BlackBerry plays to its keyboard strengths

Article Excerpt

BLACKBERRY LTD. $8.66 (Toronto symbol BB; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 526.6 million; Market cap: $4.6 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.5; No dividends paid; TSINetwork Rating: Speculative; www.blackberry.com) lost $711 million, or $1.35 a share, in the fiscal year ended March 1, 2014 (all amounts except share price and market cap in U.S. dollars). A year earlier, it lost $317 million, or $0.60 a share. Revenue fell 38.5%, to $6.8 billion from $11.1 billion, mainly due to slow demand for its new smartphones. Last year, the company removed several buttons from some of its devices as part of the switch to its new BlackBerry 10 operating system. That alienated many of its users. However, as part of its new turnaround strategy, it plans to launch phones with its traditional physical keyboard. The company’s balance sheet remains sound: its long-term debt is just $1.6 billion, and it holds cash and investments of $2.7 billion, or $5.05 a share…