The Blackberry maker, Research In Motion Ltd, exceeds market expectations after profit soars 120 percent.
RIM reported revenues of US$1.88-billion, up 102 percent over the same quarter of last year, and profit of US$412.5-million, or US72¢ per share.
Analyst expected sales of US$1.85-billion and profit of about US$401-million, or US70¢ per share.
In after-hours trading, RIM shares increased by more than four percent after the announcement with more than nine million shares exchanged.
Non-enterprise
In a conference call Wednesday, co-CEO Jim Balsillie said that 38 percent of Blackberry subscribers were “non-enterprise”, helped by a number of consumer-friendly offerings.
Mr. Bastille also said more than half of RIM's new subscribers were non-enterprise customers.
The Waterloo, Ont.-based company also released sales estimates for the current quarter that were ahead of analyst estimates.
New subscribers are expected to grow by another 2.2 million in the period ended May 31 while revenues will likely fall between $2.23 billion and $2.3 billion, RIM said.
New growth
"We believe RIM is entering a new phase of growth," said Caris & Co. analyst Anil Doradla, who said the firm is seeing the positive effects of "expansion on the international front, introduction of new products, success in the consumer space and continued upgrade cycles."
Cowen & Co. analyst Matthew Hoffman agreed and said that the company's strong first-quarter outlook show the company is improving its position in the U.S. on both the consumer and enterprise sides of its business, and from new purchases of the company's line of BlackBerry Pearl devices.
April 04, 2008