Research in Motion announced their Q1 2011 results today, which you can read in the press release below. While the numbers are still pretty darn impressive, the stock did take a small hit in after-hours trading for missing the street's expectations slightly. Listening in to the investors call, it definitely seemed that at least part of the blame here was the timing of the BlackBerry Bold 9650 and Pearl 3G rollouts, which happened a little later than RIM was initially planning (nothing out of the norm by the sounds of it - just testing and approvals that took a little longer than planned).
As was the case from the previous investors' call, RIM's Co-CEO Jim Balsillie still seemed very optimistic about RIM's opportunities and the quarters ahead (especially the back half of the year where you'll start to see "acceleration" happen). RIM is clearly happy about their adoption in international markets, which is now making up some 40% of their growth.During the prepared statement, Balsillie stated that BlackBerry 6 would be launched before the end of September, but during the Q&A it became clear that the next quarter should see some benefit from new devices with higher ASPs, so hopefully we'll see it even sooner.
Jim also iterated on the call what we have been saying for a while now on our CrackBerry Podcasts.... RIM sees the biggest opportunity in mobile right now being all of the current feature phone owners upgrading and buying devices that use data - it's a bit of a land grab right now. That doesn't mean RIM wants to become a low-end player (Nokia) though. At the same time Jim made it pretty clear that RIM has a lot of good things coming (including some surprises) and they'll work hard to keep innovating and to execute.
Press Release
Research In Motion Reports First Quarter Results and Announces Share Repurchase Program
WATERLOO, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - June 24, 2010) - Research In Motion Limited (RIM) (NASDAQ:RIMM)(TSX:RIM), a world leader in the mobile communications market, today reported first quarter results for the three months ended May 29, 2010 (all figures in U.S. dollars and U.S. GAAP, except where indicated).
Highlights:
- Revenue grew 24% over the same quarter last year to $4.24 billion
- Earnings per share in the first quarter increased 41% year over year to $1.38(1)
- BlackBerry(R) smartphone shipments grew more than 43% over the same quarter last year to 11.2 million and RIM shipped its 100 millionth BlackBerry smartphone during the quarter
- BlackBerry subscriber account base grew approximately 60% over the prior year to 46 million, with 4.9 million net new subscriber accounts added in Q1
- RIM's Board of Directors approved a share repurchase program to purchase for cancellation up to 31 million common shares
Q1 Results:
Revenue for the first quarter of fiscal 2011 was $4.24 billion, compared to $4.08 billion in the previous quarter and up 24% from $3.42 billion in the same quarter of last year. The revenue breakdown for the quarter was approximately 79% for devices, 16% for service, 2% for software and 3% for other revenue. During the quarter, RIM shipped approximately 11.2 million devices.
Approximately 4.9 million net new BlackBerry subscriber accounts were added in the quarter. At the end of the quarter, the total BlackBerry subscriber account base was approximately 46 million.
"RIM achieved significant earnings growth and shipped a record 11.2 million devices during the first quarter, including its 100 millionth BlackBerry smartphone," said Jim Balsillie, Co-CEO at RIM. "We continue to be focused on growing our business globally and we believe that the range of exciting new BlackBerry products being released in the coming months will create significant opportunities to accelerate RIM's growth in the second half of the fiscal year."
Net income for the quarter was $768.9 million, or $1.38 per share diluted, compared with net income of $710.1 million, or $1.27 per share diluted, in the prior quarter. Net income in the same quarter last year was $643.0 million, or $1.12 per share diluted which reflected an adjustment of $0.14 per share related to certain unusual items that were recognized in the first quarter of fiscal 2010.(1)
The total of cash, cash equivalents and investments was $3.27 billion as at May 29, 2010, compared to $2.87 billion at the end of the previous quarter, an increase of approximately $400 million. Cash flows from operations in Q1 was approximately $1.12 billion, which was offset primarily by common shares repurchased of approximately $410 million and property, plant, and equipment as well as intangible asset acquisitions of approximately $270 million.
Q2 Outlook:
Revenue for the second quarter of fiscal 2011 ending August 28, 2010 is expected to be in the range of $4.4-$4.6 billion. Gross margin for Q2 is expected to be approximately 44%. Net subscriber account additions in the second quarter are expected to be in the range of 4.9-5.2 million. Earnings per share for the second quarter are expected to be in the range of $1.33-$1.40 per share diluted.
