Motorola Solutions, Inc. (MSI)

[mlkrborn]

BETTER earnings!
Motorola ekes out profit; sales lower
10:06a ET July 30, 2009 (MarketWatch)

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- Motorola Inc. on Thursday eked out a surprising second-quarter profit, using sharp cost cuts to offset a 32% drop in sales.

The better-than-expected results gave a boost to Motorola stock. In Thursday trades, shares jumped as much as 16%

In the period ended June 30, Schaumburg, Ill.-based Motorola reported net income of $26 million, or 1 cent a share, compared with a profit of $4 million, or breakeven, in the same 2008 quarter.

Revenue fell to $5.5 billion from $8.1 billion a year earlier, though it rose slightly from the first quarter.

Motorola was expected to lose 5 cents a share on $5.6 billion in sales, according to the consensus of analysts compiled by FactSet Research.

Perhaps more important, Motorola generated $150 million in free cash flow during the quarter and said it "expects to continue to generate positive cash flow in the second half of the year."

The company's total cash stockpile increased by an even larger $360 million to $6.5 billion, reversing a downward trend and easing concerns about its financial reserves.

Shipments of wireless phones totaled 14.8 million -- up from 14.7 million in the first quarter but just half as many compared to a year earlier. The company estimated its global market share was 5.5%.