Finally, things are shaping up well for Canadian handset manufacturer BlackBerry Limited (BBRY). According to a report in Economic Times, Blackberry is planning to introduce a novel service platform designed to cater to the needs of the health care sector. Following this development, the company’s shares jumped nearly 6% on yesterday’s trade.
The current development marks a step forward in BlackBerry’s pursuit of services for the fast growing health care sector. Earlier in the month of April, BlackBerry had revealed an investment in a privately held healthcare IT firm, NantHealth, whereby both the companies would be working together to launch a healthcare platform at hospitals. This device will help doctors access immediate information about patients’ health from observing equipment. Doctors can also share patient information with other medical professionals and consult diagnostic and treatment resources of top global institutions.
CA-based NantHealth’s cloud-based platform has already been installed in nearly 250 hospitals and connects over 16,000 medical devices. The platform also helps in collecting more than 3 billion important signs annually.
BlackBerry is running these services on a trial basis at different Indian hospitals and is also incorporating Health Information Systems (HIS) and medical equipment. According to India Brand Equity Foundation, which enables distribution of information of Indian products and services, the healthcare sector in India is estimated to scale a market size of $160 billion by 2017 from $78.6 billion in 2012. On the other hand, per-capita healthcare expenditure is expected to reach $88.7 by 2015 from $63.7 in 2012.
We believe the company’s decision to enter into healthcare services, particularly in a developing nation like India, will serve as a potential business strategy that can help the company garner growth in the Indian health care market.
Recently, the company reported its first-quarter fiscal 2015 financial numbers wherein both the top and the bottom line surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate. Adjusted net loss per share of 11 cents was significantly lower than the Zacks Consensus Estimate of a loss of 27 cents. Total revenue in the reported quarter stood at $966 million against $3,071 million in the year-ago quarter. However, the top line comfortably outpaced the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $954 million.
The quarterly numbers are an indication that BlackBerry is slowly heading in the right direction and is making all possible efforts to return to profitability. Year-to-date, the company’s shares reflect a solid return of more than 46%.
Other Stocks that Warrant a Look
BlackBerry currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). Other stocks worth considering in the wireless industry are InterDigital, Inc. (IDCC), Comtech Telecommunications Corp. (CMTL) and Ubiquiti Networks, Inc. (UBNT). All these stocks sport a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).
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