BlackBerry Jumps as $814.9 Million Qualcomm Refund Bolsters Cash

BlackBerry stock rose the most in more than two years after it was awarded $814.9 million to end a dispute with Qualcomm over royalty payments, giving it cash needed to help recast itself as a software maker, according to Bloomberg.

The two companies had agreed to enter binding arbitration to settle claims by BlackBerry that it was owed refunds on technology licensing fees prepaid to the chipmaker. The announcement sent BlackBerry shares up as much as 19 percent in New York, the most intraday since January 2015.

The refund from Qualcomm will boost BlackBerry’s cash hoard, which stood at $1.7 billion at the end of its fiscal fourth quarter, helping CEO John Chen as he spends more money to shift the company’s focus to software and security-focused products. BlackBerry no longer makes the phones that used Qualcomm technology and argued that it was due a refund after sales collapsed.

Qualcomm said it disagreed with the outcome of the arbitration proceeding with BlackBerry, but noted the decision is binding and can’t be appealed. “The arbitration decision was limited to prepayment provisions unique to BlackBerry’s license agreement with Qualcomm and has no impact on agreements with any other licensee,“ the company said. The final amount of the award, including interest and attorney fees, will be announced after a hearing on May 30, BlackBerry said.

Qualcomm has been battling other smartphone makers over royalty fees, from Apple to LG. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission is also investigating Qualcomm for unfairly cutting out competitors and forcing Apple to use its chips exclusively. In December, South Korea’s antitrust regulator slapped a record 1.03 trillion won ($902 million) fine on the chipmaker for violating antitrust laws.