Research in Motion shares dip on Morgan downgrade

SAN FRANCISCO

Shares of Research In Motion Ltd. slid nearly 4 percent Friday after Morgan Stanley downgraded the stock on signs that BlackBerry smart phones are losing ground and on fears about possible bans in India, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

Analyst Ehud Gelblum wrote in a note to clients that while the company's numbers for the current quarter likely remain intact, "the longer-term headwinds have just become too numerous."

Shares fell 3.8 percent, or $1.90, to $48.56.

Gelblum cited countries threatening to shut down BlackBerry's service and the "drumbeat of enterprises" starting to allow employees to use their own smartphones -- many of which aren't BlackBerrys -- for corporate e-mail, he wrote.

The stock was downgraded to "Underweight," from "Overweight," and the stock price target was lowered to $47 per share. The company's global smart phone market share in 2012 could fall to 13.1 percent, down from the estimate for the previous year of 16 percent, Gelblum wrote.