OUTLOOK Motorola Q1 loss 7 cents/shr vs EPS 20 cents; sales 8.083 bln usd

SAN FRANCISCO (AFX) - Motorola Inc will Tuesday after market close report a first-quarter loss of 7 cents a share, falling 135.6 pct from a profit of 20 cents a share in the year-ago quarter, while sales will decline to 8.083 bln usd from 8.768 bln last year, according to the consensus estimate of 26 analysts surveyed by First Call/Thomson Financial.	    In late February, Motorola warned it would miss its earnings and sales target due to "significant weakness in first-quarter order input," while chief operating office Bob Growney said at CeBIT in late March that he still expects the company to post an operating loss. Prior to its profit warning, Motorola had expected EPS of 12 cents on sales of 8.8 bln usd.	    The company has been forced to announce 22,000 cuts to its global staff of 147,000 since December as it moves to reorganise, divest and restructure against an increasingly difficult economic backdrop and weakening consumer demand.	    Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein analysts said they expect the company to post "staggering shortfalls" in its semiconductor and handset segments, where they predict a negative margin of 10-15 pct amid around a respective 20 pct and 30 pct sales decline.	    Overall, Dresdner analyst Per Lindberg puts the company's first-quarter loss at 5-10 cents a share on sales of 7.8 bln usd.	    "Motorola is in the midst of a massive streamlining programme that should bring concrete effects in the second half," Linberg said.	    He rates the stock 'hold'.	    Job cuts at the company could rise to as high as 25,000 this year, Lindberg said, adding he expects the company to give further details of its reorganisation plans when it releases its results.	    Analyst Michael Ching at Merrill Lynch said he expects a "longer recovery cycle for semiconductor business, slower buildout of next generation wireless network and lower subscriber growth in the U.S."	    Motorola will post a loss per share of 8 cents as its sales fall 11 pct from year-ago levels to 7.8 bln usd, according to Ching's estimates.	    Ching sees sales at the company's mobile phone operations sinking 37 pct year-over-year with operating margins falling to a negative 12 pct from a positive 2.2 pct, "hurt by weak demand and high levels of customer inventory".	    "We anticipate a gradual return to profitability and modest growth in the fourth quarter, but our visibility remains limited."	    Sales at Motorola's semiconductor operations will fall 15 pct from the prior quarter to 1.6 bln usd "reflecting inventory correction among customers," the Merrill Lynch analyst said.	    He rates the stock 'accumulate'.	    At Banc of America Securities analysts expect a "possible nickel EPS downside" and said business at Motorola "appears incrementally worse" since the company's profit warning in late February.	    The BofA analysts put Motorola's loss at 4 cents a share for the quarter and continue to rate the stock 'buy' with an 18 usd target price. 

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