Shares in Research In Motion Ltd., based in Waterloo, Ont., sank in after-hours trading Wednesday after both earnings and revenues disappointed analysts.

The maker of the BlackBerry, which keeps its books in U.S. dollars, reported a sharp increase in quarterly profit compared with a year ago, earning $710.1 million US, or $1.27 per share, for the quarter ended Feb. 27.

Research In Motion is expected to post strong earnings growth in the four-quarter of 2010 (Adrian Wyld/Canadian Press)

That compared with a profit of $518.3 million, or 90 cents per diluted share a year ago. Revenue in what was the company's fourth quarter totalled $4.08 billion, up from $3.46 billion.

But the average analyst estimate according to Thomson Reuters had been for earnings of $1.28 per share and revenue of $4.31 billion.

Shares in RIM, which reported its results after the close of markets, closed down $1.01 at $75.25 on the Toronto Stock Exchange and fell $4.10 US, or more than five per cent, to $69.87 in after-hours trading in the U.S.

The company shipped 10.5 million devices and added approximately 4.9 million net new BlackBerry subscriber accounts to bring the subscriber account base to over 41 million.

In its outlook, the company said it expects revenue for the quarter ended May 29 to be in the range of $4.25 billion to $4.45 billion. Earnings per share for the first quarter of RIM's financial year are expected to be in the range of $1.31 to $1.38 per diluted share.

"We are off to a great start in fiscal 2011 and expect strong shipments, revenue, subscriber and earnings growth in Q1," co-chief executive Jim Balsillie said in statement.

"We are also very excited about our portfolio of products and services for the coming year and we continue to see exceptional opportunity for sustained growth."

RIM said it earned $2.46 billion or $4.31 per diluted share on $14.95 billion in revenue for its 2010 financial year. That compared with a profit of $1.89 billion or $3.30 per diluted share on $11.07 billion in revenue the previous year.