Research In Motion Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) (TSE:BB) left several questions unanswered when it released its latest quarterly results this morning. The company’s stock dropped as much as 23 percent at the NASDAQ after it released those results. That significant drop may be the result of a combination of the weak results and the list of questions that the company didn’t answer.
Citi analyst Jim Suva issued a report to investors this morning highlighting some of the important questions that the Blackberry maker will need to answer in order to help investors get a clearer view of its financial health.
Research In Motion Ltd (BBRY)’s Disappointing Unit Results
One of the key ingredients in this morning’s earnings results was the company’s unit shipments. Analysts were expecting Research In Motion Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) (TSE:BB) to report 7.3 million units in total, but the company only shipped 6.8 million units. Of those shipments, it was expected that 3.28 million of them would be BlackBerry 10 units. However, the company failed to break down its units and indicate how many BlackBerry 10 units were shipped.
Suva notes that this is a grievous omission, but he’s expecting that the BlackBerry maker will offer some kind of indication about its BlackBerry 10 shipments during its conference call this morning.
Research In Motion Ltd (BBRY) Disappoints On Services
Another area in which Research In Motion Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) (TSE:BB) disappointed was in service revenues. They were around $806 million, which is about a 15 percent decline quarter over quarter. They were lower than Wall Street expectations of about $900 million. They also missed the company’s guidance, which called for a single digit decline quarter over quarter.
Suva said he would also be looking for more details on the company’s subscriber base during its earnings call. Wall Street is expecting the BlackBerry maker’s subscriber base to lose 2.4 million quarter over quarter.
Research In Motion’s Revenue, EPS and Outlook
Research In Motion Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) (TSE:BB) also reported adjusted losses per share of 13 cents on revenue of $3.1 billion, compared to consensus of earnings of 7 cents on $3.38 billion in revenue. The company had guided for breakeven earnings, so it even missed guidance by a significant margin.
Suva notes that the company’s outlook suggests that we’ll see an operating loss in the August quarter, compared with Wall Street’s expectations of 11 cents in earnings and Citi’s expectations of 3 cents in earnings.
The Risks To Research In Motion Ltd (BBRY)
Short interest in Research In Motion Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) (TSE:BB) was at a new high on Thursday ahead of today’s earnings report, indicating a solid understanding among investors that there is substantial risk involved in investing in the company.
Suva has rated the company High Risk because of its “recent operational missteps.” For example, it delayed the launch of its BlackBerry 10 device. He also says competition is increasing and still putting pressure on the struggling company.
At this point, the BlackBerry maker is still introducing new products, and we don’t know if they will be successful. Suva believes the dynamics of the handset industry are changing rapidly as competition in the sector increases. He said if the company can “introduce compelling products,” then it could exceed his estimates.
He listed other risks to Research In Motion Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) (TSE:BB) as including carrier and regulatory reliance, new timeline for product ramping and adoption and economic recovery.
