BlackBerry doubles earnings, but suffers on forecast

Research In Motion, the Canadian maker of the BlackBerry mobile phone and e-mail device, has doubled its first quarter revenue and earnings, but its shares fell overnight on a weaker than expected second quarter forecast.  ┬á The Waterloo, Ontario company announced earnings of $482.5 million yesterday (84 cents per share) for the three months ended May 31, up from $223.2 million in the same period a year earlier. Revenue rose from $1.08 billion to $2.24 billion.┬á┬á "We are pleased to report another record quarter with revenue increasing 107 percent as the popularity of the BlackBerry platform continued to spread in business, government and consumer segments," said RIM co-chief executive Jim Balsillie in a news release.┬á┬á RIM shipped around 5.4 million devices in the quarter, bringing its total subscriber base to more than 16 million. "Our comprehensive technology and business strategies continue to reap strong results in the market, and RIM is well positioned to build on its momentum throughout the remainder of fiscal 2009," Balsillie said.┬á┬á RIM said it expects its second quarter revenue to be in the range of $2.55 billion to $2.65 billion, with a profit of 84 cents to 89 cents per share. Analysts had been expecting earnings of 90 cents per share on sales of $2.44 billion, causing RIM shares to fall almost eight percent in late electronic trading Wednesday after closing at $142.34, up 1.3 percent on the day.┬á┬á The company was upbeat about the figures, however. "We believe that the strong product portfolio we have, together with the continued commitment by our carrier partners to promote BlackBerry throughout the summer months, will allow us to post healthy growth in Q2," Balsillie said in a call with analysts.┬á┬á RIM's positive outlook for the second quarter is also buoyed by the planned launch in August of the BlackBerry Bold, a touch-screen device that some analysts have suggested RIM developed in response to AppleÔÇÖs iPhone. ┬á┬á Read the Research In Motion press release here.  ┬á┬á┬á┬á*┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á *┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á *┬á