Research In Motion Ltd. was upgraded from Market Perform to Outperform at BMO Capital Markets. Analyst Tim Long also raised his earnings estimates and price target on the stock from $70 to $88 in anticipation of a meaningful beat and guidance boost when RIM reports on March 31.
BMO is 5¢ above consensus for the February quarter and 14¢ above for May. Mr. Long expects the company’s strength will come from all regions, as well as its 9700 and 8520 BlackBerrys.
“Competition that we were expecting now seems further away, including a CDMA iPhone, giving RIM the ability to further grab share in the Smartphone segment,” he said in a note. “RIM has continued to gain share despite a product set that doesn’t grab headlines. We believe the 9700 is driving a solid enterprise replacement cycle. Also, the 8520 for GSM and 8530 for CDMA have been successful in the US and international markets, driving Smartphones into the mid-tier.”