Shares of Research In Motion Ltd. fell more than 15 per cent in pre-market trade on Friday, a day after the Blackberry maker posted weak quarterly results and outlook, prompting two analysts to downgrade the stock and several others to cut their price targets.
Longstanding promises of a turnaround went unfulfilled by Research In Motion Ltd. after markets closed Thursday, when the Canadian BlackBerry maker failed to meet Wall Street expectations after releasing quarterly earnings for the first quarter of its 2012 fiscal year.
Total revenue was $4.9 billion US and earnings per share of $1.33, below already-lowered analyst expectations of $5.2 billion US in revenue slightly ahead of recently diminished estimates of $1.32 EPS. The figures represent a 12 per cent drop in revenue from the previous quarter and the second consecutive quarter where RIM has failed to meet market expectations.
Saying in a release that the downturn the company experienced in the previous quarter was continuing into the present, RIM also said it would begin a program to "streamline operations" that will include a headcount reduction. The company did not specify how many of its approximately 17,500 employees will be let go.
The company also announced its intention to buy back up to five per cent of its common shares in hopes of reassuring investors.
RIM shares fell by as much as 10 per cent in afterhours trading on the Nasdaq immediately following the announcement.
Earlier Thursday, RIM announced Don Morrison, the company's chief operating officer, was taking a medical leave of absence expected to last less than one year.
Charged with managing the BlackBerry maker's global operations and widely credited with forging its wireless carrier relationships in North America, Morrison is a RIM veteran having served under co-chief executives Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie since 2000.
Patrick Spence, RIM's regional managing director for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, will be repositioned into a more international role.
Mike Abramsky, managing director of global technology equity research for RBC Capital Markets, said in a note to clients Thursday there should only be "nominal" disruption caused by Morrison's leave.
The management shuffle is nonetheless significant for the company, having recently come under fire for allowing Lazaridis and Balsillie to remain in their shared roles throughout RIM's darkest days. Still, all eyes likely remain focused on one key metric: sales figures for the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet.
RIM's seven-inch QNXpowered rival to the market-dominating iPad from Apple Inc. was widely available in North America for six weeks of the quarter that ended on May 28. The company shipped 500,000 PlayBooks in that time, coming in at the high end of analyst targets of between 250,000 and 500,000 units.
Much to the chagrin of many a RIM shareholder, the company did not release details on how many PlayBooks were actually sold.
Motorola Mobility Inc. sold approximately 250,000 Android-based Xoom tablets in its first month of availability and nearly one million people bought an iPad 2 from Apple during its North American debut weekend in March.
from : www.vancouversun.com/technology/
Total revenue was $4.9 billion US and earnings per share of $1.33, below already-lowered analyst expectations of $5.2 billion US in revenue slightly ahead of recently diminished estimates of $1.32 EPS. The figures represent a 12 per cent drop in revenue from the previous quarter and the second consecutive quarter where RIM has failed to meet market expectations.
Saying in a release that the downturn the company experienced in the previous quarter was continuing into the present, RIM also said it would begin a program to "streamline operations" that will include a headcount reduction. The company did not specify how many of its approximately 17,500 employees will be let go.
The company also announced its intention to buy back up to five per cent of its common shares in hopes of reassuring investors.
RIM shares fell by as much as 10 per cent in afterhours trading on the Nasdaq immediately following the announcement.
Earlier Thursday, RIM announced Don Morrison, the company's chief operating officer, was taking a medical leave of absence expected to last less than one year.
Charged with managing the BlackBerry maker's global operations and widely credited with forging its wireless carrier relationships in North America, Morrison is a RIM veteran having served under co-chief executives Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie since 2000.
Patrick Spence, RIM's regional managing director for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, will be repositioned into a more international role.
Mike Abramsky, managing director of global technology equity research for RBC Capital Markets, said in a note to clients Thursday there should only be "nominal" disruption caused by Morrison's leave.
The management shuffle is nonetheless significant for the company, having recently come under fire for allowing Lazaridis and Balsillie to remain in their shared roles throughout RIM's darkest days. Still, all eyes likely remain focused on one key metric: sales figures for the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet.
RIM's seven-inch QNXpowered rival to the market-dominating iPad from Apple Inc. was widely available in North America for six weeks of the quarter that ended on May 28. The company shipped 500,000 PlayBooks in that time, coming in at the high end of analyst targets of between 250,000 and 500,000 units.
Much to the chagrin of many a RIM shareholder, the company did not release details on how many PlayBooks were actually sold.
Motorola Mobility Inc. sold approximately 250,000 Android-based Xoom tablets in its first month of availability and nearly one million people bought an iPad 2 from Apple during its North American debut weekend in March.
from : www.vancouversun.com/technology/
