BlackBerry has a “roller-coaster” week ahead, says Cormark

Look for a lot of volatility around BlackBerry (BlackBerry Stock Quote, Chart, News: TSX:BB, Nasdaq:BBRY) next week, says Cormark analyst Richard Tse.

In a research update to clients today, Tse previewed a week he thinks will be dominated by headlines. In the middle of the roller-coaster, the analyst believes investors should focus on the bigger picture.

“Headlines aside, we continue to see a company that’s in a meaningfully better position than it was 12 months ago – from a strategic, operating, and financial standpoint,” said Tse. “Looking back, while going concern was at issue a year ago, we believe this risk has moved to the background as the Management actions over the past year have bought time to execute on a credible business plan.”

Tse points out that BlackBerry will launch its anticipated BlackBerry Classic phone on Wednesday and report its Q3, 2015 results on Friday. Also in the mix, he expects, will be more detail on the company’s its Samsung KNOX partnership.

The Cormark analyst says he isn’t expecting spectacular results from BlackBerry in its third quarter, and says he thinks consensus estimates are actually a bit on the high side, revenue wise. He expects BlackBerry will post adjusted earnings of $0.06 a share (consensus is for $0.04) on revenue of $900-million (consensus is $944-million). In the bigger picture, Tse says he thinks BlackBerry’s earnings will steadily improve, while revenue will find its bottom this fiscal year.

In this morning’s update, Tse maintained his “Buy” rating and (U.S) $17.00 one-year target on BB.