Palm Says 4th-Quarter Profit Doubled

Palm Inc. said fiscal fourth-quarter profit more than doubled as the company shipped more than 1.1 million hand-held organizers during the period, sending its shares higher. Palm, set to be spun off from 3Com Corp. in July, said profit from operations rose more than expected to $16.9 million in the quarter ended June 2, or 3 cents a share, from $6.84 million, or 1 cent, a year ago. Sales doubled to $350.2 million. Santa Clara, Calif.-based Palm said sales will climb as high as $390 million this quarter and reach about $2 billion in fiscal 2001. Demand for its namesake organizers is exceeding the company’s ability to make them amid shortages of memory chips and liquid-crystal screens. The company was expected to earn 1 cent a share, but some estimates were as high as 5 cents. Including costs of separating from 3Com, Palm earned $12.4 million, or 2 cents. Palm shares, which have dropped 31% since the company’s initial stock sale in March, rose as high as $31.13 after the report. In regular U.S. trading, the shares fell 50 cents to close at $26.38 on Nasdaq.