Research in Motion: A BlackBerry miracle for RIMM

Shares in Research in Motion (NASDAQ: RIMM) have been trading as if the recession would cut BlackBerry sales to zero. The company's stock has fallen from a 52-week high of $148.13 to $38.44. Over the last six months, the stock has dropped much more than Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) and about the same at "train wreck" smartphone firm Palm (NASDAQ: PALM).

RIM did warn that earnings for its last quarter would be worse than expected. But testerday, it released the official report on quarterly earnings. No surprises on the three-month period in the past, but a lot of surprise on the firm's projections for its next quarter and fiscal year.

According to MarketWatch, "RIM said demand for its new products is going strong, allowing it to project a revenue growth-rate of 75% to 85% for the fourth fiscal quarter ending in February. Wall Street had been expecting a growth rate closer to 60%."

That news is remarkable. Most estimates for growth of handset sales over the next year are for them to be as bad as anyone can remember. The BlackBerry is expensive compared to most phones; its sales should be dropping and dropping rapidly.

The improvement in RIM's fortunes says something about business spending. Although the company has introduced a new model for the consumer market, most of the firm's sales are to businesses. It would appear that many of those businesses will buy items they consider to be relatively modest in price compared to most IT costs and essential to worker productivity. The BlackBerry is as close to a pocket PC as any other device in the world.

Business spending may be on life support, but RIM forecasts show it is not dead.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com.