>>NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Motorola Inc. posted a fourth-quarter operating profit that was just slightly ahead of Wall Street's estimates Monday, and executives said they are on track for continued strong revenue growth in 2000.
Excluding special charges, Motorola (MOT) logged earnings of $514 million, or 82 cents per share, up from $159 million, or 26 cents per share during the fourth quarter of 1998.
Analysts polled by earnings tracker First Call had expected Motorola to post a profit of 81 cents per share.
Including the charges, Motorola's earnings for the quarter came in at $349 million, or 56 cents per share. Motorola did not take any charges against earnings during the fourth quarter of 1998.
Sales rose 2 percent to $8.5 billion, Motorola said.
For all of 1999, Motorola said its net income was $1.3 billion, or $2.08 per share, excluding special charges. Including the charges, Motorola posted a 1999 profit of $817 million, or $1.31 per share on sales that rose 5 percent to $30.9 billion.
Motorola executives attributed the fourth quarter's strong showing to increased sales of wireless handsets and semiconductors. They also said they expect the company to continue to improve its sales throughout the remainder of this year.
"As economic conditions continue to improve in much of the world, we are in a position to achieve results in 2000 that are in line with our long-term financial objectives of self-funding revenue growth of 15 percent or more annually," Christopher B. Galvin, Motorola's chairman and chief executive, said in a statement. "We will continue to change, sharpen our focus and strengthen our portfolio as we strive to achieve these results."<<
the stock has been a moonshot on those awesome revenue growth numbers WTF???!!! |
