Research in Motion (NSDQ: RIMM) Fiscal Q1 Profit Beats, Revenue Falls Short, Cuts Full-Year Guidance

Research in Motion (NSDQ: RIMM) reported fiscal first quarter earnings after the bell Thursday that were slightly ahead of estimates.  However the company cut its full-year earnings guidance substantially.

The mobile device maker said first quarter earnings were $695 million or 1.33 a share, down from $695 million or $1.38 a share in the same period a year ago.  The result did top analyst estimates for $1.32 a share.

Revenue totaled $4.9 billion for the quarter, up roughly 16 percent from a year ago, but short of analyst estimates for $5.1 billion.  Hardware accounted for 80 percent of the company’s sales.  There were a total of 13.2 million units sold in the period.

Looking ahead, RIM said it expects full-year earnings to fall in a range of $5.25 to $6 a share, down from the $7.50 a share it had previously expected.

“Fiscal 2012 has gotten off to a challenging start. The slowdown we saw in the first quarter is continuing into Q2, and delays in new product introductions into the very late part of August is leading to a lower than expected outlook in the second quarter,” said Co-CEO Jim Balsillie.

RIM also announced the board of directors approved a stock buyback of up to 5 percent of outstanding shares.

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