BlackBerry Reports Revenue Growth as QNX Hits Record Quarterly Results

QNX, BlackBerry's embedded software division, generated $78.7 million in fourth-quarter revenue on April 9, marking a record for the second consecutive quarter and a 20% year-over-year gain that anchored the Waterloo-based company's return to top-line growth across both its quarterly and annual results.

Total revenue for the quarter reached $156.0 million, up 10% from the same period a year earlier. For the full fiscal year ended February 28, 2026, BlackBerry reported revenue of $549.1 million, up 3% year-over-year, ending a prolonged stretch of contraction. GAAP net income for the year swung to a $53.2 million profit from a $79.0 million loss in the prior year. The quarter itself produced $24.3 million in net income, compared to a $7.4 million loss a year ago, extending what the company called eight consecutive quarters of improving GAAP profitability.

CEO John Giamatteo framed the results as the culmination of a deliberate restructuring. "The turnaround is complete, and the BlackBerry story is now a growth story," he said during the earnings call, adding: "We are no longer a company in transition. We are a growth company with a proven track record of execution."

The QNX royalty backlog, a metric that functions as a forward-looking indicator of recurring embedded-software revenue, grew to approximately $950 million. Each dollar in that backlog represents contracted royalties tied to vehicles and embedded systems that have not yet reached full production volume. Because automotive OEM procurement cycles run years ahead of vehicle launches, the backlog can take multiple quarters to convert into recognized revenue, making it both a signal of demand and a measure of BlackBerry's exposure to auto production timing. The division met the Rule of 40 threshold for both the quarter and the full fiscal year.

QNX's adjusted gross margin reached 84%, up one percentage point year-over-year, while segment adjusted EBITDA came in at $21.4 million, a 27% margin. For the full year, QNX generated $268.0 million in revenue, up 14%. The division recorded specific automotive wins in the quarter, including a deal with a Tier 1 supplier in China deploying QNX on Asera system-on-chips for smart sensors used across multiple OEMs, and a digital cockpit contract with a top-five North American automaker.

BlackBerry's Secure Communications segment, which sells high-assurance encryption and messaging solutions to governments and enterprises, returned to year-over-year revenue growth in the quarter, driven by what the company described as accelerating demand for digital sovereignty solutions and expanding defense budgets. The segment lifted its annualized recurring revenue to $218 million.

Operating cash flow reached $45.6 million for the quarter, up 9% year-over-year. The company closed fiscal 2026 with $432.4 million in cash and investments and repurchased 6.7 million shares for $25 million during Q4. For the first quarter of fiscal 2027, management guided to revenue of $132 million to $140 million, above the $129.9 million analyst consensus at the time of the release.

Whether QNX can sustain a 20% quarterly growth rate is the central question analysts will track from here. Giamatteo's comments about expanding into physical AI and robotics, where BlackBerry's safety-certification expertise carries over from automotive, suggest management is already looking beyond traditional vehicle platforms for the next source of royalty growth.