BlackBerry-maker Research In Motion to deliver Q3 results after market close
Posted December 20, 2012 2:48 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
TORONTO – Research In Motion will deliver its third-quarter financial results after stock markets close today, offering investors their final glimpse into the state of the BlackBerry maker before it launches its much-anticipated new line of smartphones in early 2013.
Shares of the company (TSX:RIM) were ahead 1.9 per cent, or 25 cents, to $13.74 on the Toronto Stock Exchange in afternoon trading.
Analysts will closely be watching the company’s cash volume and subscriber numbers after the Waterloo, Ont.-based firm surprised in the last quarter with better-than-expected numbers on both fronts.
RIM has already said it expects to report an operating loss in the third quarter.
Analysts expect a quarterly loss of 32 cents per adjusted share on revenue of $2.6 billion.
On Jan. 30, the company will unveil a new line of smartphones running its latest operating system.
The launch will see the smartphone pioneer enter the most important months of its history — ones that will likely determine whether RIM survives in its existing form.
The company is working through the transition to its next generation of BlackBerry smartphones and a cost reduction plan.
In the second quarter, RIM said it had 80 million subscribers at the end of the quarter, an increase of about 2 million from the previous three months.
With the company heading into uncertain territory in the new year, RIM’s stock price has traded erratically.
Since falling to its lowest level in about a decade in September, the company’s shares have surged about 125 per cent, helped by a number of analyst upgrades.
This year, RIM has watched its market share in North America dramatically fall to about four per cent as the BlackBerry became an afterthought in the face of Apple’s iPhone and the Samsung Galaxy S3.
And while other companies debuted new devices, RIM was forced to push the launch of its BlackBerry 10 operating system and new phones into next year, missing the crucial back-to-school and holiday shopping seasons.
The company has also made significant reductions across its operations, closing facilities, severing ties with certain manufacturers and announcing plans to lay off 5,000 workers across its global operations in an effort to save $1 billion by the end of its fiscal year.
