Research In Motion Ltd (BBRY) – Holding Steady Ahead of Earnings

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Research In Motion Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) (TSE:BB) reports its earnings on Thursday before the markets open, and analysts remain cautious heading into that report. While some are predicting that the price consumers will pay for the BlackBerry Z10 will fall significantly, possibly as low as $50, others are looking for a slightly higher average selling price for the company overall.

Research In Motion Ltd (BBRY) - Holding Steady Ahead of Earnings

Analysts at J.P. Morgan issued a report to investors today, with a few changes in expectations for the company, ahead of tomorrow’s earnings report. Although they continue to leave the stock unrated, they have revised their expected average selling price of company as a whole upward from $212 to $259. They said they did that because the introduction of the higher priced BlackBerry 10 handsets should push the company’s average selling price higher overall.

The analysts have also reduced their BlackBerry estimates for Research In Motion Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) (TSE:BB)’s fourth fiscal quarter of 2013 by 3 million down to 7.1 million due to the delayed U.S. launch of the BlackBerry Z10 and also the “underwhelming” reception of the device in Europe. That number includes close to 1 million BlackBerry 10 shipments.

In spite of the chilly reception of the BlackBerry Z10, they believe the BlackBerry 10 will increase the number of the company’s “reported subscribers” because of how the company said it would change the way it calculates its subscriber base.  They believe this change could mean the company’s subscriber levels will appear inflated.

J.P.Morgan analysts expected a “positive tone” from the Research In Motion Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) (TSE:BB)’s management on BlackBerry 10 demand, although they don’t expect “any specific guidance” for the company’s first fiscal quarter of 2014.

Shares of Research In Motion Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) (TSE:BB) were trading mostly flat early Wednesday morning.

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