Research In Motion: Still the Best Positioned Smartphones Play

I am amazed at the line forming to attend the funeral of Research In Motion (RIMM). In just one week we have a Citigroup analyst downgrade and The Wall Street Journal warning about the growing competition from Google (GOOG) Android software for smartphones from Motorola (MOT). Then TheDeal.com suggests RIMM could be taken over.

RIMM has responded by announcing the buyback of $1.2 billion of its shares. The message from the firm by this action is clear. It believes its stock is cheap and so do I. Analysts are expecting an increase in both revenue and earnings this quarter and next year. However, they are predicting a slowdown in growth rate. A big point, they are predicting growth. The big questions at the brokers right now, are how much of a slowdown will we see and how will the forecast for next quarter be handled?