BlackBerry boost offsets crude’s fall

TORONTO — Falling energy shares weren’t enough to drag Canada’s main stock market into the red, as BlackBerry Ltd. and Bombardier Inc. provided some of the lift.

The Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX composite index was up 8.59 points to 15,618.25.

“Overall, it’s a flat day for the TSX,” said Michael Currie, vice-president of TD Wealth Private Investment Advice. “But I think we’re seeing a bit of a reversal and a little bit of profit taking in some places.”

The information technology subsector was a top performer, anchored by a nearly 13 per cent increase for BlackBerry stock after it reported record software and services revenue on Thursday. Shares were up $1.47 to $13.00 at the close of markets.

BlackBerry chief executive John Chen touted the company’s progress in its strategic shift away from its legacy handset business after it reported record software and services revenue.

The Waterloo, Ont.-based company reported $19 million US in net income for its fiscal second quarter, a big swing from the loss reported during the comparable period last year.

Its software and services revenue for the quarter ended Aug. 31 hit a high of $185 million, comprising roughly threequarters of the total for the period.

Chen said this metric, as well as the company’s improved margins, is a reflection of “our compete transformation to a software company.”

“We made great progress in all our key growth initiatives... all of these accomplishments position us well for future growth,” he told analysts on a conference call this morning.

Shares of BlackBerry in New York were up as much as 17.3 per cent to $10.83 US in intraday trading.

BlackBerry has made a strategic pivot in recent years away from manufacturing its namesake smartphones to producing mainly software and services as its devices lost market share to Apple Inc.’s and Samsung Electronics Co.

BlackBerry’s revenue for the three months ended Aug. 31 was $238 million US, down from $334 million in last year’s second quarter but up $3 million from the previous quarter ended May 31.

The company’s profit in the latest quarter amounted to four cents per basic share, reported in U.S. currency. That compared with a year-earlier loss of 71 cents per basic share, or US$372 million in total.

Michael Walkley, an analyst with Canaccord Genuity based in Minneapolis, said the upside this quarter was “more one-time in nature,” helped by some non-recurring licensing items. Still, BlackBerry’s latest results show it is making headway on its long-term goals, he added.

A bright spot for TSX industrials was Bombardier. Its shared closed up 11 cents, or 5.24 per cent, to $2.21 — a reversal from the day before when they fell 7.49 per cent after investors weighed the prospect of a 220 per cent duty on U.S. sales of its flagship CSeries passenger jets and the European merger of its railway rivals Siemens and Alstom.

Meanwhile, oil and gas companies fell 0.84 per cent on the commodity-heavy TSX as oil prices tumbled.

The November crude contract gave back 58 cents to $51.56 US per barrel.

South of the border, it was a positive day on Wall Street despite meagre movements.

The Dow Jones industrial average climbed 40.49 points to 22,381.20 and the Nasdaq composite index inched up 0.19 of a point to 6,453.45. The S&P 500 index added 3.02 points to 2,510.06, hitting a record high. September is historically the weakest month of the year for stocks, but the S&P 500 has risen 1.6 per cent this month.

In currency markets, the Canadian dollar was trading at an average price of 80.32 cents US, down 0.25 of a cent.