Instant view: RIM profit jumps 32 percent on BlackBerry sales

TORONTO (Reuters) - Research In Motion's net profit jumped 32 percent in its fiscal fourth quarter, boosted by strong global BlackBerry smartphone sales as it readies next month's North American launch of its PlayBook tablet computer.

Shares of the Canadian company dropped 4.9 percent in after-hours trade immediately following the release of the results.

COMMENTARY:

BARRY RICHARDS, ANALYST, PARADIGM CAPITAL

"Q4 was a very strong quarter. The guidance for Q1 was a bit more mixed. The company flavored that with some very strong earnings-per-share guidance for the year. Overall it's neutral, slightly positive. The stock is down, but fundamentally it's pretty solid results."

TAVIS MCCOURT, ANALYST, MORGAN KEEGAN

"Generally looks like Q4 was in line with expectations, Q1 is a little lower on EPS due to research and development, along with sales and marketing associated with the tablet initiative."

(Reporting by Alastair Sharp, Euan Rocha; editing by Frank McGurty)