Research In Motion continues to defy gravity.
During a week in which the Nasdaq fell more than 100 points and high-flyers lost big, Research In Motion hit a new 52-week high after raising guidance for the second time this month.
The company raised third-quarter earnings estimates to 14-20 cents a share – analysts were expecting only 11 – and hiked revenue estimates to $150-160 million, well ahead of $128.7 million forecasts.
RIMM is expensive at almost 8 times sales, and it just turned profitable on a GAAP basis (generally accepted accounting principles), but the company also boasts genuine growth, including 15.6% sequential quarterly growth in BlackBerry subscribers.
In a year in which earnings gains have come largely from cost-cutting and currency gains, real growth makes RIMM continue to levitate.
Stocks fell yet again Friday to cap a week battered by currency turmoil and rising oil prices. Economic news was once again mixed, with final second quarter GDP coming in better than expected, but consumer confidence slipping more than forecast.
The Nasdaq fell 25 to 1792, the S&P 500 fell 6 to 996, and the Dow lost 30 to 9313. Volume declined to 1.44 billion shares on the NYSE, and 1.85 billion on the Nasdaq. Decliners led 20-12 on the NYSE, and 23-8 on the Nasdaq. Downside volume was 71% on the NYSE, and 89% on the Nasdaq. New highs-new lows were 42-16 on the NYSE, and 62-11 on the Nasdaq.
Solectron and Manugistics
gained on their earnings reports.
Nokia rose on a reorganization.
FindWhat fell more than 6%, as the company’s entrance into Japan was overshadowed by concern about the company’s merger plans with Espotting.
Motorola finished unchanged on a delayed camera phone, an upgrade, and a deal with Nintendo.
And a critic of Microsoft is out of work.
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