RIM Profit View Raised At Barclays

Barclays Capital increased its third quarter and full-year profit estimates for Research In Motion (RIMM) (RIM.TO), citing strong demand for the company's latest Smartphone - BlackBerry Torch .

Our checks indicate international demand remains strong and that North American Torch demand is solid, analyst Jeff Kvaal wrote in a note to clients.

Kvaal raised his third-quarter profit forecast to $1.65 a share from $1.62 a share, a penny ahead of the Street, and RIM's forecast of $1.62 to $1.70 a share.

Kvaal also upped his third-quarter revenue forecast to $5.421 billion from $5.397 billion, which is higher than the Wall Street estimate of $5.38 billion and in line with company estimate of $5.30 billion to $5.55 billion.

The analyst also raised his fiscal 2011 EPS estimate to $6.05 a share from $5.90 a share and revenue view to $19.762 billion from $19.666 billion. Wall Street expects RIM to earn $6.05 a share on revenue of $19.67 billion, according to analysts polled by Thomson Reuters.

Kvaal, who has an overweight rating and $85 price target on RIM stock, increased his third- quarter unit estimates to 14.1 million units from 13.9 million units. RIM is expecting shipments of 13.8 million to 14.4 million units.

Our checks suggest that AT&T's promotion of the Torch at $100 has been well received heading into and over the Black Friday weekend. We believe the Torch remains the #2 seller at the carrier, after the iPhone. The promotion remains active, we expect likely through the rest of the holiday season, the analyst wrote.

Shares of Waterloo, Ontario-based RIM closed Monday's regular trading session at $63.33 on Nasdaq. On the Toronto Stock Exchange, they ended Monday's trading at C$63.85.