RIM Earnings More Than Double, Top Forecasts
Research In Motion reported that its quarterly earnings more than doubled to $370.5 million, beating expectations, thanks to strong uptake of the company's products and services in the business and consumer user market segments.
However, the company delivered a subscriber outlook that fell short of analyst predictions.
Shares of RIM jumped more than 10 percent in electronic trading after closing Thursday at $106.99, up 4.76 percent.
The maker of BlackBerry handhelds earned 65 cents a share on sales of $1.67 billion in the third quarter. Last year the company earned $175.2 million, or 31 cents a share, on a topline of $835.1 million.
Wall Street forecasts put RIM's profit at 62 cents a share on sales of $1.65 billion.
The company said it added about 1.65 million BlackBerry accounts in the quarter -- in line with its earlier outlook -- which brought it to a total of about 12 million. It also shipped more than 3.9 million devices.
For the upcoming fourth quarter, RIM expects to add about 1.82 million subscribers, short of the 1.88 million that analysts were expecting.
Revenue should be between $1.8 and $1.87 billion, RIM said, with earnings between 66 and 70 cents per share -- better than analyst forecasts, according to Reuters Estimates.
"I think overall, the market is going to look at it and say they are pleased, at best, on the subscriber addition side of it. But I think it's the bottom line that the people are going to focus on," Research Capital analyst Nick Agostino said shortly after the results were released.
The third quarter's revenue was $1.67 billion, compared to $835.1 million a year earlier.
-- Wire services contributed to this report.