BlackBerry shares plunge 25% on disappointing earnings

Brett Molina | USA TODAY

Hold off on that comeback talk.

Shares of BlackBerry plunged 25% after its first-quarter earnings failed to impress Wall Street.

The Canadian smartphone maker posted revenue of $3.1 billion, up 15% from the previous quarter and 9% compared to last year. BlackBerry also narrowed its losses to $84 million, from $510 million during the same time in fiscal 2013.

BlackBerry says it shipped 6.8 million smartphones during the quarter. About 40% of those shipments were for BlackBerry 10 devices, which amounts to roughly 2.7 million.

"We are still in the early stages of this launch, but already, the BlackBerry 10 platform and BlackBerry Enterprise Service 10 are proving themselves to customers to be very secure, flexible and dynamic mobile computing solutions," says BlackBerry President and CEO Thorsten Heins in a statement.

In a quarterly earnings conference call, Heins stressed BlackBerry 10 is still in the early phase of its cycle, having been on the market for five months. "We don't plan to run the company with a short-term, device-only strategy," he says.

The success of BlackBerry 10 is crucial for the company, as it attempts to vault back into the increasingly competitive smartphone race. Apple, Google and Samsung currently dominate the market, while Microsoft continues to press forward with its line of Windows 8 mobile devices.

In March, BlackBerry launched the Z10 smartphone, which boasts a full touchscreen, followed by the Q10 with a combination of touchscreen and physical QWERTY keyboard.

Colin Gillis, an analyst at BGC Partners, said it's tough for BlackBerry because it's hard to make money on handsets now.

"There are a lot of people that haven't been able to make it happen. For all the talk about Apple and Samsung, there are companies like Nokia and HTC," Gillis said.

Contributing: Associated Press

Follow Brett Molina on Twitter: @bam923.