Motorola Solutions landed its first international contract for next generation smartphones for police, involving LTE technology
Last week, Motorola Solutions Inc.'s stock got caught in an "air pocket," slipping 4 percent to $64.60 on a weaker-than-expected forecast for the first quarter. But CEO Greg Brown is upbeat after a big win in new public-safety technology.
Motorola beat fourth-quarter forecasts but surprised Wall Street by calling for first-quarter revenue to be 4 percent to 6 percent lower than last year. The company attributed the shortfall, called an "air pocket" by one analyst, to several deals that aren't going to close as quickly as expected.
Motorola posted operating earnings of $519 million, or $1.67 per share, on revenue of $2.50 billion in the fourth quarter. Analysts expected earnings of $1.62 per share and revenue of $2.49 billion. A year earlier, Motorola earned $476 million, or $1.10 per share, on $2.44 billion in sales.
Mr. Brown said Motorola also landed its first big international contract for next-generation smartphones for police that involve LTE wireless technology, which is crucial to the company's long-term success. The deal, which Motorola had been working on for several years, is worth about $100 million. Motorola also is bidding on a large domestic contract, which is expected to be decided in the next month or two.