Research In Motion Plummets Nearly 10% in After-Hours Trading After Guidance Cuts Announced (RIMM)

Research In Motion RIMM saw its stock price drop nearly 10% in after hours trading Thursday, just moments after the Blackberry Manufacturer announced a large cut in its earnings guidance. The stock's trading was briefly halted around 4:09 PM until approximately 4:30 PM. RIM now expects fully diluted earnings per share for Q1 to be in the range of $1.30-$1.37, lower than the range of $1.47-$1.55 previously forecasted by RIM on March 24, 2011. This shortfall is primarily due to lower shipment volumes of BlackBerry smartphones. BlackBerry sales are expected to be at the lower end of the 13.5-14.5 million range forcasted in March. Research In Motion expects to achieve full year fully diluted earnings per share of approximately $7.50, which reflects anticipated strong revenue growth in the third and fourth quarters of the fiscal year driven primarily by the launches of new BlackBerry smartphone products and prudent cost management. RIM will be holding a conference call and webcast at 5:30 pm today to discuss today's announcement, which can be accessed by dialing 1-877-941-1467 (North America), 480-629-9676 (outside North America). The replay of the company's conference call can be accessed after 7 pm ET, April 28, 2011 until midnight ET, May 12, 2011. It can be accessed by dialing 416-640-1917 and entering passcode 4437776#. The conference call will also appear on the RIM website live at 5:30 pm ET and will be archived at http://www.rim.com/investors/events/index.shtml.