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Technology Stocks : The New Qualcomm - a S&P500 company -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Valueman who wrote (5145)	1/13/2000 9:43:00 AM
From: Ruffian	Respond to of 13582

Motorola Fourth-Quarter Operating Net Seen Rising By Emily Kaiser CHICAGO (Reuters) - Telecommunications and technology company Motorola Inc. (NYSE:MOT - news) will likely report fourth-quarter operating earnings on Monday more than three times last year's impaired level, analysts said. All eyes will be on Motorola's telephone handset division, as analysts look for confirmation that the world's second largest handset maker thrived in a booming market for wireless phones. ''We'll be watching carefully (to see) if the handset business continues to accelerate or slows down,'' said Wojtek Uzdelewicz, telecommunications analyst with SG Cowen & Co. ''The market is growing. Is Motorola recapturing market share?'' Uzdelewicz said he was expecting Motorola to report 30 to 35 percent growth in its handset business as demand for wireless phones surges. Analysts were expecting Schaumburg, Ill.-based Motorola to report fourth-quarter operating earnings of 81 cents per share, up sharply from the prior year's earnings of 26 cents. Last year, Motorola's fourth-quarter profits fell 60 percent, hampered by a downturn in the global semiconductor industry and its perceived late entry into the lucrative digital wireless phone market. Motorola was expected to report its fourth-quarter earnings on Monday afternoon. A Motorola spokesman declined to comment on the earnings forecasts, citing company policy. Analysts also widely expected Motorola to take a fourth-quarter charge of up to $500 million to cover the last of its exposure to Iridium LLC, the global satellite telephone company that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last August. Motorola was the primary financial backer of Iridium, which struggled to sign up subscribers to its pricey service. While the charge was expected to be sizable, analysts said it would likely eliminate lingering concerns that Iridium's financial troubles might hurt Motorola. Last quarter, Motorola said it had built reserves to cover $1.8 billion of its $2.31 billion total financial commitment to Iridium, leaving a net exposure of $510 million. At that time, Motorola said it might record a fourth-quarter charge to cover the remainder. ''The semiconductor business looks like it was strong,'' said Robert Wilkes, telecommunications analyst with Brown Brothers Harriman. ''In the wireless handset business, the fragmentary evidence we've had so far suggests it was a very strong Christmas season for the industry, and there is no reason to believe it was anything different for Motorola.'' Eric Buck, telecommunications analyst with Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette, said he was expecting Motorola to report fourth quarter revenues of $8.6 billion compared with $8.3 billion in the same period a year ago. ''The key issues are going to be what is going on on the handset side of the business and to what extent the component shortage constrained them,'' Buck said. ''Components continue to be in very tight supply.'' The wireless industry has been hurt by shortages of chips and other components used in handsets as demand far outstrips production capacity. The tight supply was one reason that rival Qualcomm Inc. (NasdaqNM:QCOM - news) decided to exit the handset business in 1999. Qualcomm sold its handset operations to Japan's Kyocera (6971.OS)(NYSE:KYO - news) in December. Shares of Motorola closed at 133-13/16 on Wednesday on the New York Stock Exchange. Related Quotes QCOM MOT KYO DJIA ^PSE ^IIX S&P 500 NASDAQ 138 1/4 133 13/16 177 11576.85 947.83 547.51 1432.25 3931.78 0 0 0 +25.75 +15.47 +18.82 0.00 +81.76