Motorola Swings to Profit, Tops Estimates

Motorola forecasts earnings of 7 cents to 9 cents a share for the second quarter, above the consensus estimate of 3 cents a share, as the company swings to a first-quarter profit.

Author:: Andrea Tse
Publish date:: Apr 29, 2010 11:54 AM EDT

(Motorola earnings story updated with asset management expert commentary and stock price movement.)
SCHAUMBURG, Ill. (TheStreet) -- Motorola (MOT) is forecasting earnings of 7 cents to 9 cents a share for the second quarter, exceeding the consensus estimate of 3 cents a share, as the company swung to a first-quarter profit and built momentum in the smartphones business.

Motorola stock has climbed 3.6% to $7.17 about two hours into Thursday's regular trading session. The stock is one of the bigger gainers on the S&P 500 index Thursday.

For the first quarter, Motorola reported earnings of $69 million, or 3 cents a share, vs. a year-earlier loss of $291 million, or 13 cents a share. During the quarter, the company generated positive operating cash flow of $485 million and ended the quarter with a total cash position of $8.5 billion.

Net sales were $5.044 billion, down from $5.371 billion, and below the consensus estimate of $5.1 billion. Mobile devices sales were down 9%; home segment sales were down 18%; enterprise mobility solutions sales were up 6%; and networks sales were down 7%.

The old Home & Networks operations have been split into separate reporting segments for the planned split of the company into two separate entities ... this group continues to face headwinds, with both digital entertainment units and modems down year over year and quarter over quarter," asset management expert and

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Bob Faulkner wrote his Thursday column.