Research in Motion Limited (NASDAQ:RIMM) has earned some interesting and enigmatic reviews over the past few days. On the bullish front, Goldman Sachs increased its fiscal year 2012 and 2013 earnings estimates for the BlackBerry parent. The brokerage believes increased sales of tablet-style devices should help sales growth. One caveat to this seemingly bullish adjustment, however, is that Goldman kept its target at $50 (representing modest downside from current levels).
On the other hand, Stifel Nicolaus downgraded its rating on RIMM to hold from buy and reduced its 12-month price target to $45 from $65. The firm expressed concern that developers are devoting less time and money to apps for the BlackBerry operating system, suggesting the battle for smartphone domination may be a losing one for RIMM. (more…)
Research in Motion (NASDAQ:RIMM) showed pronounced strength on Wednesday amid reports that the BlackBerry company’s PlayBook tablet (designed to compete with the iPad) would be out early next year. What’s more, its price point is rumored to be below $500, which potentially makes it more attractive than the Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) device.
In early trading on Tuesday, an investor appears to have made a large-scale bullish play in Research in Motion Limited (NASDAQ:RIMM). What’s more, this investor is likely looking at the long-term outlook by scooping up LEAP positions.
Well, RIM … “Ya Blew It!” Imagine this phrase uttered like De Niro said to Stallone in Cop Land, just with much more conviction. I am putting the pom-poms down and the party is over for Research in Motion (NASDAQ:RIMM) in my humble opinion – at least for a while. Since 2008, I have written many articles about the Canadian Smartphone pioneer and have built a case for this company recovering from its lagging position in the race to be on top. A year or so ago, I cited RIMM’s acquisition of Torch Mobile as a move in the right direction to get the BlackBerry browser up to date and hopefully looking cool.
Research In Motion Limited (NASDAQ:RIMM) shares were “in motion” on Tuesday after the company announced the release of its latest smartphone, the BlackBerry Torch 9800. It will be the first device to run on the BlackBerry 6 operating system. It’s a touch screen phone (with a slide-out keyboard) that is expected to be a worthy rival to the iPhone and other smartphones. The device, which will cost $199 with a two-year contract, is exclusively offered by AT&T (NYSE:T). In fact, T’s President and CEO of Mobility and Consumer Markets calls the Torch “The best BlackBerry device ever.”
Expectations are always high for new Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) products and with Steve Jobs being the showman and master of spin that he is, he can generally deliver. Blogs are lit up with anticipation ahead of today’s Worldwide Developers Conference and Jobs’ keynote speech is expected to contain news of a new product (Note: I am writing this at 7:30 am CT).
No April fool’s day pranks here as the broad market marches on higher. This rally is broad even when you look inside the indices; four stocks are up for every one that is down.
Friday morning, JP Morgan upgraded Research in Motion Limited (NASDAQ: RIMM) to “overweight” (basically a buy) from “neutral” (basically a hold). Analysts expressed bullishness toward the smartphone sector, saying 2010 “will be the first year for true mass-market adoption of mobile computers.” This trend could bode well for RIMM, parent of the BlackBerry device. The banking giant also adjusted its 12-month price target on RIMM by 20% to $84 from $70. The stock closed at $75.06 on Friday (after a 2.2% advance on the day). RIMM will report earnings on Wednesday after the close, and analysts estimate per-share results of $1.28.
