Dallas, Texas 05/06/2014 (FINANCIALSTRENDS) – The stock of BlackBerry Ltd. (NASDAQ:BBRY) was recently upgraded by Ittai Kidron, equity research analyst at Oppenheimer, from ‘underperform’ to ‘perform’ given the changing focus of the company from devices to enterprise, services and messaging, under the leadership of its new Chief Executive Officer, John Chen.
Though the company is not completely out of struggle, Kidron noted in a research note, “We continue to see a tough and long road ahead for BlackBerry as it pursues its enterprise-focused transformation and we wouldn’t be surprised by poor results and missed milestones. And as BlackBerry moves further away from devices and shows progress in enterprise, investors could see value in assets limiting downside.” Kidron also noted a better support for the stock around $7 from immediate value.
Key Strengths:
A research analyst also noted the QNX operating system, BBM, patent portfolio, enterprise positioning and a $1.96 a share in cash as the most valuable assets for BlackBerry Ltd. (NASDAQ:BBRY). Specific strength in BBM is expected on the premise of growing popularity of messaging apps such as WhatsApp. BlackBerry reported 115 million users for its BBM service at the end of its most recently reported 4Q14 quarter, of which 85 million are monthly active users.
The company also reported significant narrowing in its loss during 4Q14 which was $0.08 per share on $976 million in sales against $0.67 per share on $1.13 billion expected by the street. Moreover, the company has not completely shut down its device business and is expected to launch its new models Z3 and Q20 BlackBerry Classic with calendar year 2014. Kidron also noted that following the launch of these new devices, there could be temporary lift to device sales.
Stock Update:
BlackBerry Ltd. (NASDAQ:BBRY)’s stock gained 2.26% on Friday and closed at $8.15, close to 50% down from its 52 week high of $16.16.
