If you were asking yourself "What would it take to force Research In Motion shares below $40 per share?," you received your answer today. The shares came under fire early in the session, after fellow smartphone maker Palm (PALM: sentiment, chart, options) lobbed a hand grenade into the market after the close last night. Palm issued a second-quarter profit warning, noting that income would arrive "well below" Wall Street's estimates. Making matters worse, J.P. Morgan analyst Paul Coster told clients in a research note that he was reducing his earnings estimates for Research In Motion (RIMM: sentiment, chart, options) to reflect his "...view that consumer and enterprise sales will be slower than originally forecast, owing to a global economic downturn."

Digging into Coster's figures, he expects third-quarter revenue of $2.94 billion and profits of 86 cents a share, near the low end of RIMM's guidance. For the fourth quarter, he cut his view to earnings of 83 cents per share from 85 cents, and lowered his 2009 prediction to $3.39 per share from $3.41. For 2010, Coster lowered his expectations to $4 per share from $4.15.

Technically speaking, the 40 level had been a stalwart area of support for RIMM, buoying the shares since mid-October. This region could now provide a staunch layer of overhead resistance for the shares. Even more troubling is that analysts could now be contemplating a shift in their bullish stance on the shares. Currently, Zacks.com reports that 19 of the 29 brokerage firms following RIMM rate the shares a "buy" or better. Should questions regarding the company's earnings estimates elicit downgrades from this bullish bunch, we could see additional losses for RIMM.