BlackBerry shares slide on Goldman downgrade

TORONTO: BlackBerry stock fell nearly 4 percent on Monday after Goldman Sachs cut its rating, citing a disappointing US launch for the smartphone maker’s new touchscreen device that went on sale in the US.
“Our retail checks at over 20 store locations since March 22, including at AT&T, Best Buy, and RadioShack, revealed a surprising lack of marketing support and poor positioning of the product,” Goldman Sachs analyst Simona Jankowski said in a note to clients.
Jankowski also said advertising of the product launch was limited.
“As a result, despite the product itself being relatively well received by sales associates and online reviews, sell-through at most locations was less than 10 per day,” said Jankowski.
The brokerage firm cut its rating on shares of BlackBerry to “neutral” from “buy.”
BlackBerry shares were down 3.9 percent at $14.33 in trading before the morning bell in the US.