Research In Motion shares climb
TORONTO Shares of Research in Motion Ltd. (RIMM) jumped Friday as investors seemingly grew more optimistic about a February launch of the Canadian company's much-delayed BlackBerry 10 smartphones.
RIM will release the latest version of its smartphone "not too long" after a Jan. 30 launch event, the company's chief operating officer said earlier this month.
The Waterloo, Ontario, company seems to be preparing for a February global launch, a month earlier than many analysts were expecting, according to an analyst with National Bank Financial, a Canadian bank. Kris Thompson raised his shipments forecast for RIM for fiscal 2014 in a research note from Wednesday.
Thompson also increased his price target for the BlackBerry maker to $15 from $12.
RIM shares on the Nasdaq, which reopened Friday after markets were closed Thursday for Thanksgiving, were up $1.55, or 15 percent, to $11.81 shortly before noon.
The spike in the BlackBerry maker's shares came after a week of steady gains amid more positive sentiment.
The National Bank Financial analyst was bolstered by RIM's new management team, which he said is maintaining the BlackBerry smartphone subscriber base, managing costs and cash, and seemingly readying a February 2013 BB10 global product release, a month earlier than expected.
He said certification of the new BlackBerrys by wireless carriers is the key risk to his prediction and estimate of BlackBerry shipments. Carrier certification, which tests the new devices, can take time.
On Wednesday, shares in Research In Motion gained almost 5 percent on the Toronto Stock Exchange even though it was reported that the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board had dropped the BlackBerry maker in favor of Apple's iPhone 5.
Earlier this week, a prominent tech analyst gave RIM's new operating system a small but improved chance of success. Analyst Peter Misek of New York-based Jeffries & Company said he's still giving the BlackBerry 10 operating system only a 20 to 30 percent probability of success.
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