BlackBerry's revenue rises as software sales hit record

There used to be a time when BlackBerry phones were considered the professional phones. But in this touchpad, generation there were not many takers for Blackberry. Now the likes of Samsung and Apple have taken over the market. BlackBerry's smartphone business has given them a very tough time. However, that hasn't stopped them from making a comeback.

After the minimal success of the smartphone business, BlackBerry pivoted towards software solutions company focused on security. And the pivot proved to be a massive success for the company. The company reported a $249 million revenue, which is largely due to their software revenue of $996 million, a year-over-year increase of 26 percent. Following the big revenue figures, the company’s stock got a boost of 12 percent. The company also reported record gross margins of 76 percent up from 67 percent last quarter and 62 percent a year ago.

The company said it expects to achieve software and services revenue growth in the range of 10 percent to 15 percent and profitability for the full year. "We are building some very solid fundamentals in the business," BlackBerry CEO John Chen said. "We're coming around. We've become a good software company with good earnings."

Chen said there are still road bumps along the way in building the business but "not so much that it will get us off the track. I'm comfortable with where we are as a company."

Recently, BlackBerry ventured into the self-driving domain. It collaborated with Delphi Automotives for a software operating system for autonomous cars.