Treo Smartphones Push Palm Profits, Revenues Up (Updated)

During its most recent financial quarter, Palm's revenues were up 36 percent from the same period last year.

Net income in the quarter was $29.9 million, or 28 cents per share. This compares to net income of $4.4 million, or 4 cents per share, during the same quarter of 2005.

While it's true that this profit was bumped up by approximately $13 million caused by a partial reversal of a deferred tax asset valuation allowance, even without this profits would have obviously jumped considerably.

Credit Where Credit Is Due

Palm's president and chief executive officer credited most of these gains to his company's success in the smartphone realm.

"Smartphone sell-through reported by our carrier partners more than doubled over the year-ago period, validating our strategic decision to support multiple open platforms and offer a choice of smartphones based on either Windows Mobile or Palm OS," said Ed Colligan.

The company shipped 564,000 Treos during the quarter, and more than 70 percent of Palm's revenue came from these devices.

By contrast, Palm shipped 510,000 handhelds last quarter, down from the 659,000 units it shipped a year ago.

Looking Forward

In the current financial quarter, Palm expects to have revenue in the range of $400 million to $405 million.

This should lead to earnings between 33 and 34 cents per share.

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