The manufacturer of Blackberry smart phones – Research In Motion (RIM) on Thursday beat market forecasts, announcing stronger-than-expected fiscal fourth quarter profit. The Waterloo, Ontario based Canadian wireless device company, RIM reported that its revenue surged 84 percent in the fourth quarter, against the revenue in the same quarter a year ago.

According to RIM, its revenue for the fourth quarter is 24.5 percent more than the $2.78 billion that it earned in the third quarter and nearly 84 percent more than $1.88 billion that it earned in the fourth quarter, last year, and its total revenue for fiscal year 2009 that ended on Feb 28, is $11.07 billion, up 84 percent from $6.01 billion, the total revenue for last fiscal year.

RIM claimed that it has gained a record profit of $518.3 million on total revenue of $3.46 billion for the last quarter of fiscal year 2009 ending Feb 28, up from $1.88 billion a year ago. Thus, the RIM falsified the market forecasts and expectations; according to Thomson Financial, the Wall Street was expecting the company to post $3.4 billion in revenue.

RIM claimed its net income leapt nearly 26 percent to $518.3 million, or 90 cents a share, for the fiscal 4Q, in comparison with $412.5 million, or 72 cents, a year ago. The market analysts were expecting the company to report earnings of 84 cents a share.

RIM also reported that during the 4Q, it shipped 7.8 million devices, and in the whole fiscal year, it shipped about 26 million devices, and up to now, it has shipped more than 50 million devices. The company also reported that it enrolled about 3.9 million new subscribers during the last quarter, hiking the total number of its subscribers to 25 million.  

In an upbeat statement, the CEO of Research In Motion, Jim Balsillie said, "We are very pleased to report another record quarter with standout subscriber growth that speaks volumes about the early success and momentum of our new Blackberry products. RIM experienced an extraordinary year in fiscal 2009, shipping our 50 millionth BlackBerry smartphone and generating $11 billion in revenue. Looking ahead into fiscal 2010, we see exceptional opportunities for RIM and its partners to leverage the investments and success of the past year to continue growing market share and profitability."

RIM stated that it is expecting its revenue for the first quarter of the 2010 fiscal year ending May 30, 2009, ranging from $3.3 billion to $3.5 billion. Meanwhile, the shares of RIM surged nearly 22 percent to $59.65 in after-hours trading on Thursday. The shares closed at $49.09, up nearly 8 percent. RIM shares jumped 14 percent on the Toronto Stock Exchange, after company reported stronger-than-expected 4Q profit.