Cost cuts fuel big profit jump

Article Excerpt

MOTOROLA SOLUTIONS INC. $66 (New York symbol MSI; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 258.7 million; Market cap: $17.1 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.1; Dividend yield: 1.9%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.motorolasolutions.com) makes bar-code scanners and radios for police and fire vehicles. In the third quarter of 2013, overall sales fell 1.9%, to $2.11 billion from $2.15 billion a year earlier. That’s partly due to the recent federal government shutdown: sales to government clients (which account for 69% of Motorola Solutions’ total sales) declined 3.7%. However, sales to businesses (31%) rose 2.4%. The company’s new restructuring plan, which includes closing some plants and cutting jobs, should save it $50 million a year by the end of 2014. It is already realizing some of these savings, which helped increase its earnings by 49.0% in the latest quarter, to $307 million from $206 million. Per-share earnings gained 61.1%, to $1.16 from $0.72, on fewer shares outstanding. Without unusual items, earnings per share rose…