RIM Profit Grows 47% On BlackBerry Sales
WASHINGTON (Dow Jones) -- Research In Motion, maker of the popular BlackBerry device, late Thursday reported 47% growth in profit on strong shipments of its handheld devices.
For its fiscal third-quarter, RIM reported a profit of $176 million, or 93 cents per share, compared with last year's $120.1 million or 63 cents per share.
Sales for the quarter rose 49% to $835.1 million, compared to the $560.6 million a year ago.
The company added 875,000 new subscribers during the quarter, exceeding Wall Street's expectation of 800,000.
RIM's results were generally in line with RIM and Wall Street's expectations.
RIM was expected to earn 94 cents a share, excluding onetime costs and benefits, on revenue of $815.9 million, according to the consensus of analysts surveyed by Thomson First Call. A year earlier, RIM earned an adjusted 71 cents a share on revenue of $560.6 million.
RIM had forecast revenue from $780 million to $820 million and earnings per share of between 88 cents and 95 cents.
The company's new Pearl, a well-reviewed handset targeting the consumer market, provided a big lift to its results, just as strong handset shipments helped rival Palm Inc. earlier this week.
"New product launches during the past few months have exceeded our expectations and we look forward to continuing this momentum into the new year," RIM Chairman Jim Balsillie said in a press release.
Based in Waterloo, Ontario, RIM has sought to expand beyond the business market with the introduction of the Pearl. The Pearl is a so-called smartphone that combines the features of a cell phone with the ability to surf the Web, track daily schedules or send email and text messages.
The introduction of new devices and the settlement of a longstanding patent lawsuit have enlivened RIM shares despite new competition from companies such as Nokia and Motorola in the market for smartphones or handheld wireless-data devices.
In addition, there's some evidence that demand for wireless devices could cool off in the early part of 2007, the brokerage Cowen & Co. told clients this week.
RIM stock has more than doubled in the past year and has jumped around 60% in just the last three months. In recent trading, RIM shares were down slightly at $134.32.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires "
Posted to the site on 22nd December 2006