Palm Inc. posted a wider loss for its fiscal fourth-quarter as revenue dropped again in the latest full quarter before the release of the Pre smart phone, yet results topped analysts' expectations.In after-hours trading, shares were up 8.1% to $15.15.
The company is banking on the Palm Pre to revive its once-dominant smart-phone franchise. So far, all signs point to a strong launch for the Pre, fueling the company's shares to a 52-week high last week. But the competition isn't standing still, as Apple Inc. made over and cut prices on its category-leading iPhone.
"The launch of Palm webOS and Palm Pre was a major milestone in Palm's transformation; we have now officially reentered the race," said Jon Rubinstein, the executive chairman who took over as chief executive when Ed Colligan departed earlier this month. "We have more to accomplish, but the groundwork is laid for a very promising future here at Palm.
Mr. Rubinstein is a former executive at Apple's iPod music player division.
For the quarter ended May 30, Palm reported a loss of $91.5 million, or 78 cents a share, compared with a year-earlier loss of $41.1 million, or 40 cents a share. Excluding charges including those from stock compensation and acquisitions, the loss came to 40 cents a share from a loss of 22 cents a year earlier.
Revenue fell 71% to $86.8 million.
Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected an adjusted loss of 62 cents a share on revenue of $80.6 million.
Smart-phone shipments fell 62% to 351,000 units, but rose 6% from the third quarter.
Gross margin narrowed to 23.1% from 25.2%.
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