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BlackBerry calls on regulators to investigate 'absolutely false' report on Z10 returns

BlackBerry calls on regulators to investigate 'absolutely false' report on Z10 returns

By Dante D'Orazio

Source MarketWire and The Wall Street Journal

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BlackBerry Z10
BlackBerry Z10

BlackBerry is taking a negative report from an analyst yesterday seriously. The company has announced that it will formally request the SEC and the Ontario Securities Commission begin an investigation into a report that the phone-maker calls "false and misleading." The report in question comes from Detwiler Fenton analyst Jeff Johnston, who wrote: "We believe key retail partners have seen a significant increase in Z10 returns to the point where, in several cases, returns are now exceeding sales, a phenomenon we have never seen before." BlackBerry immediately refuted those claims yesterday in a statement, saying that its return rates in both the US and around the world are "are in line with or better than our expectations."

Since the firm, according to BlackBerry, has refused to release its report or its methodology, it's going ahead with a formal request to US and Canadian regulators to open an investigation. BlackBerry did not address another negative report released yesterday, by ITG analyst Joe Fersedi, who wrote that the Z10 launch "started poorly and weakened significantly as the days passed." It's fairly clear where BlackBerry stands on the Detwiler Fenton report, however: in today's release CLO Steve Zipperstein says "when false statements of material fact are deliberately purveyed for the purpose of influencing the markets a red line has been crossed." The company says it will make its formal request to regulators "in the next several days."

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