Palm Posts Larger 1Q Loss, But Beats Street View

BARBARA ORTUTAY

NEW YORK (AP) — Smart phone maker Palm Inc. on Thursday posted a wider fiscal first-quarter loss — its ninth in a row.

Adjusted results, however, handily beat Wall Street's forecast as the company shipped more of its new Pre devices than had been expected. But a disappointing second-quarter sales forecast and news of a planned stock offering sent shares lower in after-hours trading.

For the three months ended Aug. 28, Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Palm posted a loss after paying preferred dividends of $164.5 million, or $1.17 per share, compared with a loss of $41.9 million, or 39 cents per share, in the same period a year earlier.

Excluding one-time items, however, the company posted a much smaller loss of $13.6 million, or 10 cents per share, in the latest quarter. That easily beat analysts' forecast for a loss of 24 cents per share, according to a Thomson Reuters poll.

Revenue tumbled to $68 million from $366.9 million, largely because Palm deferred revenue from products that run its new WebOS operating system — namely the Pre — to later periods. But adjusted sales, which include deferred Pre revenue, totaled $360.7 million — also beating analysts' $297.7 million average estimate.