Low Expectations May Help Research In Motion Before Third Quarter Report


By: Talha Bhatti  |   December 17th, 2012   |   Business, News, O Canada, Smartphones

Research In Motion used to be a high flying stock before rivals like Apple and Samsung took over the smartphone maker’s market share. The Canadian firm has been in a free fall for the past year and only recently has seen a comeback in share price as anticipation and hype about RIM’s new BlackBerry 10 platform builds. As the launch date of the new OS nears, RIM stock prices have climbed from $6 to nearly $13 as analysts and investors feel a lot less negative about the company. Current share prices are a far cry from a high of $150 and the upcoming fiscal report for the third-quarter numbers should signal the market if the company share price will keep increasing.

 

The report should be presented after market close on December 20 and no one is expecting numbers to be any better than previous quarters. RIM is in a serious financial crunch and it has been losing market share very quickly in key markets including the US. The advantage the Waterloo based firm has going into the third quarter report is that there are very low expectations for the company at this point. This effect was seen in the second quarter when share prices got a bump after numbers showed smaller losses than expected.

 

Echoing what most people believe will be the result of the report, Richard Tse, a Cormark Securities Inc. analyst says that, “I would be shocked if the numbers were higher. I don’t think (this) is going to be rosy. If it turns out to be, the stock will rip.”

 

Analysts will be looking at two different factors to see how the company will do in the future. They will first check out the cash RIM still has left in its coffers. The last time the firm reported it showed $2.3-billion and Tse thinks the company will need $2-billion to handle the launch of BB10.

 

The second number is RIM subscribers. Analyst will want to see if the numbers have grown, dropped or stayed the same. Previously the company had managed to go above 80 million subscribers. RIM might not grow in this respect because history has shown that new subscribers historically stop purchasing right before a new launch.

 

Tom Astle of Byrom Capital Market states that, “I think investors should keep [third-quarter] expectations in check. The company is in a tough situation.”

Source: The Globe and Mail

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