Smith Micro Shares Keep on Climbing

Shares of Smith Micro Software Inc., an Aliso Viejo developer of communications software, rose sharply again Thursday, one day after the company announced that it had received a patent for a video e-mail system.

Trading hit a 52-week high of $32 a share before falling to close at $26.13, still up $2.50 from Wednesday to make it the highest closing price in the past year.

So far this year, Smith Micro’s stock has soared 850%. Barely five months ago, it was trading at 63 cents a share, and for the first two months this year, it was trading at about $4 a share.

But a series of new products the company unveiled this month, as well as its creation of a new wireless and broadband division, has sent the stock flying.

William Smith, the company’s chairman, talked about the latest product, the video e-mail system, in a CNBC appearance Thursday. He said the recipient experiences the “emotion of a textual message.”

The video e-mail software’s list price is $49.95, and its street price is $39.95, said Robert Scheussler, the company’s chief operating officer.