BlackBerry Investors Cheer as Wells Fargo Boosts FY14 EPS Estimate Amid Solid Q10 Demand

Shares of Blackberry

are moving about 1.5 percent higher in pre-market action Friday as Wells Fargo's Maynard Um made some bullish comments in a research note from this morning. The analyst boosted his FY14 earnings estimate sharply from a loss of $0.07/share to a gain of $0.32. The Wall Street consensus for FY14 EPS currently sits around $0.46. Um highlighted upbeat Q10 demand and sufficient inventory in the US, saying, “We are comfortable with our May quarter revenue/EPS ests of $3.36B/$0.07 (Street: $3.35/$0.05). We think expectations have recently risen for BB10 units (we est 3.5MM) and though we see some scope for upside potential, we are taking a conservative approach (as we do not have the precision to forecast timing and recognition of US units that could have shipped in the May quarter for sale in June). We raise August quarter ests on the back of Q10 sales and the addition of 1MM Q5 units (transfer of R&D employees could also help operating expense yet we est flat R&D)." Commenting on his revised estimate, Um said, "We think there could be upside potential to our FY2014 but take a conservative approach to seasonality and A10 holiday release given current limited visibility (though early buzz is fairly positive).” Um maintains an Outperform rating on shares of BlackBerry.