Palm Beats, Mum on Buyout

Updated from 4:18 p.m. EDT

Smartphone maker Palm(PALM), the subject of frenzied buyout speculation for the last two weeks, continued to dance around the question of whether it is in play or in talks with any buyers.

Palm CFO Andrew Brown said the company will not comment on "rumors and speculation" even as analysts peppered Palm executives with questions about possible M&A activity during the company's quarterly earnings conference call.

"We are focused on operating our standalone company and driving our plan," said Brown.

Palm declined to deny or confirm reports that it has hired Morgan Stanley (MS) as its investment banker to explore a sale but seemed to indicate that it would prefer to continue as an independent player.

"We are 100% focused on this management team as an independent supplier of mobile computing products in the marketplace -- end of story," Brown told analysts. Palm also set April 10 as its analyst day, further reducing the probability of a near-term sale.

Palm posted better-than-expected third-quarter fiscal results late Thursday and offered an outlook for the fourth quarter that was in line with analyst expectations.

Shares were up 21 cents, or 1.2%, to $17.95 in extended trading.

Excluding special items, Palm earned $16.5 million, or 16 cents a share, in the third quarter ended March 2. This compares with earnings of $19.8 million, or 19 cents a share, in the same period last year. Analysts were expecting 12 cents a share.