TORONTO -- Shares of Research In Motion (TSX:RIM) raced higher on Friday as one of the company's most prominent analysts gave a stronger vote of confidence to the new BlackBerry launch.
The Waterloo, Ont.-based company's stock gained 4.5 per cent, or 66 cents, to $15.34 on the Toronto Stock Exchange shortly after markets opened, pushing towards levels it hasn't seen in more than a year.
Jeffries & Co. analyst Peter Misek raised his target estimate to US$19.50 per share, from $13.
In a note to investors, Misek said he expects RIM to open its corporate BlackBerry email services to iPhone and Android devices, which would be a new revenue stream for the company.
"This change, we believe, is unknown or not well understood but is important," he said.
Wireless carriers have also made volume commitments to RIM for the first two quarters of the new smartphone launch, Misek said he learned during his organization's own research.
The prominent RIM analyst has raised his estimates on the Canadian smartphone maker's stock several times since November, when he expressed doubts about the chances of commercial success for the new BlackBerry 10 product line.
In the wake of increasingly bullish estimates since then by Misek and several other analysts, the shares of the Waterloo, Ont.-based company had risen from a low of C$6.10 in September.
Friday's price in the early going is still below a 52-week high of C$18.23 on the Toronto Stock Exchange, but Misek's report suggests the shares are poised to punch through that level.
