RIM's outlook disappoints, shares tumble (Reuters)

Thursday, March 24, 2011 9:01 PM By dwi

TORONTO (Reuters) – Blackberry maker Research In Motion on weekday warned its earnings would slip as it spends hard on the start of its PlayBook tablet, sending its shares gymnastics as such as 12 percent.

While the river technology company's net acquire in the lodge ended in Feb jumped 32 percent, and it shipped a solidified sort of its BlackBerry smartphones, investor tending zoomed in on its less-than-rosy forecasts for the underway quarter.

"The Feb lodge was fine. The May lodge counselling -- shocking strength be likewise brawny a word -- but it was very weak," said Gospels Thornton, an shrink at Avian Securities.

RIM sticking earnings of between $1.47 and $1.55 per deal in the underway lodge -- substantially below the $1.65 analysts had forecast.

RIM said its acquire margins module verify a impact as it spends hard to upkeep its operative grouping and introduce its paper in a burgeoning mart created by Apple's iPad. The PlayBook is cod in North American stores on April 19.

RIM also said it gave a wider counselling arrange cod to possibleness flutter to its cater concern in the consequence of the Japanese earthquake this month. It said it had listing on assistance but conveying nowadays for more supplies are uncertain.

RIM co-chief Jim Balsillie portrayed the near-term looking as an abnormalcy necessary to place the groundwork for a resurgence.

"We believe the start of newborn handsets first in Q2 and into the ordinal half of the year, as substantially as the constructive halo from the PlayBook launch, (will provide) an possibleness for reinforced ontogeny in North America," he told a conference call.

RIM aims to agitate the QNX-powered platform of its PlayBook on to its BlackBerry smartphones by early in 2012, he said.

Some figure the task is likewise great.

"What grouping are worried here is you've got digit company, albeit a really good company, but they're disagreeable to verify on all the OS development, all the ecosystem development, impact with the developers on apps, physique the hardware, impact with the carriers. ... Any digit consort that tries to do this by themselves module belike lose," said Ed Snyder, an shrink from Charter Equity.

DIFFICULTY IN U.S. MARKET

In the meantime, RIM is uncovering it progressively arduous to impress consumers with its smartphones, specially in the U.S. market. There the BlackBerry is steadily losing mart deal to snazzier competitors including the iPhone and Android devices.

But it is nurturing solidified ontogeny in orbicular markets, where customers and carriers are impressed with its mid-range devices, cheaper accumulation plans and applications such as BlackBerry Messenger, a liberated fast messaging service.

More than half its income came from right North America and Britain in the stylish quarter, the consort said.

RIM said it would offer hold for Android apps, potentially sanctioning the PlayBook to circularize more than 200,000 of the third-party code additions acquirable on the Google platform.

RIM reportable net acquire of $934 million, or $1.78 per share, for the business ordinal lodge ended Feb 26, on income of $5.56 billion, it said.

Analysts, on average, had cod earnings of $1.76 per deal and income of $5.64 billion, according to composer Reuters I/B/E/S.

"Generally looks same Q4 was in distinction with expectations, Q1 is a lowercase modify on EPS cod to investigate and development, along with income and marketing related with the paper initiative," said Tavis McCourt, an shrink at moneyman Keegan.

In an extraordinary advise perhaps witting to enliven confidence, RIM also prognosticate earnings for its full business year, which started in late February.

It said it would earn more than $7.50 a deal full diluted, higher than the $6.81 cipher belief of analysts. It made $6.34 a deal in the assemblage just ended.

"It's same 'I'm feat to attain it up in the terminal half of the year, don't worry' -- what gives them the certainty that that's feat to happen?," said Colin Gillis from BGC Partners in New York.

Balsillie said he expects RIM to delude "millions" of PlayBooks in the next 12 months but said the consort would not wage regular forecasts on the paper sales.

The consort shipped 14.9 meg BlackBerry smartphones in the quarter, and said that would probable start to between 13.5 meg and 14.5 meg in the underway quarter. It sees its large margin slippy to around 41.5 proportionality in the underway quarter.

Shares of the river consort plummeted as such as 12 proportionality in after-hours Nasdaq trade before sinking 10 proportionality modify at $57.50. (Additional news by Euan Rocha, John Tilak, Susan Taylor; Editing by Frank McGurty)


Source

0 comments:

Post a Comment