Ahead of the Bell: Research in Motion falls

NEW YORK — Shares of Research in Motion Ltd. declined in premarket trading after the BlackBerry smart phone maker cut its third-quarter profit and sales forecasts, citing the effect of the strong dollar and the weak U.S. economy.

Goldman Sachs analyst Simona Jankowski removed the Canadian company from a "Conviction Buy" list, though she kept a "Buy" rating on the stock. The analyst said there is no change to her long-term view that RIM "is likely to be one of three leaders" along with Apple Inc. and HTC Corp., in the market for smart phones, one of the few remaining high-growth segments in the tech sector.

The company now expects adjusted earnings per share between 81 cents and 83 cents for the quarter that ended Nov. 29, down from its earlier forecast of between 89 cents and 97 cents per share. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters are expecting a profit of 91 cents per share.

RIM forecast sales of $2.75 billion and $2.78 billion, down from a previous range of $2.95 billion to $3.10 billion and below analysts' estimates of $2.96 billion. The company said lower-than-expected shipments of existing products and shifts in product launch dates led to the lower sales.

"While weak (subscriber) adds do not surprise us, the magnitude of unit ship weakness does: we had projected 6.9 million units and our read is that actual unit ships were closer to 6.6 million units," wrote BMO Capital Markets analyst Keith Bachman in a note to investors. He kept a Market Perform rating on the stock.

Shares fell $2.22, or 5.9 percent, to $35.10 in premarket trading.

Back To Top

OmniVision offers 3Q guidance well below Street

Associated Press

Tue Dec 2

0