BlackBerry Is One Of The Hottest Stocks Of 2014, Seriously

Don’t look now, but BlackBerry — you know, the butt of most cell phone jokes — is mounting an impressive comeback. BlackBerry’s stock is up 50 percent on the year and one of the best performers in its sector.

BlackBerry has been written off as dead countless times. The company is often viewed as a relic of a bygone era. Its CEO is a blowhard, not afraid to take spats with the company public. Yet the company is creating value for its shareholders.

In 2014 BlackBerry’s stock is outperforming all its peers. At the beginning of the year, the company’s stock was languishing at $7.44 a share. Yesterday it closed at $11.21. The stock is also up in trading today.

Apple is up just 20 percent on the year. Google? Just 5 percent, although it’s a touch easier for a struggling company to rebound than an established company to double its stock price.

The Motley Fool recently looked at the company’s financials and caution the company has yet to improve its revenue growth or its profit margin. The company is simply slashing costs and not making waves. So far, investors are liking that approach.

The company is also making some strategic moves. BlackBerry has leveraged its established Messenger app, positioning it as a WhatsApp for the lucrative enterprise market.

The company also released minor updates to its BB10 mobile operating system and turned to niche and developing markets for additional handset sales. Essentially, by not doing a lot this year, BlackBerry hasn’t done anything wrong. That could change.

The company’s long-term future is still in question. Its mobile market share is still shrinking and Apple and Android makers are increasingly adding features once exclusive to BlackBerry devices. If BlackBerry is to remain, it will need to do more than cut costs and add stickers to BBM.