Research In Motion Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) (TSE:BB)’s BlackBerry Q10 handsets appear to be selling well, but analysts at Canaccord Genuity warn that supply may be limited. In addition, they’re concerned that Verizon, T-Mobile and AT&T may be seeing sales of the BlackBerry Z10 handsets begin to slow down.
Mixed BlackBerry Sales Trends
The analysts issued a report to investors over the weekend, and they said their global surveys show that sell-throughs of BlackBerry handsets are mixed. Demand for the BlackBerry Z10 handsets appears to be weakening, although the Q10, which was just released, is seeing strong initial demand. They are not convinced that Research In Motion Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) (TSE:BB)’s current supply of the Q10 handsets will be able to keep up with demand.
As a result, they lowered their May quarter estimates from 3.3 million BlackBerry units to 2.8 million units. The analysts believe the company’s near-term results will be better because of the higher margins of the BlackBerry 10 handsets, although they don’t believe Research In Motion Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) (TSE:BB) will be able to achieve the sell-through level in order to return to sustained profits.
Reiterating Their Sell Rating On BlackBerry
Canaccord Genuity analysts said they are reiterating their sell rating and $9 per share price target for shares of Research In Motion Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) (TSE:BB). They said the high-end handsets are just facing increasing pressure from the already popular and now updated Galaxy S4 and the HTC One. As a result, they believe BlackBerry Z10 sales could weaken further, although they expect that a ramp in Q10 sales could more than offset the fall in Z10 sales.
As of this writing, shares of Research In Motion Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) (TSE:BB) were up 1.28 percent at the NASDAQ.
