“We are very impressed by Apple’s ability to post a record profit quarter during difficult macro spending conditions,” Canaccord Adams analyst Peter Misek said in a note to clients this morning. “A host of new product introductions and continued traction with the iPhone give us confidence in the sustainability of Apple’s operating model.”

Suffice it to say, Misek wasn’t the only the analyst lauding Apple’s (AAPL) fourth-quarter performance. Below a selection of commentary from other Apple watchers:

Gene Munster, Piper Jaffray
“September results were strong despite headwinds of iPhone production constraints and a Mac desktop offering in need of a refresh. We expect these headwinds to become tailwinds in the December quarter, which we believe will be positive for AAPL shares in the coming months.”

Mike Abramsky, RBC Capital Markets
“With strong financial performance and product uptake amidst recession, and further catalysts (iPhone in China, Tablet, refreshed iMacs, iPhone share gains/momentum), we foresee further upside for the shares.”

Maynard Um, UBS
“Upside to virtually every metric in the qtr backs our positive view on Apple. We continue expect greater “recurring” iPhone hardware revenue (growing installed base & stickiness of the App Store), which should drive more visibility into iPhone sales (20%+ of our FY10 iPhone shipments), as well as iPhone expansion driven by new partnerships (& end of exclusivities). Longer term, we believe a service to provide seamless access & mobility of digital content across all products may be the draw (halo) that drives additional future Apple product sales.”

Tavis McCourt, Morgan Keegan
“Overall, Q4:09 was a strong quarter for Apple, as the Mac is nearly becoming the de facto computer for the back-to-school season. Additionally, iPhone trends remain remarkably strong, with unit economics holding up at unheard of levels in the wireless industry.”

Yair Rainer, Oppenheimer
“As usual, Apple appears to be leaving plenty of room for upside surprises to both revenue and margins. On the revenue side, Apple should benefit from continued Mac momentum (particularly in Europe), higher recognized iPhone revenue, and some channel fill for both Mac and iPhone. Gross margin upside is likely to come from a higher proportion of recognized, high-margin iPhone revenue.”

As I write this, Palm is trading at $6.10–up an astonishing 85 percent since its big announcement. And it seems destined to go higher still, given the enthusiastic reception analysts have given it.

Deutsche Bank’s Jonathan Goldberg raised his rating on Palm (PALM) to Hold from Sell saying this morning that he is impressed with the Pre and the direction in which the company is now heading.

“Our thesis on Palm has been that its future is a binary outcome,” he wrote in a note to clients. “We are favorably impressed with the new device and more importantly with the new WebOS. We think the focus has now shifted from their mere survival to execution. The earnings model has the potential for significant earnings leverage, but our outlook is tempered by Palm’s history of missteps. We think they can ship 1m units FY09 and 4m in FY10. The stock has run significantly over the past two days reflecting this, but as we learn more about the popularity of the OS and the potential for them to actually ship a UMTS version of the Pre this year we will revisit our thesis.”

Obviously, there are a few noteworthy caveats in there. Still, Goldberg’s note is vastly different from the funereal notes analysts were writing about the company less than a month ago. Indeed, on Dec. 18, Canaccord Adams analyst Peter Misek essentially dismissed the company. “Due to increased competition in the industry, Palm has lost its place as a leading smartphone manufacturer and has gradually become less relevant as more competitors have introduced more innovative smartphone devices,” Misek said. “The company is financially distressed and lacks any viable future catalysts which could help restore profitability…. We believe that Palm has become largely irrelevant in the smartphone space due to a series of strategic errors and poor execution.”

Clearly, Palm’s situation has changed for the better. Now, let’s see for how long.

We’ve learned and struggled for a few years here figuring out how to make a decent phone. PC guys are not going to just figure this out. They’re not going to just walk in.”

– In 2006, Palm CEO Ed Colligan utters the words he’d be choking down two years later.

The invitation-only event Palm plans to hold during the 2009 Consumer Electronics Show in early January promises “all that Palm New-ness you’ve been waiting for”–“new-ness” presumably referring to the company’s new Nova operating system and the first line of products to run on it. And after five straight quarterly losses and a year in which it lost two-thirds of its market value, Palm (PALM) best deliver on that promise. Because Wall Street is fast losing its patience with the much diminished handset maker, which, according to Gartner (IT), holds a paltry 2.1 percent of the smartphone market. Indeed, Canaccord Adams analyst Peter Misek essentially threw in the towel on the company Wednesday slapping Palm with a Sell rating at a target price of zero.

“Due to increased competition in the industry, Palm has lost its place as a leading smartphone manufacturer and has gradually become less relevant as more competitors have introduced more innovative smartphone devices,” Misek explained. “The company is financially distressed and lacks any viable future catalysts which could help restore profitability…. We believe that Palm has become largely irrelevant in the smartphone space due to a series of strategic errors and poor execution. With very little balance sheet flexibility to mount a comeback, we believe that Palm shares remain a very risky bet, even at current valuation levels.”

Ouch.

Clearly, Misek doesn’t put much faith in the Palm New-ness that will be on display at CES next month. But there are others who do. Said Mike Bell, a 16-year Apple (AAPL) veteran who joined Palm last year: “I’m fundamentally convinced we’re onto something huge. Some of the stuff we’re working on here is mind-blowing–better than anything I’ve seen before.”

Hard to believe, given what we’ve seen from Palm these past few years. But perhaps Bell’s right. We’ll find out next month.

Really? Leaving aside for a moment the fact that Microsoft already has a mobile OS in Windows Mobile and the fact that RIM’s client architecture is, you know, based on Linux, wouldn’t a merger between two of the largest players in the smartphone market invite antitrust scrutiny?