The shares of Research In Motion were by far the biggest movers on the S&P/TSX composite index on Friday morning, a day after the BlackBerry maker forecast disappointing third-quarter sales.
The shares were down 15 per cent in Toronto in late-morning trading, blowing a 60-point hole in the index.
That means investors are nervous about RIM as it competes against the likes of Apple Inc.'s iPhone and Palm Inc.'s Pre. But analysts also seem to be growing a little nervous, with at least three downgrades on Friday.
Deutsche Bank downgraded its recommendation on RIM to "sell" from "hold," and cut its target price to just $60 (U.S.) from $67 previously. (The shares trade in New York as well as Toronto.)
Goldman Sachs downgraded the stock to "neutral" from a "buy" and cut its target price to $73 - way down from $96.
And Raymond James downgraded the stock to "market perform" from "outperform" and cut its target price to $78.
Not everyone is so negative though - particularly in Canada. TD Securities, for example, maintained an "action list buy" recommendation on the stock and held its price target at $100. The analyst there said the company's near-term forecasts are more conservative than usual, and the holiday season should be strong for RIM.
As well, Canaccord Adams maintained a $110 price target on RIM and the analyst said that investors should buy on weakness, with impressive new product launches on the horizon.
Meanwhile, Bespoke Investment Group looked back at the previous days in which RIM shares have opened down at least 10 per cent below their previous closing price. They found that the shares have risen about half the time, from open to close, with an average gain of about 2.9 per cent.
David Berman