A lot of things can boost a company’s stock price – earnings, sales, forecasts, a new product announcement – but when you’re struggling, there’s nothing like takeover talk to give investors some confidence.
That’s the case for Research In Motion this week, which has been benefitting from rumors that would have European telco giant Vodafone buying the Canada-based BlackBerry-maker. Just today, RIM stock is up more than 12 percent – as of 3:51 ET – to $23.51. It was up as much as 15 percent Wednesday morning and may very well be on its way to its biggest one-day increase in two years when all is said and done.
The U.K.’s Independent newspaper yesterday said Vodafone might be a “potential aggressor" as a suitor for RIM. That was enough to give the company a much-needed boost on Wall Street. Neither the telco nor RIM would comment on the speculation for Bloomberg.
Still, $23 is way down from its peak of $145 in June 2008. For the year, RIM stock is down about 60 percent. The company has not fared well in the face of increasing competition from Apple’s iPhone and Android-based smartphones. RIM’s BlackBerry PlayBook, its first entry into the tablet computer market, has also been met with fairly mediocre reviews and sales.
The company’s last gasp might be its upcoming QNX operating system – due out early next year – which RIM hopes will help it win back some market share. If not, at least the new technology might fetch the company a better price as a takeover target.
