Standard & Poor’s Equity Research upgraded shares of Research In Motion to “strong buy” from “buy,” citing a more favorable valuation. Analyst Ken Leon said shares of RIM are off 13% in the last 30 days, leading him to believe that there’s an enhanced buying opportunity ahead of stronger expected earnings growth in 2007.
The S&P Equity Research analyst said the lifting of the NTP-patent overhang will allow the Canadian handheld device maker to focus on driving BlackBerry customer activations.
“Based on their first-quarter results, we do not believe Motorola and Nokia are serious threats to RIM’s strong position with carriers and enterprise customers,” the analyst noted.
He reiterated a 12-month target price on RIM of $100.
