By Scott Moritz
Research in Motion (RIMM) missed its target and guided down its profit forecast for the current quarter.
Shares of the BlackBerry maker sank 11% after the company posted adjusted earnings of 84 cents a share, which compares with adjusted earnings of 39 cents a share in the year ago period. Sales for the fiscal first quarter were $2.24 billion compared to $1.08 billion last year.
Analysts had expected a pro forma profit of 85 cents on $2.27 billion in sales.
Looking ahead, RIM expects adjusted profit to be in the range of 84 and 89 cents a share on sales of $2.60 billion.
Analysts were looking for a 90 cent pro forma profit on $2.44 billion in sales.
“We are pleased to report another record quarter with revenue increasing 107% as the popularity of the BlackBerry platform continued to spread in business, government and consumer segments,” Co-CEO Jim Balsillie said in a press release.
The results disappointed investors who had recently sent the stock to record levels betting on strong growth in smartphone sales and a blowout quarter.
“The top line looks pretty solid, but what I think we may be seeing is a lot higher spending on sales and marketing,” says one Wall Street analyst referring to RIM’s efforts to counter the impact of Apple’s iPhone debut next month.
RIM says it added 2.3 million net new BlackBerry subscribers in the quarter for a total subscriber count of 16 million.