Palm’s Profit Beats Forecasts

Palm Inc., the No. 1 maker of hand-held electronic organizers, reported fiscal first-quarter earnings from operations that topped analysts’ forecasts as revenue more than doubled.

The Santa Clara, Calif.-based company, which was recently spun off from 3Com Corp., said that for the period ended Sept. 1, operating profit rose to $23.9 million, or 4 cents a share, up from $10 million, or 2 cents, a year ago. Revenue rose to $401 million from $176.5 million, beating analysts’ expectations. On that basis, results topped profit forecasts of 2 cents a share, according to First Call/Thomson Financial.

It was the third consecutive quarter in which revenue doubled from a year ago. Palm said it shipped about 1.5 million Palm devices in the quarter, bringing to more than 8.7 million the number of Palms sold. Including amortized goodwill and intangible assets, purchase in-process technology and separation costs, Palm had net income of $17.3 million, or 3 cents a share, up from $9.7 million, or 2 cents, a year ago.

Since the introduction of the Palm VII, a personal digital assistant that connects with the Internet via a wireless connection, about a year ago, Palm has been moving aggressively into the wireless arena.

Meanwhile Monday, mobile phone maker Motorola Inc. and Palm said they will team up to develop co-branded mobile smart phones that provide e-mail access and can store calendars and address books.

Shares of Palm, which held its initial public offering in March, rose 44 cents to close at $52.25 on Nasdaq. It released earnings after the close of markets.