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Large BlackBerry (BBRY) Hoder Splits Days After BB10; Will Investors Follow Suit?

February 14, 2013 1:48 PM EST
How blown away was former BlackBerry (then Research In Motion) (Nasdaq: BBRY) co-CEO Jim Balsillie by the company's new operating system? So blown away that he dumped his entire 5.1 percent stake in the company to nil. Zero. Nothing.

Should investors follow suit?

According to an amended 13G filed with the U.S. SEC Thursday morning, showing Balsillie held zero shares in the company. That's down from a 26,840,490 share passive stake he;d in the company, worth about $376 million as of Wednesday close at $13.99.

Balsillie and co-CEO Mike Lazaridis stepped down from the roles early in 2012, after seeing BlackBerry lose market share and key smartphone contracts to the likes of Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) iOS and Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) Android devices. Both saw BlackBerry's share price tumble from above $140 at the company's peak, down to about $6.22 last year.

BlackBerry investors got renewed optimism on the upcoming debut of BlackBerry 10, as well as some errs with device shipments and certain apps from Apple. Since launching a few weeks back, analysts have been largely mixed on sales numbers.

Investors aren't selling today, hoping to ride out the storm and let BB10 get a few quarters under its belt. With gobs of potential upside in store on even minor successes, it seems like the smart thing to do. BlackBerry shares are up 4.4 percent Thursday.

For the 13G, click here.


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