Profit Dips at Motorola Solutions, Yet Stock Rises

By Josh Long

In spite of a lower second-quarter profit, Motorola Solutions Inc. didn’t suffer harm to its stock price.

In early trading Wednesday on the New York Stock Exchange, shares of Motorola Solutions were up 4.53 percent to $47.34 after the company announced increasing its quarterly cash dividend by 18 percent to 26 cents per share. Motorola Solutions will pay its dividend on Oct. 15.

Net sales rose to $2.148 billion versus $1.984 billion in the year-ago period, the telecom equipment supplier announced. Explaining the growth, Motorola Solutions cited “strong worldwide demand in its government segment.”

Earnings fell from $349 million in the second quarter of 2011 to $182 million.

Government segment sales rose 14 percent year over year to $1.5 billion. Enterprise segment sales, however, fell 2 percent to $689 million.

In news related to its stock, the company said its board of directors has authorized a program to repurchase $2 billion in shares.