Research In Motion's Horrible Quarter

Seth Jayson, The Motley Fool
Updated

Research In Motion (NAS: RIMM) reported earnings on Dec. 15. Here's what you need to know.

The 10-second takeaway
For the quarter ended Nov. 26 (Q3), Research In Motion Limited missed expectations slightly on revenues and beat them on EPS. Margins dropped across the board.

Revenue
Research In Motion tallied revenue of $5.2 billion. The analyst polled by S&P Capital IQ wanted to see sales of $5.2 billion.

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Source: S&P Capital IQ. Quarterly periods. Dollar amounts in millions.

EPS
Non-GAAP EPS came in at $1.27. The 34 earnings estimates compiled by S&P Capital IQ anticipated $1.22 per share on the same basis. GAAP EPS of $0.51 for Q3 were 71% lower than the prior-year quarter's $1.74 per share.

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Source: S&P Capital IQ. Quarterly periods. Figures may be non-GAAP to maintain comparability with estimates.

Margins
For the quarter, gross margin was 27.3%, 1,630 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was 6.3%, 1,660 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Net margin was 5.1%, 1,150 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter.

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Source: S&P Capital IQ. Quarterly periods.

Looking ahead
What does the future hold?

Next quarter's average estimate for revenue is $5 billion. On the bottom line, the average EPS estimate is $1.10. (There are 38 revenue estimates and EPS estimate.)

For the full year ending 2012, the average estimate for revenue is $19.3 billion. The average EPS estimate is $4.42. (There are 50 revenue estimates and 50 EPS estimates.)

Investor sentiment
The stock has a two-star rating out of five at Motley Fool CAPS, with 4,481 members out of 5,654 rating the stock outperform and 1,177 members rating it underperform. Among 1,088 CAPS All-Star picks, 798 give Research In Motion a green thumbs-up, and 290 give it a red thumbs-down.

Of Wall Street recommendations tracked by S&P Capital IQ, the average opinion on Research In Motion is hold, with an average price target of $26.99.

At the time thisarticle was published Seth Jayson had no position in any company mentioned here at the time of publication. You can view his stock holdings here. He is co-advisor ofMotley Fool Hidden Gems, which provides new small-cap ideas every month, backed by a real-money portfolio. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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