BlackBerry Sale Now Less Likely In Near-Term, Wells Fargo Says

In a report published Friday, Wells Fargo analysts maintained their Market Perform rating on BlackBerry Ltd BBRY. The company announced the approval of a 12 million share buyback program by the board of directors.

The Board of Directors of BlackBerry has authorized the repurchase of 2.5 percent of shares outstanding in an attempt to offset dilution in the proposed new employee equity incentive plan. The company is scheduled to present this plan at its next annual shareholder meeting.

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"The share repurchase program would be effective for 12 months should the new equity incentive plan be approved by shareholders. Should the equity incentive plan not be approved, management does not expect to proceed with the repurchase program," the analysts said.

While the announcement of the share buyback implies that the management is confident of the company's cash position, the analysts expect the announcement to not have any meaning impact on the stock performance.

"With a potential sale of the company less likely in the near-term, we believe BBRY will likely look at other strategic alternatives (further restructuring, potential divestitures, aggressively target multi-platform strategy, et al)," the analysts added.

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