Motorola Earnings Preview: Analysts Expect Rising Revenue, Falling EPS Over Previous Quarter

Motorola MSI unveils its next round of earnings this Thursday, July 28, 2011. Get the latest predictions in Benzinga's essential guide to the company's second quarter earnings report.

Earnings and Revenue:

Analysts are looking ahead to a positive EPS of 44 cents per share and revenues of $2.03 billion. Whether the reported numbers beat or miss analysts' estimates, they will also be compared against last year's numbers for the same period, which were a profit of 63 cents per share on revenues of $5.41 billion. Investors are bracing themselves for Thursday when we'll learn if Motorola reports expected declines in both EPS and revenue from the year-ago quarter.

Here's how the company's reported EPS has stacked up against analyst estimates in the past:

Stock Performance:

Shares of Motorola were trading at $44.77 as of July 22, 2011. Shares are down 25% year to date. For a full 12 months, the return has declined by 17.2%. Given that these returns are generally negative, long-term shareholders are probably a little upset going into this earnings release.

• Long-term shareholders are already wary of 12-month losses prior to the announcement

Average Stock Rating:

The average rating by analysts for Motorola is a Hold. The strength of this rating has crept upwards over the past three months.

Competitors:

Want to check out the performance of Motorola closest competitors? Take a look at some of the company's peers in the information technology sector.

• Cisco Systems CSCO: Hold with a $0.37 recent quarter EPS
• EMS Technologies ELMG: Moderate Sell with a $0.20 recent quarter EPS
• Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (ADR ERIC: Hold with a $0.21 recent quarter EPS
• Harris HRS: Moderate Buy with a $1.16 recent quarter EPS

Motorola is in the wireless equipment industry, which has experienced price/earnings growth of 3.1%.

Finally, a description of the company's main areas of operation: Motorola provides technologies, products and services, including wireless handsets, digital entertainment devices, wireless accessories, set-top boxes and video distribution systems.

Take Action:

There is your peek into Motorola's upcoming earnings numbers, including some competitors to watch around the time of the announcement. Check back in with us after the announcement for a full recap of the announcement. In the meantime, here are some links to explore today.

• To see up-to-date news on Motorola, click here
• To see other trading ideas, click here
• To see other company earnings recaps, click here