Upcoming AWS Coverage on EchoStar Post-Earnings Results

LONDON, UK / ACCESSWIRE / May 19, 2017 / Active Wall St. announces its post-earnings coverage on Motorola Solutions, Inc. (NYSE: MSI). The Company disclosed its financial results for the first quarter fiscal 2017 (Q1 FY17) on May 04, 2017. The Chicago, Illinois-based Company's net sales grew 7% y-o-y, while its non-GAAP diluted EPS surged 37% y-o-y, beating market consensus estimates. Register with us now for your free membership at:

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One of Motorola Solutions' competitors within the Communication Equipment space, EchoStar Corp. (NASDAQ: SATS), reported its Q1 2017 financial results on Wednesday May 10, 2017. AWS will be initiating a research report on EchoStar in the coming days.

Today, AWS is promoting its earnings coverage on MSI; touching on SATS. Get our free coverage by signing up to:

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Earnings Reviewed

For the three months ended on April 01, 2017, Motorola reported net sales of $1.28 billion which came in above the $1.19 billion recorded at the end of Q1 FY16. Net sales numbers for the reported quarter also outperformed market expectations of $1.24 billion. Excluding Airwave, the Company's net sales growth was 3% y-o-y. Furthermore, the Company attributed the growth in net sales to the Company's performance in EMEA and the Americas region.

The communications equipment maker reported Q1 FY17 GAAP net earnings attributable to Motorola of $77 million, or $0.45 per diluted share compared to $17 million, or $0.10 per diluted share, in Q1 FY16. The Company's non-GAAP net earnings attributable to Motorola for Q1 FY17 were $0.71 per diluted share versus $0.52 per diluted share in Q1 FY16. Wall Street had expected the Company to report non-GAAP EPS of $0.56 per diluted share.

Operating Metrics

In Q1 FY17, Motorola posted gross margin of $570 million, or 44.5% of net sales, up from $502 million, or 42.1% of net sales, in the year ago same quarter. The Company's GAAP operating earnings for the reported quarter came in at $176 million, or 13.7% of net sales, compared to $100 million, or 8.4% in the past year's corresponding period. The Company's non-GAAP operating earnings for Q1 FY17 stood at $224 million, or 17.5% of net sales, compared to $166 million, or 13.9% of net sales, in the previous year's same period.

Segment Performance

During Q1 FY17, Motorola's Products segment's net sales were $703 million compared to $702 million in the previous year's same period. Additionally, the segment's operating earnings surged to $89 million, or 12.7% of the segment's net sales, in Q1 FY17 from $51 million, or 7.3% of the segment's net sales, in Q1 FY16.

Motorola's Services segment's net sales increased 18% to $578 million in Q1 FY17 from $491 million in the prior year's same quarter. The segment's operating earnings also surged to $87 million, or 15.1% of the segment's net sales, in the reported quarter from $49 million, or 10.0% of the segment's net sales, in Q1 FY16.

Geographical Contribution

In Q1 FY17, the Company's Americas net sales were up 3% to $865 million from $838 million in the prior year's same quarter. For the reported quarter, EMEA region's net sales rose 27% to $287 million from $226 million in Q1 FY16. Meanwhile, Asia/Pacific regions reported flat net sales growth in Q1 FY17 which stood at $129 million.

Cash Flow & Balance Sheet

In the reported quarter, Motorola's net cash provided by operating activities came in at $142 million compared to $13 million in the year ago same quarter. The Company reported a positive free cash flow amounting to $74 million in Q1 FY17 versus a negative free cash flow of $38 million in Q1 FY16.

The Company had cash and cash equivalents balance of $766 million as on April 01, 2017, compared to $967 million at the close of books on December 31, 2016. Furthermore, the Company ended the quarter with long-term debt of $4.41 billion, while it had long-term debt amounting to $4.39 billion as on December 31, 2016.

Dividend and Share Repurchase

In a separate press release on May 16, 2017, Motorola's Board of Directors declared a regular quarterly dividend of $0.47 per share payable in cash on July 14, 2017, to stockholders of record at the close of business on June 15, 2017.

In Q1 FY17, the Company repurchased approximately $178 million of its common stock at an average price of $80.82, paid approximately $77 million in cash dividends, and invested $55 million in acquisitions.

Outlook

In its guidance for full year FY17, Motorola's management now expects revenue growth of approximately 2% compared to its prior outlook of 1% to 2% growth. The Company also raised FY17 non-GAAP earnings forecasts to the range of $5.08 per share to $5.23 per share from the prior outlook of $5.05 per share to $5.20 per share.

For Q2 FY17, the Company projects revenue growth of 2% to 3% y-o-y. Furthermore, the Company anticipates non-GAAP earnings during Q2 FY17 to be in the range of $0.98 per share to $1.03 per share.

Stock Performance

Motorola Solutions' share price finished Thursday's trading session at $80.83, dropping 1.25%. A total volume of 1.30 million shares exchanged hands, which was higher than the 3 months average volume of 1.11 million shares. The stock has surged 19.06% past twelve months. The stock is trading at a PE ratio of 22.31 and has a dividend yield of 2.33%.

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SOURCE: Active Wall Street