Kaufman Previews RIM's (RIMM) Q2 Earnings: Sees 'Decent Print' But Soft Guidance as Expectations Remain Elevated

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RIMM Hot Sheet

Rating Summary:
5 Buy, 32 Hold, 14 Sell

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Today's Overall Ratings:
Up: 20 | Down: 11 | New: 38

Today Kaufman Bros. Shaw Wu previewed Research In Motion's (Nasdaq: RIMM) Q2 earnings, expected out next Thursday, Sept. 16 after the market close. The Kaufman analyst maintained a Buy rating and $85 price target ahead of the quarterly figures, suggesting that he expects to see the BlackBerry-maker report a "decent print" but soft guidance as investor/analyst expectations remain lofty.

Wu sees an alright quarter amid strength in international markets and "'good but not great' sales of BB Torch." The analyst believes that guidance will be weak not because "business is bad, but because many continue to have upbeat estimates despite negative stock opinions."

The analyst says keys to focus on in regards to the quarter will be performance of the Torch and acceptance of the new BlackBerry 6 software -- and that these will soon be moving past AT&T (NYSE: T).

Kaufman is currently modeling for Research In Motion to report Q2 EPS of $1.36 on sales of $4.5 billion. For FY11, the firm is looking for GAAP EPS of $5.50 on sales of $18.32 billion.

The Street's Q2 estimates are now at $1.35 and $4.48 billion for EPS and sales, respectively, while FY11 estimates are at $5.55 and $18.71 billion.

Stay tuned to our Earnings page to track all the hot quarterly reports.

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