RIM: Fortune to Favor the BlackBerry Bold

RIM's second-quarter guidance could offer clues on how early the BlackBerry Bold will ship and how it could affect the company's fortunes, says Romeo Dator, co-portfolio manager of the All American Equity Fund(GBTFX Quote), which has RIM as one of its holdings.

"What the market will be focusing on is the guidance, and that needs to reflect that RIM won't be late in shipping the Bold," says Dator.

For the second quarter, RIM is estimated to report EPS of 90 cents on revenue of $2.43 billion, up from EPS of 50 cents on revenue of $1.37 billion, the year before.

Analysts will also be watching for new subscriber additions in the quarter and whether RIM can beat its guidance of 2.2 million new users in the quarter.

A recurring fear for many company-watchers has been that turmoil in the financial services sector and a slowdown in IT spending by businesses could take its toll on RIM's growth. RIM has a strong base of corporate users and any hints of a slowdown in the company's revenue could significantly shake up investors, says Dator.

Shares of RIM have gained about 25% in the last three months, nearly the same as rival Apple, even as competitors such as Motorola(MOT Quote) and Nokia(NOK Quote) have lost their appeal. Shares of Motorola were down about 23% and Nokia shed about 21.5% during the same period.

RIM's stock closed down $2.73, or 1.9%, to $140.33 Tuesday.

There's still room for upside in RIM shares, says Dator, who believes the stock could go up to $160 to $175 over the next few months. "It's an expensive stock with high expectations," he says. "But as long as they can continue to grow 35% to 40%, they deserve the premium valuation."

RIM's stock price has soared after its earnings report in each of the last four quarters. Last quarter, the stock closed up 6% the day after the company reported its results. In the quarter before that, shares were up 10.9% following the results.