BlackBerry maker RIM already was one of President Obama's favorite companies, but now he might have a new reason to like the company.

The latest reason is that Research In Motion (RIMM) late Thursday released quarterly profit far above expectations, and forecast profit for the current quarter far above views. Such a good report might boost the stock market. It will at least surely boost RIM's U.S. shares, which were up about 22% after hours, after it released results for its fiscal fourth quarter ended Feb. 28.

Obama, of course, has said he's a devoted fan of his BlackBerry, and his administration even famously managed to massage some rules in order to let him continue using the smart phone after he assumed the Oval Office in January.

The president has company in his BlackBerry fandom. On Feb. 11, RIM said it expected its number of net new BlackBerry subscribers would be more than 20% higher than its forecast of mid-December.

Correct. Last quarter, the company added 3.9 million net new subscribers, up 50% from the previous quarter and up 79% from the year-earlier quarter.

That helped the company report per-share profit of 90 cents, up 25% from the year-ago figure and above the 84-cent estimate of analysts polled by Thomson Reuters.

Revenue rose 84% to $3.46 billion, slightly above views.

The Waterloo, Ontario-based No. 1 maker of smart phones -- cell phones with Internet and other capabilities -- said it expects per-share profit of 88 cents to 97 cents in the current quarter ending May 30. Analysts were expecting 82 cents.

"They issued a strong report," said Matt Thornton, an analyst at Avian Securities. "The guidance is well above expectations."

That Feb. 11 report by RIM was a warning, advising analysts to expect earnings to come in at the low end of expectations. RIM was struggling with the launch of two major products -- the Storm, its first touch-screen device, and its high-end Bold. Its shares fell 14.5% that day, to 48.76.

In the regular session Thursday, RIM shares rose 7.6% to 49.09.

The BlackBerry also faces tougher competition from, among others, Apple's (AAPL) iPhone, the upcoming Pre from Palm (PALM) and an emerging group of smart phones that run on Google's (GOOG) Android operating system. But RIM said about 70% of its net new subscribers came from the consumer side, as opposed to business users. Consumers, where RIM faces its strongest competition from Apple and others, now account for half of BlackBerry's total subscriber base, the company said.

Concerns among analysts that RIM was losing momentum were allayed by the strong guidance and results, says Avian's Thornton.

The company said it expects revenue this quarter of $3.3 billion to $3.5 billion, where analysts were expecting $3.36 billion.

RIM said it shipped 7.8 million devices last quarter, up 77% from the year-earlier quarter.

On a conference call with analysts, Jim Balsillie, RIM's co-chief executive, credited better-than-expected sales of BlackBerry products in January, in the usually slow post-holiday season, and aggressive promotions by Verizon Wireless, which offered a two-for-one sale on BlackBerry phones.

A negative note was the gross profit margin of 40.4%, down from 45.6% in the preceding quarter and from 51.4% in the year-ago quarter.

So, RIM's guidance of 43% to 44% gross margins this quarter was significant, says Thornton.

"People were concerned there wasn't a floor for gross margins," said Thornton.

Adam Abramsky, an analyst at RBC Capital Markets, said RIM has weathered perhaps its worst storm ever and is well positioned to compete from a pricing and carrier subsidy position.

He says the company should be able to sustain its solid leadership in the U.S. smart phone market.

"They've improved or recovered from execution challenges that hurt margins and momentum," Abramsky said.

He says early glitches in the Storm were resolved with software upgrades. "Initially the Storm was a disappointment," he said, "but it's doing fine now."