Why BlackBerry Stock Spiked 37% Today

BlackBerry Ltd BB surged nearly 37% in the regular and after-hours sessions on Thursday.

What Happened: The spike in the stock came after the company sold 90 patents linked to smartphone technology to China’s Huawei, according to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office records cited by Canada’s The Globe and Mail newspaper.

The Canadian firm’s patents reportedly include innovations related to the presentation of text and images depending on the orientation of the device. Other patents relate to geotagging of images and security features.

Why It Matters: There are said to be 38,000 patents in BlackBerry’s patent library, reported Techradar.com.

Blackberry, once a leading name in the smartphone market, has withered away from the industry as it failed to compete against offerings of Apple Inc AAPL and Alphabet Inc GOOGL GOOG.
The sale of the patents to Huawei has evoked national security concerns among some Canadian allies, as per Techradar.com.

See Also: Key Countries Huawei Products Aren't Allowed In and How To Buy Apple Stock

Huawei Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou faces U.S. accusations of bank fraud and sanctions violations and is held in detention in Canada since 2018.

Price Action: BlackBerry shares closed 22.61% higher at $9.11 on Thursday and soared 14.93% in the after-hours session to $10.47.