Research In Motion Ltd (BBRY): $22 a Share or a Purchase, Analyst Says

Research In Motion Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) has been very visible on the markets lately with its return to the mobile device competition when it unveiled the BlackBerry 10 operating system and its new flagship handsets. The stock, which had been virtually obscure and oblivious for most of the last three to four years, has seen a revitalization of late.

The stock is up 88 percent over the last six months as sales of the Z10 and Q10 handsets have been modest if not spectacular, but it’s been enough to put BlackBerry into the conversation in the battle for the No. 3 smartphone OS in the world behind iOS from Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Android from Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG).

Despite the recent success, Research In Motion Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) is still posting a market cap of less than $10 billion, which leads one analyst – who is apparently quite bullish on the company – to state that this company has pretty much two options going forward – either the stock is going to hit a price target of about $22 a share in the next year, of the company will be bought out.

That is the opinion of analyst Gus Papageorgiou of Scotia Capital when he wrote that he estimated that BlackBerry would sell 3.6 million smartphones in the current quarter – which would sizably beat the general Wall Street consensus of about 3.1 million.

“If we are wrong in our estimates and Research In Motion Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) is unable to execute on the promise of BlackBerry 10, we believe a strategic partner such as IBM is highly likely to acquire the company,”

Papageorgiou wrote in his research note. He re-affirmed his company’s “outperform” rating on the stock, posting a price target for Research In Motion Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) at $22.35 a share, which is about 70 percent higher than a consensus Wall Street target of about $13.25 a share. Papageorgiou wrote that his firm believes the company is trading at a discount at only 3.5 times forward earnings.

“We note that the company maintains $2.9 billion in net cash, and we conservatively estimate BlackBerry’s patents are worth $2.5 billion. Together, these two assets represent 69 percent of the market value of this company.”

What do you think? Is Research In Motion Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) a value stock? Are you a buyer or seller, and why? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.

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