WATERLOO, Ontario: BlackBerry posted a surprise profit in the fourth quarter, but saw a sharp drop-off in revenue.

The Waterloo, Ontario, company earned $28 million, or 5 cents per share. Earnings, adjusted for non-recurring gains, came to 4 cents per share.

Wall Street expected a loss of 3 cents per share, according to a survey by Zacks Investment Research. The company had a loss last year of $148 million, or 28 cents a share.

But the smartphone and software company had revenue of only $660 million, a 33 percent drop compared with $976 million a year earlier. Wall Street was looking for $833.1 million this quarter.

It was the second consecutive quarter that the company put up a surprise profit, however, and shares rose more than 5 percent before the opening bell. The company expects to put up operating profits consistently at some point during its next fiscal year.

For the year, the company reported that its loss narrowed to $304 million, or 58 cents per share. Revenue was reported as $3.34 billion compared $6.8 billion the year before and $11.1 billion in 2013.

BlackBerry Ltd. now holds a small fraction of the US smartphone market after commanding a nearly 50 percent share as recently as 2009. Apple showed that phones can handle much more than e-mail and phone calls and Blackberry was late in overhauling its operating system to compete.

The company is trying to stay relevant on making hardware even as it tries to transform into an enterprise security and software company. BlackBerry returned to its roots in December by launching a phone with traditional keyboard called the Classic. It sold 1.7 million phones in the quarter but didn’t say how many Classic phones sold.

BlackBerry shares have dropped 15 percent since the beginning of the year. The stock has increased 1.5 percent in the last 12 months.

“Our focus this past year was on getting our financial house in order while creating a multi-year growth strategy and investing in our product portfolio. We now have a very good handle on our margins, and our product roadmaps have been well received,” Executive Chairman and CEO John Chen said in a statement.