Is BlackBerry Stock Now Fairly Priced?

Photo of Chris Lange
By Chris Lange Published
This post may contain links from our sponsors and affiliates, and Flywheel Publishing may receive compensation for actions taken through them.

Wells Fargo and Credit Suisse both issued coverage for BlackBerry Ltd. (NASDAQ: BBRY) after the struggling smartphone player reported earnings last Friday. Many investors remain confused about BlackBerry’s turnaround hopes. It appears that analysts are struggling to find equilibrium as well. Wells Fargo maintained a Market Perform rating, while Credit Suisse issued a rating of Underperform.

Wells Fargo stated that BlackBerry is getting ready for a revenue ramp in its software business as its EZ Pass Program comes to a close at the end of January 2015. BlackBerry gave guidance that software revenues would double. However, Wells Fargo would argue that though this is possible, there are far too many unknowns at the moment.

The Wells Fargo estimates for earnings per share (EPS) in fiscal years 2015 and 2016 were adjusted to -$0.18 and -$0.02, respectively, from the previous levels of -$0.58 and -$0.27. The valuation range for the share price is $9.50 to $10.50 — right in line with the current BlackBerry share price.

Credit Suisse estimates for EPS in the fiscal years 2015 and 2016 were adjusted to -$0.50 and -$0.64, from the previous -$0.49 and -$0.42. The target price was valued at $6, implying that this stock is grossly overvalued as now.

Credit Suisse gave its valuation of BlackBerry:

Given the inherent challenges in turning around the services stream, as well as subscale loss making hardware business, we believe it would be best for the company to break up. Assuming shutting down the hardware business by the end of FY15 and winding down services business by the end of FY16, we arrive at NAV of $3.1 billion ($6 per share), which suggests an approximate 45% downside from the current market price.

BlackBerry shares were trading down four cents at $10.22 in midday trading on Monday. The stock has a consensus price target of $8.72, a 52-week trading range of $5.44 to $11.65 and a market cap of $5.4 billion.

ALSO READ: Will GoPro Soon Face Real Competition?

Photo of Chris Lange
About the Author Chris Lange →

Chris Lange is a writer for 24/7 Wall St., based in Houston. He has covered financial markets over the past decade with an emphasis on healthcare, tech, and IPOs. During this time, he has published thousands of articles with insightful analysis across these complex fields. Currently, Lange's focus is on military and geopolitical topics.

Lange's work has been quoted or mentioned in Forbes, The New York Times, Business Insider, USA Today, MSN, Yahoo, The Verge, Vice, The Intelligencer, Quartz, Nasdaq, The Motley Fool, Fox Business, International Business Times, The Street, Seeking Alpha, Barron’s, Benzinga, and many other major publications.

A graduate of Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas, Lange majored in business with a particular focus on investments. He has previous experience in the banking industry and startups.

Our $500K AI Portfolio

See us invest in our favorite AI stock ideas for free

Our Investment Portfolio

Continue Reading

Top Gaining Stocks

CBOE Vol: 1,568,143
PSKY Vol: 12,285,993
STX Vol: 7,378,346
ORCL Vol: 26,317,675
DDOG Vol: 6,247,779

Top Losing Stocks

LKQ
LKQ Vol: 4,367,433
CLX Vol: 13,260,523
SYK Vol: 4,519,455
MHK Vol: 1,859,865
AMGN Vol: 3,818,618