Research In Motion shares soared 19% to touch a new all-time high Friday even as the Dow pulled back from its all-time high.
RIM cleared its late 2004 peak of $103.56 and traded as high as $104.50 before pulling back to close at $102.65 after the company made a mockery of analysts’ estimates.
RIM’s second-quarter results beat forecasts, but it was its third-quarter forecast that really wowed Wall Street. Riding strong sales of BlackBerry Pearl, RIM said it expects to add 800,000 subscribers in the third quarter, to 6.2 million. RIM forecast third-quarter earnings of 88-95 cents a share on sales of $780-$820 million, well above the 78 cents and $700 million that analysts were expecting.
The Dow, meanwhile, pulled back after coming within 10 points of its all-time intraday high of 11,750.28 set Jan. 14, 2000, as investors were torn between a strong Midwest manufacturing report and weak personal spending data. Still, the Dow posted its best third quarter since 1995, and the S&P its best third quarter since 1997.
HP shares gained 2% on growing confidence that CEO Mark Hurd will survive the company’s leak investigation scandal after his appearance on Capitol Hill.
Accenture and Corel
rose on better-than-expected results.
The Nasdaq lost 11 to 2258, the S&P 500 slipped 3 to 1335, and the Dow fell 39 to 11,679. Volume declined to 2.2 billion shares on the NYSE, and 1.88 billion on the Nasdaq. Decliners led 19-13 on the NYSE, and 18-12 on the Nasdaq. Downside volume was 55% on the NYSE, and 64% on the Nasdaq. New highs-new lows were 137-22 on the NYSE, and 108-50 on the Nasdaq.
