(By Balaseshan) Research In Motion Ltd. (NASDAQ: RIMM) shares soared after upbeat comments by an analyst about BlackBerry 10 devices.
National Bank analyst Kris Thompson believes that there is more money to be made in the stock ahead of the early 2013 launch of the make-or-break new line of devices, according to a report from Reuters.
RIM's new BlackBerry 10 phones, scheduled to go on sale in February, should reach about 35.5 million in shipments next fiscal year, up from a previous estimate of 31.6 million, said Kris Thompson as quoted in a report by Bloomberg.
Thompson lifted his estimate for shipments to account for an additional month of availability and "a little extra for the positive sentiment building in the industry from our discussions," he said in a research note as quoted by the Blooomberg.
Most analysts had expected sales to start in March, Thompson said. He lifted price target of RIM shares to $15 from $12, but maintained "Outperform" rating.
According to the Reuters report, Thompson raised his price target due partly to the "positive sentiment building in the industry" ahead of BB10's launch.
"The new management team is executing by maintaining the BlackBerry subscriber base, managing costs and cash, and seemingly readying a February 2013 BB10 global platform launch," he said in a note seen by Reuters.
Analysts had expected the new devices to go on sale in March, according to Reuters. But RIM said earlier this month it plans to launch them on Jan 30, leading many to speculate they will hit store shelves around mid-February.
RIMM is trading up 10.53% at $11.34 on Thursday. The stock has been trading between $6.22 and $18.77 for the past 52 weeks.