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By Bloomberg

BlackBerry Ltd.’s renewed focus on software is beginning to take hold even as smartphone sales keep falling.

The first-quarter loss excluding certain items narrowed to 5 cents a share in the period that ended May 30 from 11 cents a year earlier, the Waterloo, Ontario-based company said Tuesday in a statement. The shares rose 4 percent in early trading.

The results showed that Chief Executive Officer John Chen is moving the company closer to his goal of doubling yearly software revenue to $500 million by March 2016. Software revenue soared 153 percent to $137 million last quarter, surpassing most analysts’ estimates. BlackBerry has bought three security- focused software companies since July to help reduce its reliance on shrinking smartphone sales. The company also partnered with manufacturers to reduce the time to market of new devices and cut expenses.

“BlackBerry is blocking and tackling well near term, delivering cost reductions and launching products on time,” Mark Sue, an analyst at RBC Capital Markets, said in a note before the earnings release.

The shares rose to $9.57 at 8:31 a.m. New York time before the markets opened. They had declined 16 percent this year through Monday, while the Nasdaq composite Index gained 8.8 percent.

Smartphone revenue fell to about $263 million from $379 million in the first quarter of last year as BlackBerry sold 1.1 million devices. It was the first full quarter where its new keyboard-equipped Classic phone was available.

BlackBerry, which used to dominate the world of mobile business, has seen its share of the global smartphone market slip to less than 1 percent after rivals like Apple Inc. came in. The Canadian company has since narrowed the target audience for its phones to financial professionals and government workers who demand a rigorous level of security.

In addition to existing partnership with Foxconn Technology Group, BlackBerry entered into joint development and manufacturing agreements with Wistron Corp. and Compal Electronics Inc. to help reduce costs to make devices.

“We are taking steps to make the handset business profitable,” Chen said in the statement.

Analysts predicted a loss of 4 cents, the average of estimates compiled by Bloomberg.