Trip Chowdhry

Trip Chowdhry inquired about the lingering effects of the U.S. government shutdown on BlackBerry's business and whether the latter half of the quarter compensated for the initial impact. He also asked for more details on the types of robots utilizing BlackBerry's technology and insights into demand within the robotics space.

Answer

CEO John Giamatteo explained that mission-critical solutions like events management, encrypted voice, and UEM proved resilient during the government shutdown, mitigating the impact on the quarter despite procurement backlogs. Regarding robotics, Giamatteo stated that QNX is adopted in applications requiring high compute power and performance, regardless of the robot type, and mentioned upcoming demos at CES to showcase these applications.

Trip Chowdhry asked if the U.S. government shutdown's impact on Secure Communications has normalized and if the latter half of the quarter compensated for the first. He also requested more details on BlackBerry's wins in the robotics space, including the types of robots using their technology and demand-side insights.

Answer

CEO John Giamatteo explained that despite various government uncertainties, BlackBerry's mission-critical solutions (events management, encrypted communications, UEM) proved resilient, mitigating the shutdown's impact. He noted that procurement backlogs were managed, resulting in a better-than-expected quarter. Regarding robotics, Giamatteo highlighted that QNX SDP8 is a sweet spot for high-compute, high-performance needs in humanoids and other advanced robotics, promising more details and demos at CES.

Trip Chowdhry asked about trends in U.S. federal defense spending and which BlackBerry products are gaining traction. He also questioned if QNX is seeing more strength in specific automotive categories like EVs, hybrids, or ICE vehicles.

Answer

CEO John Giamatteo noted increased government interest in secure communications and data sovereignty. CFO Tim Foote explained that QNX demand is broad but thrives in high-performance compute use cases like autonomous driving, making it largely agnostic to the vehicle's powertrain (EV vs. ICE) but stronger in higher-end models.

Trip Chowdhry commented that QNX could be viewed as 'the new steel' for software-defined vehicles, potentially mitigating tariff impacts, and praised the strategic expansion into adjacent markets like robotics. He then asked for management's thoughts on these observations.

Answer

CEO John Giamatteo agreed with the observations, confirming that expanding into the general embedded market (GEM) is a major investment area for the QNX business. He noted that the SDP 8.0 platform requires minimal modification for other market segments and that the company is investing in go-to-market resources and sales professionals to drive growth in these new verticals, alongside deepening relationships with automotive customers.

Trip Chowdhry framed BlackBerry as an underappreciated startup and asked if management was considering emerging opportunities in generative AI devices and leveraging its on-premise UEM strength for new AI security paradigms.

Answer

CEO John Giamatteo agreed with the 'startup' perspective, noting that the two-business-unit structure has provided valuable insights into the product portfolio. He stated that the company is actively shaping its investments and capital allocation toward next-generation growth areas and invited the analyst to the upcoming Investor Day for more details.