RIM President and Co-Chief Executive Officer Mike Lazaridis announces the new BlackBerry PlayBook as he delivers a keynote address at the BlackberryDevCon 2010 on September 27, 2010 in San Francisco, California.Justin Sullivan
Research In Motion Ltd. certainly isn't shrugging off criticisms that the company is failing to push back against Apple Inc. In a big move on Monday, the BlackBerry maker announced that it was producing a tablet computer - the PlayBook - to compete against Apple's iPad.
The move hasn't excited investors, who are perhaps taking a wait-and-see approach (the PlayBook won't hit shelves until 2011); shares fell on Tuesday in late-morning trading. Analysts, too, are sticking to their earlier targets and recommendations - which means that Canadian-based analysts remain more upbeat about the company's prospects than non-Canadian analysts (an interesting divide we've noted before in this space).
Of the 15 analysts who have weighed in on RIM since the Monday announcements, Canadian analysts have an average price-target of $80.75 (U.S.), while non-Canadian analysts have an average price-target of $65.29 - 19 per cent lower.
Here's Raymond James' Steven Li, weighing in on the stock, with an "outperform" recommendation and a $70 price target: "We believe the PlayBook tablet shows RIM is starting to compete effectively on hardware specs. We believe the QNX OS [the tablet's operating system]will be positively reviewed and gives a peek at what's potentially coming next for BlackBerry devices - which should allay some of the competitive concerns overhanging the stock. We believe RIM's stock remains oversold given its recent beat and raise, its prized existing assets and this first glance at the PlayBook and the QNX OS."
David Berman