusted loss of $248 million, which works out to $0.47 per share diluted.
To put that in perspective, Yahoo’s analyst consensus was that the company would report a loss of $0.49 per share on revenues of $1.62 billion. In the preceding quarter (in which the company also missed expectations) BlackBerry reported $3.1 billion in revenue and an adjusted net loss of $67 million.
During the quarter, approximately 5.9 million BlackBerry smartphones were sold through to end customers, which included shipments made prior to the second quarter and which reduced the Company’s inventory in the channel. The company also reported that it had sold 5.9 million BlackBerry smartphones to end users over the past three or so months, though BlackBerry only recorded revenue on 3.7 million of them (most of which were older BlackBerry 7-powered devices).
“We are very disappointed with our operational and financial results this quarter and have announced a series of major changes to address the competitive hardware environment and our cost structure,” said CEO Thorsten Heins in a prepared statement.
The folks in Waterloo have already attempted to soften the blow of an especially dark quarter by announcing that it expected to post an operating loss of between $950 and $995 million last week. In this release, the company has finally put a firm number on that wound — the total GAAP loss from continuing operations came in at $965 million, right in the middle of the company’s forecasted range. The big culprit? A hefty writedown (think around $934 million) incurred thanks in large part a glut of unsold BlackBerry Z10s. That one-time flagship smartphone is now being repositioned as a entry-level device for the masses — BlackBerry hopes that by slashing prices, the Z10 will finally find its footing among a jaded population of smartphone owners and increase its chances of success in developing markets where the company has been traditionally strong.
Sadly, those hoping for additional off-the-cuff insight from CEO Thorsten Heins will have to do without this time around — the company officially cancelled its quarterly earnings call because of its pending buyout deal with Fairfax Financial, which offered the ailing smartphone maker $9 per share.
This is a developing story, please refresh for updates.
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