The news of Standard & Poor's analyst Todd Rosenbluth upgrade of Palm's stock from Sell to Hold was a welcome bit of good news for the folks in Sunnyvale. Interestingly enough, it was not enough to reassure the market as Palm's stock continued its decline today, closing at $5.29 (down 1.86% on the day.) This upgrade doesn't get them out of the hot water yet, though, as Rosenbluth reflects:
We are still concerned about how PALM will succeed in a competitive smartphone market as the U.S. economy slows, and we believe increased marketing efforts will weight on PALMÂ’s profitability
It seems that the company that once innovated and lead in market share cannot seem to get their act together.
Palm has had a rough week. After reporting terrible earnings, their stock has been taking a beating (down over 18% since their earnings were reported) and opened up a feeding frenzy in the media. All of this is warranted, though, as losing $43.4 million in a quarter will shake the foundation of any long-term investor. Even with explosive worldwide sales of the inexpensive Centro, it was not enough to combat the declining Treo and handheld sales. Let's hope that these game changing plans for 2009 are enough to right this ship.
[via Barron's Tech Trader Daily]
