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Research In Motion shares drop more than 6.5 per cent after Citigroup report

From David Friend, The Canadian Press, November 2, 2009 - 6:27 p.m.

Research In Motion shares drop more than 6.5 per cent after Citigroup report

By David Friend, The Canadian Press

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A user demonstrates the e-mail function on a BlackBerry Bold in Palo Alto, Calif, on Sept. 22, 2009. THE CANADIAN PRESS/ AP - Paul Sakuma

TORONTO - Research In Motion Ltd. (TSX:RIM) shares were under pressure Monday as investors digested a Citigroup report that downgraded the company's stock to a "sell" rating and subsequently helped pull its stock down.

Citigroup Global Markets analyst Jim Suva said in a note that the BlackBerry maker is facing greater competition from other smartphone companies, including Motorola (NYSE:MOT) and Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) and in response he dramatically slashed the company's target price.

"Simply put, there is an invasion of new phones, applications and competition," Suva wrote.

"The revolution of product and application service offerings is going to start to crack open the enterprise door and could pose a risk for Blackberry."

Suva downgraded the stock to a "sell" with a target of US$50 from a "buy" rating valued at $100. It's rare for analysts to leap to a "sell" rating without first downgrading the stock to "neutral."

The cut sent a chill through the markets, and knocked RIM's stock $3.67 lower to $60.15 on the Toronto Stock Exchange on Monday. The shares are off a 52-week high of $95, and a low of $44.23.

The company's stock has also been impacted by a broader downturn in stock markets that has stretched over the past week.

Suva said the Waterloo, Ont.-based company is about to contend with a rush of more attractive devices and applications from other companies, which already appears to be swaying the loyalty of some of its U.S. carriers. He believes that will put pressure on the company's growth potential in coming quarters.

"Verizon embracing Motorola's Droid phone as its hero product likely causes RIM's marketing spend to increase in 2010," he wrote.

"We expect to see this increase start in RIM's February quarter but not in this November quarter as the Verizon promotion shift has only just begun."

The Droid phone technology - more commonly known as Android - is based on an operating system developed by Google. Motorola unveils its new phone this week in the United States.

Duncan Stewart, director of research and analysis at DSam Consulting, said that it would be most concerning to RIM that a major carrier like Verizon is pairing with another phone developer.