Motorola Solutions shares fall after 1Q results
Motorola Solutions tumbles after 1st-quarter results fall below Wall Street's expectations
SCHAUMBURG, Ill. (AP) -- Shares of Motorola Solutions Inc. fell on Wednesday after the communications equipment maker reported first-quarter results below Wall Street's expectations amid cautious spending by its large business customers. Its outlook for the second quarter also fell short of analysts' forecasts.
The company earned $192 million, or 68 cents per share, in the January-March period. That's up 22 percent from $157 million, or 49 cents per share, in the same period a year earlier. Adjusted earnings were 66 cents per share in the latest quarter, up from 59 cents per share.
Revenue climbed less than 1 percent to $1.97 billion from $1.96 billion.
Analysts, on average, had expected adjusted earnings of 67 cents per share on revenue of $2.05 billion, according to a poll by FactSet.
Chairman and CEO Greg Brown called the quarter's revenue growth "modest" and said the enterprise market — large businesses — was "challenging." He added in a statement that the company remains "confident in the fundamental drivers of the business and our ability to drive improved operating earnings for the year."
Revenue at Motorola Solutions' government segment grew 3 percent to $1.3 billion while enterprise segment sales fell 4 percent to $627 million.
For the current quarter, the company is forecasting adjusted earnings of 66 cents to 71 cents per share. Analysts were expecting 86 cents. It also expects revenue to be flat to down 2 percent compared with the second quarter of last year. Analysts were expecting revenue of $2.25 billion, an increase of 4.7 percent from the $2.15 billion posted in 2012's second quarter.
Motorola Inc. split into two in early 2011. Motorola Solutions, based in Schaumburg, Ill., makes police radios, bar code scanners and other products for clients such as city and state police forces and private companies.
Shares of Motorola Solutions fell $5.89, or 9.5 percent, to $55.86 in afternoon trading. The stock has traded in the 52-week range of $44.49 and $64.72.
