Earnings Reports for Jan. 10

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Motorola’s Meets Diminished Expectations

Struggling cell-phone maker Motorola Inc. reported a 41 percent drop in quarterly profits despite growing sales, and pledged more cost-cutting measures in 2001 to revive earnings.

Excluding special items, earnings for the last three months of2000 were $335 million, or 15 cents a share, down from $564million, or 25 cents a share, a year earlier. That was in line withthe estimate of a consensus of securities analysts surveyed byFirst Call/Thomson Financial.

Today’s report confirmed the downward trend outlined by the company in early December whenits second warning in two months sent the stock tumbling to atwo-year low.

Motorola’s stock has been in a tailspin as the Schaumburg,Ill.-based company — the world's No. 1 cell-phone manufacturer asrecently as 1999 — slipped further behind Finland’s Nokia despiterapid growth in the world market.

Sales for the quarter climbed 11 percent to $10.06 billion from$9.09 billion.

But the company said cell-phone orders fell 20 percent, to $2.9billion.

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Yahoo! Meets Analysts’ Expectations

Yahoo! Inc., theleading Internet media site, reported fourth quarterearnings rose 44 percent, in line with Wall Street expectations. But the company issued earnings and revenue guidance for 2001 below current expectations.

The warning about future growth caused investors to sendshares of Yahoo lower in after-hours trading.

The company said it earned $80.2 million, or 13 cents perdiluted share, in the latest quarter, compared with $55.7 million,or 9 cents per share a year earlier.

Analysts who follow thecompany, on average, had expected the company to post earnings of13 cents per share, according to First Call/Thomson Financial,which tracks forecasts.

Yahoo posted a net loss of $97.8 million, or 17 cents per share,for the three months ended Dec. 31, compared with $37.8 million, or6 cents per share, in the year ago period.

“By almost any measure Yahoo continued to outperform theindustry, and took market share despite a challengingenvironment,&3148; said CEO Tim Koogle. “Yahoo hasbecome increasingly essential to consumers and businesses.”