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Research in Motion posted their second quarter financial results yesterday, narrowly missing analyst expectations by about $0.17 per share. If it weren’t for the $112.8 million RIM owed Visto due to patent disputes, the BlackBerry-maker would have made off with $588.4 million in income, which would have reasonably in-line with forecasts. Here’s a quick run-down of the numbers.
- Revenue: $3.53 billion (+3% from $3.42 billion last quarter; +37% from $2.58 billion last year)
- Net income: $475.6 million, $0.83 per share (versus $643.0 million, $1.12 per share last quarter quarter; $495.5 million, $0.86 per share last year)
- 8.3 devices shipped, 3.8 million new subscribers, 32 million subscribers total
- Q3 expecations: $3.60-$3.85 billion revenue ($1.00-$1.08 per share); gross margin 43%; 4.0-4.3 million net additional subscribers.
There’s a fair bit of disappointment, and RIM’s lukewarm forecast for next quarter has spurred a stock sell-off (price is currently $70.49, down from $88.05 Wednesday afternoon), but many, like myself, remain hopeful in light of the upcoming additions to the Storm and Bold families. So, what are the analysts saying?
“Sales were a little weaker than I thought, though gross margins were pretty good, which is usually the issue with RIM. … I think the numbers were good, just weren’t as good as investors wanted to believe they were.” – Tavis McCourt, Morgan Keegan
“Even though it’s perfectly decent guidance with all kinds of great year-over-year growth and gross margins, it doesn’t live up to the advance billing. … [Analysts] set the bar pretty high. … When RIM came in with just a decent number, not a blow-out number, the stock sold off. Two weeks ago I think this would have been regarded as perfectly fine.” – Duncan Stewart, DSam Consulting
“We think the outlook for RIM in the [second half] looks challenging. … Their new product portfolio appears to offer little that is meaningfully different from existing products, while competitors will be launching numerous new phones.” – Brian Modoff, Deutsche Bank.
“It doesn’t appear that carriers are building up inventories and that’s hampering hardware shipments.” – Deepak Chopra, Genuity Capital
To keep tabs on RIM’s stock performance and that of others in the wireless world, be sure to scope out our Finance section.
[via RIM]
About The Author
Simon Sage
Simon Sage’s education largely surrounded writing, technology and online community, leading him to begin his blogging career at www.BlackBerryCool.com and to quickly discover a vibrant and active community surrounding BlackBerry and mobile technology. In exploring RIM’s platform, he has learned what enterprises are looking for in mobility as well as what makes the innocuous BlackBerry so appealing to them. Recently Simon’s been covering RIM’s gradual move into an already-crowded consumer market, and the impact of burgeoning challengers, such as the iPhone, as well as long-time leaders, like Nokia, on BlackBerry’s advancement. With plenty of content under his belt, Simon will be branching off a bit to see what other smartphone manufacturers are working on while still using BlackBerry as a barometer. At IntoMobile, you can count on his posts being even-handed, well-informed and thought-out.
