BC Business
BlackBerry troubles | BCBusinessBlackBerry maker Research In Motion started a new week with a downgrade from Morgan Stanley and plunging stocks.
Prospects of turning around the BlackBerry manufacturer grow dimmer as Morgan Stanley cuts company’s rating. The year thus far has not been kind to Research In Motion Inc., and the company is having a tough time rolling with the punches. Just this morning, Morgan Stanley downgraded the BlackBerry manufacturer to the equivalent of a sell status, citing RIM’s shaky financials. As a result, the company’s stock took an eight-per-cent plunge to less than $10 per share.
The year thus far has not been kind to Research In Motion Inc., and the company is having a tough time rolling with the punches. Just this morning, Morgan Stanley downgraded the BlackBerry manufacturer to the equivalent of a sell status, citing RIM’s shaky financials. As a result, the company’s stock took an eight-per-cent plunge to less than $10 per share. The bank cut the status from “equal weight” down to “underweight,” which signaled the stock selloff. RIM has hinged much of its turnaround on its new line of BlackBerry phones featuring its new operating platform, dubbed BB 10, to be released later this year. However, analysts are worried the launch will be a case of too little, too late, and the line will flop with consumers. In the last year, new CEO Thorsten Heins and company execs have desperately tried to alter RIM’s grim fate. However, in the midst of all the product release delays, worldwide outages, loss of market share and mismanaged social media campaigns, the new commanders were brought in armed with little more than buckets to try to save a quickly sinking ship.