“Research in Motion Ltd.’s stock took a hit Thursday after the maker of the BlackBerry reported revenue from its recently concluded quarter that fell short of expectations and warned that sales in the current three-month period are shifting to cheaper models,” Peter Svensson reports for The Associated Press.
“RIM’s shares were down $6.81, or almost 11 percent, at $57.31 in extended trading after the Waterloo, Ontario, company reported results from the three months that ended Feb. 26.,” Svensson reports. “It posted net income of $934 million, or $1.78 per share, for its fiscal fourth quarter. That was up 31 percent from $710 million, or $1.27 per share, a year earlier. Analysts surveyed by FactSet expected earnings of $1.75 per share, on average. Revenue rose 36 percent to $5.6 billion, shy of the $5.65 billion expected by analysts.”
Svensson reports, “For the current quarter that ends in May, RIM said it expects earnings of $1.47 to $1.55 per share, below the average analyst forecast at $1.65… The PlayBook goes on a sale in the U.S. on April 19. It’s half the size of Apple Inc.’s iPad, and it’s designed to work both as a standalone tablet and as an accessory for a BlackBerry phone. RIM said Thursday that the PlayBook will be able to run applications written for Android, which is popular on smartphones that compete with BlackBerrys.”
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