RIM Hits $200 Mark

Shares of Research In Motion (RIMM Quote) continued breaking higher ground on Friday, riding bullish sentiment from Thursday's strong first-quarter earnings release.

The stock was recently trading up $32.91, or 19.9%, to $198.50; it earlier reached an all-time intraday high of $200.58.

The Waterloo, Ontario, company delighted investors with a 76% rise in sales, helped by a strong showing for its latest products. Subscriber accounts grew by roughly 15%, with a growing proportion coming from abroad.

International revenue will become increasingly important if sales growth slows in RIM's most mature market, North America.

RIM also demonstrated how profitable it is by handily beating analysts' forecasts for earnings per share, despite sales that were only slightly better than expected.

Perhaps most importantly, the company's earnings and revenue targets for the current quarter far exceeded analysts' forecasts. This reassured investors that the BlackBerry will continue to be a force to reckon with as the high-end of the cell market welcomes Apple's (AAPL Quote) iPhone, which goes on sale Friday evening.

"It's becoming pretty apparent that the BlackBerry is going to be the weapon of choice for carriers to compete against AT&T(T Quote) and the iPhone," said Scott Thompson, vice president of equity analysis for Montag and Caldwell, an institutional money manager. Montag holds almost 5 million RIM shares and is one of its largest investors.

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