RIM shares soar on outlook, unfazed by iPhone

TORONTO (Reuters) - Shares of Research In Motion Ltd. (RIM.TO) (RIMM.O) jumped 20 percent on Friday, as analysts showered the BlackBerry maker with praise in the wake of strong results and a forecast that appeared unfazed by the impending launch of Apple Inc.'s (AAPL.O) iPhone.

In research reports littered with phrases like "great," "spectacular," "powerhouse momentum" and "bordering on the unbelievable," analysts uniformly cheered RIM's first-quarter earnings and even more so the second-quarter outlook it reported on Thursday.

RIM, which also announced it would split its shares on a 3-for-1 basis by way of stock dividend, rose C$36.46 to C$211.68 on the Toronto Stock Exchange. On Nasdaq, it soared $33.66 to $199.25.

Waterloo, Ontario-based RIM reported a 76.5 percent jump in revenue compared with the same quarter last year and an adjusted profit that soundly beat its own expectations as well as analyst forecasts.

Some analysts had raised concerns in recent months that sales of RIM's lineup of devices, which includes the multimedia-heavy Pearl and Curve models of the BlackBerry, would be hurt by the looming launch of the iPhone.

However, instead of tame forecasts for the second quarter as the iPhone enters the U.S. market, RIM said it would add between 1.325 million and 1.375 million subscribers -- more than the 1.2 million it added in its latest quarter.

"We believe that RIM's opportunity for strong growth remains entirely intact and that their ability to execute also remains intact," Paradigm Capital analyst Barry Richards wrote in a note to clients.

"Relative to expectations, Q1 results are in line, but Q2 guidance is astounding and there is no reason we think that will change going forward."

And Credit Suisse analyst Michael Ounjian wrote in a note he expects RIM's penetration outside North America will continue to accelerate over the next few quarters.

"In addition, we see limited risk to near-term guidance, as the competitive response from other carriers will likely offset any impact from the iPhone launch at AT&T," Ounjian wrote.

While Palm Inc. PALM.O has acknowledged the iPhone could mean a temporary slowdown in demand for its own line of Treo smartphones, RIM has consistently denied it sees the new device as a serious competitive threat.

Jim Balsillie, RIM's co-chief executive, has called it "kind of one more entrant into an already very busy space with lots of choice for consumers."

The iPhone launches later on Friday. Shares of Apple and AT&T (T.N), which will initially be the phone's exclusive carrier, also advanced.

($1=$1.06 Canadian)