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.
Read more
Research In Motion vs. BlackBerry - Which name is better?
A few days ago, BlackBerry CEO John Chen sat down with Bloomberg to discuss his briefings with the White House, MDM and most notable for this post, the changing of the company name from Research In Motion to BlackBerry. Chen noted he liked the name Research In Motion better but alas, was not there when the change over happened so he wasn't able to weigh the pros and cons of it all....
Goodbye RIMM, Hello BBRY! - Research In Motion ticker change happens Monday, February 4th
Although it was only announced at the BlackBerry 10 launch event in NYC, the formal name change from Research In Motion to BlackBerry has been happening rather quickly. In fact, the changes have already started in Waterloo as the old signage is being replaced and new BlackBerry logos are going up. No transition like this is fully complete though, until the stock ticker name changes over...
Research In Motion rebranded to BlackBerry
Thorsten Heins has just announced on stage at the BlackBerry 10 launch event that Research In Motion will now be called simply BlackBerry. One brand, one promise. -Thorsten Heins Re-designed, Re-engineered, Re-invented. Awesome! Full press release below. Research In Motion Changes Its Name to BlackBerry Company adopts globally recognized brand, consolidates to single...
Highlights from the opening of RIM's Tech Centers in Brazil
Back in December RIM opened a Tech Center in Brazil. The tech center is part of the BlackBerry Academic Program and while we posted on the launch of one tech center opening, two centers at two universities were actually launched in the country - Federal University of Algaos (UFAL) and Federal University of Pernambuco (UFPE). You'll remember that RIM also opened a Tech Center in the U....