Blackberry Shares Are Soaring To Start 2021, As Investors Eye Catalysts

BlackBerry's Network Operations Center in Waterloo, Canada

Shares of Blackberry Ltd. BB are up almost 120% this month as investors have become excited about the company's recent announcements. 

What Happened: After Blackberry Ltd phones fell out of style over 10 years ago, the Canadian tech company saw its shares struggle to rebound. Trading at a small fraction of its June 2008 all-time high of nearly $150, a lack of catalysts over the past decade have given investors little to hope for. This year, however, that looks to be changing. 

In 2013, CEO John Chen revamped the company to shift its focus from mobile phone handsets to cybersecurity and the Internet of Things.

Why It Matters: Chen’s ideas are starting to pay off. Over the last year Blackberry has announced major partnerships with Amazon.com, Inc. AMZN, Zoom Video Communication Inc. ZM, Texas start-up OnwardMobility and Huawei. 

Blackberry and Amazon: On Dec. 1, Blackberry announced it had partnered with Amazon Web Services to develop and bring to market BlackBerry's Intelligent Vehicle Data Platform, IVY. Automakers will be able to use the software for the smart and autonomous electric vehicles being developed.

Blackberry and Zoom: On Oct. 16, Blackberry announced it was partnering with Zoom. Zoom will be using Blackberry’s Blackberry Dynamics cybersecurity software in its mobile platform to protect companies from cyberattacks and data breaches. Blackberry Dynamics software also provides secure video conferencing, which Blackberry says will become more necessary as companies move away from in-person meetings.  

Blackberry and Huawei: Earlier this month, it was reported that Blackberry had sold 90 patents to Chinese telecommunications company Huawei. Blackberry holds more patents than any other company in Canada, many that are applicable to smartphones that Blackberry no longer will concentrate on. 

Blackberry and OnwardMobility: Despite Blackberry moving away from smartphones, last August Blackberry announced it would be partnering with OnwardMobility to help the tech startup produce Blackberry-branded smartphones with 5G technology. The phones are set to be released in the first half of this year.

What’s Next: This year, it looks as though investors are starting to realize the value of what Blackberry has been working on for the last decade as tangible partnerships have been brought to fruition.  

One indicator of the growth: Blackberry has posted 116 employment opportunities over the past 30 days for positions available all over the world. 

Photo courtesy BlackBerry.