Motorola Investors Await the Punchline

Motorola (MOT) continues to prove that the Belushis weren't the funniest act out of Chicago.

Even as Motorola investors endure the weakest results among the big wireless players, executives have stuck to their guns, insisting yet another great makeover awaits. The disconnect between oft-disappointed observers and supremely confident execs was never clearer than on a Wednesday morning earnings call, when the subject of 2003 projections came up.

Analysts asked where the Schaumburg, Ill., company, mired in a techwide slowdown and fresh off cutting second-quarter expectations, would find the 15% fourth-quarter sales growth it will need to hit full-year financial targets. And in a deadpan reply, the executives coolly answered that "digital six sigma" will help drive out $3 billion in costs, while the hotly anticipated i.250 superchip will ring up big sales.

If Wall Street was buying it, the same wasn't apparent from watching the stock, which sat out a techwide bounce early Wednesday to fall 8 cents to $7.86. Motorola shares are trading at less than half their 52-week high.

Great Strides

Even though Motorola has made great strides in getting its act together, it just doesn't draw the bullish crowds it did before the tech bust. Analyst and investor expectations were low going into the earnings report -- yet not low enough, it seems.

Motorola lowered second-quarter earnings projections to 4 cents per share on sales of $6.5 billion. Analysts had been looking for 7 cents on $6.53 billion in revenue, per Multex.

Laugh Riot Motorola's yearlong slide

Despite the short-term drop, Motorola projected a surprisingly strong performance for the year, with earnings as high as 40 cents per share on $28 billion in sales. This, says Motorola, does not rely on a pickup in the economy. Laughter was suppressed only through the miracle of the listen-only technology on the conference call.