Call of the week: BlackBerry could be the next Nvidia

Seana Smith
·Host

The Yahoo Finance call of the week is a contrarian take on BlackBerry (BBRY). Forget selling the stock, Citron Research says the stock could almost double in price.

In a research note out Thursday, the well-known short-seller firm recommended investors buy shares, saying the stock could reach $20 within the next two years. The new price target implies an 89% jump from Wednesday’s closing price.

BlackBerry shares jumped on Citron’s bullish comments. The stock reached its highest price in more than two years on Thursday, hitting an intraday high of $11.74 per share.

So how will BlackBerry shares nearly double by 2019? Citron has high expectations for BlackBerry’s QNX operating system, saying it could be a “game changer” in autonomous driving. The software is currently installed in more than 60 million cars. Citron also discussed BlackBerry’s potential to be a big player in the Internet of Things, and went as far as comparing the former handset maker to Nvidia (NVDA), the chipmaker that has posted explosive growth over the past few years. Citron highlighted that both Nvidia and BlackBerry are involved in areas with significant growth potential.

Citron’s not alone with its bullish call on BlackBerry. Macquarie Research wrote in a note last month that Blackberry shares could hit $45 by 2020.

So far this year, BlackBerry has posted big gains. The stock is up about 60% since January 1. Citron expects that momentum to continue, writing in its report, “When Wall Street shifts its frame of expectations toward the future, and gets over their legacy business, watch out.”