RIM Shares Jump After Hours on Earnings Report

As expected, Research in Motion reported third-quarter earnings Thursday that fell below its original forecast. For the quarter ending Nov. 30, the company reported adjusted income of $477.3 million, or 83 cents per share, on $2.78 billion in revenue. Analysts had been expecting earnings of 81 cents a share on revenue of $2.83 billion. Revenue was up 66.3% from $1.67 billion in the same quarter of last year.

Earlier this month, the company warned that it would miss its forecast for the quarter, placing the blame on “lower than estimated unit shipments of existing products, which RIM believes is a reflection of general economic weakness in the United States and shifts in product launch dates within the quarter.” Translation: RIM and Verizon botched the launch of the Blackberry Storm, which was being called the iPhone killer, in late November and missed the chance for a boost to the quarter’s numbers before the books closed.

What's interesting, as the company looks ahead for the fourth quarter, will be the return rate on the Storm, which has received some pretty rough reviews. Initially, the blogosphere had been reporting that the return rate was extraordinarily high as unhappy customers turned around and gave the device back. Now, Verizon has gone on the record to say that the return rate for the Storm is the lowest of any smartphone.

During the quarter, RIM shipped 6.7 million devices, which accounted for about 81 percent of its revenue. It added about 2.6 million new Blackberry subscribers, bringing the total to about 21 million. RIM has actively been pursuing new consumer subscribers, marketing the devices to appeal to a younger, less-corporate crowd with things like sleek designs, colorful handsets and specialty applications.

Shares of Research in Motion were on the rise, up as much as 10 percent in after-hours trading. In regular trading, RIM ended the day down more than 5 percent to close at $38.44.

The company will discuss the quarter with analysts this afternoon. We’ll update this post with further details.