BlackBerry exploring options for Cylance business

(Reuters) - BlackBerry forecast profit for its next fiscal year above market estimates and said it was exploring options for its Cylance business, sending shares of the Canadian company more than 4% higher on Wednesday.

In an investor day presentation, the company said it was looking to redirect spending to high-growth areas from Cylance, which requires significant levels of investment and faces strong competition. 

It expects Cylance, which uses machine learning to preempt security breaches, to post an adjusted core loss of $51 million for the current fiscal year. 

BlackBerry — once a dominant force in the smartphone market — has transitioned into selling software for devices and autonomous vehicles and bought Cylance in 2019 for $1.4 billion.

The Canadian firm said it plans to increase capital allocation to its secure communications and internet of things (IoT) businesses, as both of them are profitable and key growth drivers.

The company is in the process of separating the IoT and cybersecurity businesses into fully independent divisions. In July, Blackberry appointed insider Tim Foote as its finance chief.

It forecast fiscal 2026 adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) to be about $50 million to $60 million, compared with analysts' expectations of $47.8 million.

The company also maintained its current annual revenue outlook of between $591 to $616 million and EBITDA forecast of up to $10 million. 

It expects IoT revenue to be in the range of $225 million to $235 million in fiscal year 2025, compared with $215 million last year.

(Reporting by Priyanka.G in Bengaluru; Editing by Alan Barona)