Credit Suisse Gives Q4 Earnings Preview On Research In Motion

Given Credit Suisse's view on robust volume growth for the smartphone industry and RIM's RIMM sustainable share in CY10/CY11, Credit Suisse maintains its FY11/FY12 revenue and EPS estimates of $20.0bn/$24.6bn and $6.29/$7.63 respectively. Given Credit Suisse's FY12 EPS estimate is 12% above consensus, it retains an Outperform rating with TP of $85. For F4Q11, Credit Suisse expects RIM to ship 14.6mn units vs. guidance of 14.5-15.0mn and consensus at 14.7mn. It believes that RIM continues to enjoy smartphone share gains in almost all international markets driven by the Torch, Bold 2 and Curve 3G. Within NA, Credit Suisse believe that volumes have held up despite the impact of iPhone at Verizon as RIM's lower end portfolio continues to sell well. In addition to Sprint being the only supporting carrier till now, RIM has noted that the PlayBook will also be supported by carriers like AT&T, Verizon and Cellular South and Rogers, Bell and Telus. Credit Suisse does not include PlayBook in its RIM estimates as yet, and would note that for every 1mn units sold in FY12, the company could see incremental EPS of ~1-2%. RIMM is trading higher at $62.75