What happened

Shares of BlackBerry (BB -1.43%) spiked today after Bloomberg reported that the company has settled a yearslong dispute with Facebook over patents. This is the second day in a row that BlackBerry's stock has made significant gains. 

The tech stock was up by as much as 26.8% this morning and had settled to a 12.7% gain as of 12:12 p.m. EST. 

So what 

BlackBerry and Facebook have been fighting since at least 2018, when BlackBerry sued the social media company for allegedly using some of its technology in Facebook's messaging app. Facebook countersued and challenged some of the tech company's patents. 

Red and green line graphs on a dark background.

Image source: Getty Images.

Those suits appear resolved now, as BlackBerry confirmed to Bloomberg that the two companies have reached a settlement, though neither has disclosed any details.

BlackBerry investors were clearly happy with the news today, especially since the company aims to move on from its smartphone business and focus on other technologies. Investors typically like to see lawsuits get resolved because ongoing litigation is costly and brings uncertainty to a company's stock. 

Now what 

With today's share price spike on the heels of yesterday's jump, the stock is up 125% over the past six months. While investors are rightly optimistic that the company has settled its dispute with Facebook, they should also stay focused on how BlackBerry will grow with its new technologies in the coming years.