John Chen, appointed to head the Canadian company in 2013, a few quarters after it fell from its pedestal, will have presided over an uninterrupted decline in sales: they have been divided by ten in ten years, from $6.5 billion to $656 million (USD).

None of Chen's promised rebirths have taken place: the turnaround of the telephony business has failed, while the breakthrough in software and cybersecurity is still pending despite significant investments.

In fact, the cybersecurity segment is in decline over three years. This is a bad look after the $2.2 billion spent on the acquisitions of Cylance, Good Technology and others. One suspects that the sellers made better deals than the buyer.

The IoT segment, built around the QNX operating system, is certainly seeing an increase in sales, but this remains marginal: we're talking about $200 million per year, compared to $130 million two years ago.

This is a far cry from the miraculous promises of the past. But promises, it's true, only commit those who believe them! At least they will have allowed the management to quickly sell its stock options...

However, the fiscal year that is ending has seen BlackBerry successfully sell another patent portfolio for $900 million. This operation will allow the company, which has been accumulating losses for years, to replenish its balance sheet by an equivalent amount, since it will not pay taxes on it.

The balance sheet, in fact, is perfectly balanced as it is. Pro forma, the $900 million that will be added to it will therefore be in excess. This is a good point, provided that they are not directed towards a dubious acquisition.

At a price of $4.6 per share, or an enterprise value of $2.5 billion, this leaves a $1.6 billion valuation for BlackBerry's various operating businesses - cybersecurity and QNX.

Between them, these businesses generate between $500 and $500 million in revenue, but no profit. The convinced will argue that such software assets - notably QNX, which has not been profitable, but has been successful with car manufacturers - at roughly x3 the sales, this is a deal worth seizing.

The less convinced will recall that ten years of beautiful promises have been systematically beaten by the realities.