Jun
19
2008
Research in Motion (RIMM)
before Earnings
Apple and Research in
Motion
Research in Motion (RIMM) and Apple
(APPL) seem to be dominating the handset space as both companies are at 52 week
highs today while competing makers Nokia (NOK) and Motorola (MOT) are at new 52
week lows. RIMM is rallying prior to their earnings to be announced on June 25th
while Apple has a new iPhone ready to be released the second week of July.
Earnings
RIMM will
announce their earnings on June 25th after the close of the markets.
They are expected to earn 85 cents on $2.3 billion in revenue. In the four most
recent quarters the company has beaten or matched earnings expectations. Analysts
have been slow to upgrade their expectations in the current quarter although
they feel good about 2009 being a strong year for the Blackberry maker.
Options Indication
With the
stock reaching a brand new 52 week high at $147.75 near the close of the day
today, RIMM looks like a stock that could knock the cover off their earnings. But
there’s no sign of a big gap in the June options trading as much of the volume
is near the stock price at 145 and 150 on both the Call and the Put side.
The Trade
You could buy
the stock heading into the earnings and sell a day before and wait to see what
the numbers come in at. This is a safe way to avoid a disappointment but still
make a little on the expectation of a nice quarter. If the quarter does come in
above expectations and the company is positive about the next upcoming
quarters, you could buy back in for some additional appreciation.