RIM Soars as View Tops Estimates

Updated from April 2

Research In Motion (RIMM Quote) blew past targets on strong demand for BlackBerry phones and guided up for the May quarter, sending the stock surging.

RIM shares jumped more than 20% to $60.58 in premarket trading Friday. The stock closed Thursday at $49.09.

The Waterloo, Ontario, smartphone maker posted earnings after the last close of $518.3 million, or 90 cents a share, up from $396.3 million, or 69 cents, in the prior quarter and above the 84-cent profit analysts were looking for.

Sales for the fiscal fourth quarter ended last month were $3.46 billion, an 84% increase over year-ago levels and 24% higher than those in prior quarter. Analysts were expecting revenue of $3.4 billion.

Gross margin for the February quarter, however, dipped to 39.9%, slightly below the 40% Wall Street had expected. But investors saw it as a sign that the eroding margins of recent quarters have stabilized.

Looking ahead, RIM told analysts on a conference call that it expects earnings to be about 88 cents or 89 cents a share. That is down a penny from the 90 cents in the prior quarter, which included the holiday buying season, but it is well above the 83-cent profit analysts were looking for.

The company said sales for the May quarter will be flat sequentially with the February quarter at about $3.4 billion, and more than the $3.35 billion analysts had expected.

RIM executives said they expect to add about 3.8 million new subscribers in the current quarter ending in May. And gross margins are likely to widen to somewhere between 43% to 44% in the May quarter.