RBC Capital Markets analyst Paul Treiber downgraded shares of BlackBerry Ltd. BB, +28.42% to underperform from sector perform Tuesday, citing a big recent rally for the shares amid little change in the prospects for the company’s unified endpoint management (UEM) or Cylance security businesses. “BlackBerry is now trading at multi-year highs and above peers,” Treiber wrote, following a 207% rally since the end of November versus a 6% rise for the S&P 500 SPX, +0.36% over that span. He said that BlackBerry reported its fiscal third-quarter results in December, showing a drop in dollar-based net revenue retention. Treiber also wrote that the “probability of an unannounced IP licensing gain appears low.” BlackBerry sold 90 patents to Huawei and struck a patent-licensing settlement with Facebook Inc. FB, +1.28%, which Treiber called “positive” events, though he argued that “the magnitude of the potential one-time gain is likely to be smaller than the ~$7B increase in the company’s market cap.” A Dec. 15 court filing suggests that the Facebook arrangement was reached prior to the third quarter and might already be reflected in the company’s outlook, he said. Treiber kept his $7.50 price target intact on BlackBerry shares, which closed Monday at $18.03 after a 28% rally. The stock is up another 11% in premarket trading Tuesday.
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