BlackBerry’s stock was up Tuesday, for the fifth day in a row, and briefly creeped above the $10 mark.
It jumped nearly 7 per cent to close at $9.91, up 64 cents, in Toronto.
The stock rose Tuesday on news that rival Samsung plans to roll out BBM on all its Galaxy devices in Africa.
The move is viewed as a precursor to making the once-proprietary messaging platform available on Android and iPhone devices around the world this summer.
“We have a unique asset and we want to let BBM flourish,” CEO Thorsten Heins said at the BlackBerry Live conference in May. “It’s time to bring BBM to a greater audience, no matter what mobile device they carry.”
Bloomberg Industries senior telecom analyst John Butler believes BlackBerry’s stock has been on the rise because it still remains a potential takeover target.
Heins has made it clear at last month’s annual meeting that the company was prepared to “pursue every opportunity to create value for shareholders,” Butler said.
“People took it to mean if they get the right offer, they will sell themselves in whole or in part,” he said, noting Microsoft, Amazon, Facebook are all potential suitors because they don’t make handsets themselves. Google which bought Motorola Mobility last year has just unveiled its Moto X phone.
As well, BlackBerry’s Q10 smartphones, with the built-in keyboards, are selling better than the Z10 phones with a virtual keyboard, which rolled out at the start of the year with the BB10 software, he said.
“It’s doing well because you have the 70 million plus BlackBerry loyalists who can finally upgrade their phone to something decent,” Butler said, adding he has personally stopped in at several Verizon stores in New Jersey to ask about sales, and clerks say the Q10 is faring better than the Z10.
BlackBerry has forecast operating losses in the current quarter and says it will no longer divulge subscriber totals.
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