RIM may have lifted its fiscal 1Q11 profit 20% to $768.9 million (€623 million), but disappointed investors sent its stock price down as sales failed to meet market expectations.
While the BlackBerry maker's $1.38 per share profit was above analysts' average prediction of $1.35 per share for the three-months to end-May, revenue of $4.24 billion fell below forecasts of $4.35 billion, MarketWatch said.
Shipments of 11.2 million devices were marginally below expectations of 11.5 million.
Revenue and shipments are considered more salient indicators of the firm’s performance due to the increased competition it faces in the smartphone market from the likes of Apple and producers of Android devices.
RIM stock on the Nasdaq fell 4.1% in after-hours trading yesterday to $56.14.
Management blamed increasing sales of lower-price BlackBerry’s for the lower revenues, but predict an upswing in the coming months, as new devices with new features that will sell at a higher price, are introduced.
The firm forecasts 2Q11 revenues in the range of $4.4-4.6 billion, and earnings per share of $1.33-1.40.