RIM

At the close of the markets today RIM fired off a press release letting investors know they've adjusted their forecasted revenue down from the guidance provided last quarter. The drop is due to less phone sales than expected, with a bigger portion of the sales mix coming from lower end phones than expected. The press release is below to read, but if you're by the computer at 5:30pm EDT you can jump on the live webcast to hear RIM talk about the numbers (I'm curious to see if they have anything to say about the PlayBook launch). 

Press Release

Research In Motion Provides Updated Q1 Guidance

WATERLOO, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - April 28, 2011) - Research In Motion Limited (RIM) (NASDAQ:RIMM)(TSX:RIM) today provided an update on its financial guidance for the first quarter of fiscal 2012 ending May 28, 2011 (all figures in U.S. dollars and U.S. GAAP).

RIM now expects fully diluted earnings per share for Q1 to be in the range of $1.30-$1.37, lower than the range of $1.47-$1.55 previously forecasted by RIM on March 24, 2011. This shortfall is primarily due to shipment volumes of BlackBerry smartphones that are now expected to be at the lower end of the range of 13.5-14.5 million forecasted in March and a shift in the expected mix of devices shipped towards handsets with lower average selling prices. Gross margin for the first quarter is expected to be similar to the 41.5% previously guided. This mix shift is also expected to result in revenue that is slightly below the range of $5.2-5.6 billion guided on March 24. Expected shipments of BlackBerry PlayBook in the quarter continue to be in line with our previous expectations and we have not experienced any significant supply disruptions in Q1 due to the impact of the Japan earthquake.

RIM expects to achieve full year fully diluted earnings per share of approximately $7.50, which reflects anticipated strong revenue growth in the third and fourth quarters of the fiscal year driven primarily by the launches of new BlackBerry smartphone products and prudent cost management.

RIM will be holding a conference call and webcast at 5:30 pm today to discuss today's announcement, which can be accessed by dialing 1-877-941-1467 (North America), 480-629-9676 (outside North America). The replay of the company's conference call can be accessed after 7 pm ET, April 28, 2011 until midnight ET, May 12, 2011. It can be accessed by dialing 416-640-1917 and entering passcode 4437776#. The conference call will also appear on the RIM website live at 5:30 pm ET and will be archived at http://www.rim.com/investors/events/index.shtml.

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