May 5th, 2009
Report: RIM has Wall Street smiling
Is Research in Motion, the maker of the Blackberry, giving Wall Street that “warm and fuzzy feeling?” That’s the word that comes from a blog post on Barron’s Tech Trader Daily today.
The post notes that at a recent analyst’s day, the company offered no updates on product launches or financial guidance - and yet, analysts left feeling strong about the company.
At least for now. Blogger Eric Savitz writes:
I’d note that the most notable comments and price target changes came from the more bearish analysts on the stock; maybe they fed the gurus comfort food at lunch and gave them blankies to hold.
RIM’s stock has been an upswing over the past two months, more than doubling in that time. (see image) In recent weeks, NPD Group said the company outsold Apple’s iPhone in the first quarter, largely because of a Buy-One-Get-One-Free Blackberry promotion with Verizon Wireless earlier this year.
Before that, UBS analyst Jeffrey Fan upped his rating for Research in Motion, the maker of the Blackberry, on the theory that the company will benefit, in part, by pent-up replacement demands in the enterprise once the economy starts to recover.
Savitz highlights a few analyst comments since the analyst’s day meeting. They include:
- Shaw Wu, Kaufman Bros.: Maintains Hold rating, but ups target to $79, from $64. “We walk away more positive about BlackBerry’s prospects…we believe shares can trade at a higher multiple despite a touch macroeconominc environment.”
- Samuel Wilson, JMP Securities: Maintains Outperform rating, raises his target to $89 from $67. “Based on what we heard at the analyst event, we feel comfortable raising our forward P/E assumption from 15x to 20x,” adding “the stock is a compelling value at these levels.”
- Mark McKechnie, Broadpoint.Amtech: Repeats his Buy rating and $80 target. “We came away with increased comfort in the long-term story and believe the May quarter is on track.”
Also see: Don’t discount BYO as factor in RIM’s long-term hold on enterprise
Sam Diaz is a senior editor at ZDNet. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.
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