Research In Motion’s Third Quarter Profit Beats Analyst Expectations

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Research In Motion’s Third Quarter Profit Beats Analyst Expectations

6:15 am on December 21, 2007 | Category: Business, Mobile Devices, Cell Phones, PDAs, Email

Waterloo, Ontario-based Research In Motion, maker of the popular BlackBerry email device, reported higher-than-expected third-quarter financial results yesterday, causing its stock to advance despite a subscriber outlook that fell short of forecasts.

Research In Motion earned $370.5 million, or $0.65/share, in the three month period ending December 1, more than doubling profits of $175.2 million, or $0.31/share, in the same period last year. Third-quarter revenue, meanwhile, came in at $1.67 billion, up from $835.1 million a year ago.

As of December 1, non-enterprise customers made of 34% of RIM’s subscriber base. The company’s appeal continues to grow in consumer retail markets, as multimedia-enabled devices like the BlackBerry Pearl and BlackBerry Curve continue to gain popularity.

RIM’s co-CEO, Jim Balsillie, told analysts yesterday that this year’s Black Friday, traditionally the first day of the U.S. holiday shopping season, was the company’s “strongest day ever” in terms of net subscriber additions, and that additions have remained strong in the weeks since.

With the Christmas season well under way and new year about to begin, December will undoubtedly be another crucial month for RIM’s ever-growing retail ambitions.