BlackBerry Upgraded Ahead of Earnings; Analyst Gives Q4 Predictions

On Monday, Cormark Securities upgraded shares of BlackBerry

from Market Perform to Speculative Buy. The upgrade comes ahead of the company's fourth quarter earnings release Friday, March 28th before market open. Analyst Richard Tse is forecasting a “decline in the core business” and is looking for “revenue of $0.9 billion (consensus $1.1 billion), EPS of -$0.78 (consensus -$0.53), and handsets of 1.8 million (consensus 1.8 million).” From Tse's estimates, you would think he is bearish, but he believes “newsflow and non-operating changes (like strengthening the balance sheet) will continue to drive the positive sentiment” that has pushed the stock up 23 percent in 2014. Tse has an $11.50 price target on the stock, 25 percent above current levels. Shares of Blackberry are down 0.42 percent to $9.14 in Monday's trading.