RIMM Earnings corrected Tuesday April 11 6:11 PM ET
Corrected: Rim's Fourth Quarter Above Estimates
Corrects First Call/Thomson Financial estimate to 6 Canadian cents a share instead of 6 U.S. cents a share, meaning Research in Motion's earnings were above estimates, not below.
Tuesday April 11, 6:50 pm Eastern Time
UPDATE 2-RIM's fourth quarter profit above estimates
(Recasts lead, adds year results, info about new pager, quarterly milestones. All figures U.S. unless otherwise noted)
By Ian Karleff
TORONTO, April 11 (Reuters) - Research In Motion (NasdaqNM:RIMM - news) (Toronto:RIM.TO - news) reported fourth-quarter earnings on Tuesday that topped analyst estimates as the company launched an updated version of its BlackBerry two-way pager that analysts said could bring in more big name customers.
RIM said that earnings in the quarter ended on February 29 were $3.2 million, or 5 cents a share, compared with $2.9 million, or 5 cents a share, in the year earlier period.
Analysts polled by First Call/Thomson Financial were expecting the company to earn 6 Canadian cents a share or approximately 4 cents a share.
Revenues in the fourth quarter rose by 42 percent to $25.8 million from $18.2 million in the year earlier quarter.
``Fiscal 2000 represented another year of significant growth for RIM,' said chief financial officer Dennis Kavelman in a statement.
``Our revenue mix has changed substantially with the launch and growth of BlackBerry. The combination of hardware, software, and ongoing service revenues provides a powerful recurring revenue model,' he added.
For the year, RIM earned $10.5 million, or 16 cents a share, on revenue of $85 million, compared with earnings of $6.4 million, or 10 cents a share, on revenue of $47.3 million.
RIM's shares ended the day down C$1.35 to C$120.65 on the Toronto Stock Exchange after a rocky day of trading between C$135.50 and C$108. On Nasdaq the shares closed down 2 at 82.
RIM also introduced on Tuesday an updated version of its wireless two-way pager called the RIM 957 Wireless Handheld that functions as a wireless e-mail, Internet, pager and organizer.
``It's a palm-sized device with a full keyboard and I think it's going to meet with significant market acceptance...it's their old one, just flattened out like a truck ran over the old one.' said Samuel May, a technology analyst at U.S. Bancorp Piper Jaffray.
``I think this is the product that Compaq, AOL and Dell are really interested in and I think it can bring in other potentially large customers like maybe an IBM,' said May who is already using the device.
May said he was expecting the company to earn $25 million, or 6 cents a share in the quarter, and expects earnings in all of fiscal 2001 to rise to $179 million, or 45 cents a share.
The maker of two-way wireless pagers also announced on Tuesday a partnership agreement with Aether Systems Inc.(NasdaqNM:AETH - news) that will see its BlackBerry pager used by Aether to offer its clients wireless data services.
During the quarter RIM renewed its supply agreement with Bellsouth Wireless Data, opened a research and development center in Kanata, Ontario, and struck supply deals with America Online Inc. (NYSE:AOL - news) and Compaq Computer Corp. (NYSE:CPQ - news) .
Last week the company said it would embark on a C$113 million research and development project to develop its next generation of e-appliances with C$34 million in backing from the Canadian government's Technology Partnerships Canada program. |
