Motorola (NYSE: MOT) is trading up 4.4 percent or about 15 cents today after an analyst upgraded the stock because he sees signs that the company has been cutting costs faster than expected and is planning a smartphone-selling spree, reports AP. Oppenheimer & Co. analyst Ittai Kidron wrote in a note to clients that sources are telling him that Motorola is set to launch as many as 10 new smartphone models in the second half of this year. That’s up from just one in the first half of 209. Kidron: “With sentiment at an all-time low and investors’ attention lost, we believe Motorola warrants another look. Given limited downside to the stock, we’re bullish on Motorola.”
In other words, that means it can’t get much worse. The stock has recently been trading near its 52-week low of $2.98, but today it traded as high as $3.54 a share. Still, that’s far below its recent high of $10.50 a share in August.
Motorola has had to completely retool the company, laying off about 7,000 employees in the past six months to manage the company’s 70 percent drop in cellphone revenues over the past two years. Going forward, the handset maker is pinning its hopes on the Google (NSDQ: GOOG) Android platform in an effort to catch-up in the smartphone business. But it’s hard to believe Motorola could release 10 devices this year, especially if a majority of them use the Android OS. HTC will likely release another this year and Samsung is committed one, but even five by one manufacturer, seems like an aggressive target.
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