On Friday, BlackBerry (BB -2.27%) released preliminary earnings results that were as grim as could be. The company expects to lose nearly $1 billion this quarter, primarily related to an inventory charge attributable to Z10 devices. It sold just 3.7 million smartphones during the quarter, in part because it was drawing down channel inventory.
BlackBerry will announce full results on Friday, and investors may get clarity on the remaining unknowns. It acknowledged that BlackBerry 10 device sell-through has been poor, but did not elaborate further. Any information on BlackBerry's subscriber base, which fell by 4 million to 72 million last quarter, will also be notable.
With today's news that a consortium led by Fairfax Financial has agreed to buy BlackBerry for $9 per share certainly changes the equation for investors. While the offer is on the table, investors will be focused on the sale. However, there are still a lot of hurdles that will need to be cleared, including financing, due diligence, and regulatory approvals, among other things.
In the following video, Erin Kennedy discusses BlackBerry's prospects with Evan Niu, CFA.
