Motorola Solutions raises 2026 forecast, tops Q3 profit estimates

Motorola Solutions (MSI) topped third-quarter estimates and raised its full-year revenue and earnings forecasts, the company said on Nov. 4 in its results release.

Shares were little changed in after-hours trading as of 5:36 p.m. ET, from a regular-session close of $496.81.

The company builds and connects technologies to help protect people, property and places. It reported results for the quarter ended Oct. 3.

Non-GAAP earnings per share were $4.69, compared with the $4.46 consensus estimate. Revenue of $3.38 billion was above the $3.3 billion estimate.

Here's how the company did:

• Sales: $3.38 billion vs. $3.01 billion a year earlier, against a $3.3 billion consensus estimate
• Non-GAAP EPS: $4.69 vs. $4.06 a year earlier, against the $4.46 consensus estimate
• GAAP EPS: $3.06 vs. $3.33 a year earlier

Sales rose 12% from the year-ago quarter. Organic revenue, which excludes acquisitions owned for less than four full quarters, rose 5% to $3.05 billion. Sales from acquisitions were $323 million.

Segment results and backlog

Products and Systems Integration sales rose 12% to $2.12 billion, driven by Mission Critical Networks and Video Security and Access Control.

Software and Services sales rose 13% to $1.26 billion.

Backlog reached a record $16.6 billion, up 14% from a year earlier, driven by record third-quarter orders.

Full-year guidance

Chairman and CEO Greg Brown said the company is "raising our revenue and earnings outlook again and increasing our cash flow expectations for the full year."

The company now expects full-year revenue of about $13.05 billion, up from the $12.975 billion it gave on Aug. 5. Its non-GAAP EPS forecast is between $17.94 and $17.99 per share, up from the range of $17.62 to $17.72.

For the fourth quarter, the company expects revenue growth of about 13% from a year earlier and non-GAAP EPS between $5.47 and $5.52 per share, on about 168 million diluted shares.

The company is also raising its full-year operating cash flow expectation to $3.05 billion.

Costs and capital returns

GAAP operating margin was 23.0% of sales, down from 25.6% a year earlier. The company said the decline was driven by an increase to the contingent Silvus earnout. Non-GAAP operating margin was 32.5%, up from 30.5%.

The company recognized a favorable adjustment of about $70 million in cost of sales for a portion of IEEPA tariff refunds it now expects to recover. It also said memory costs are rising on AI-driven demand.

The company increased its share repurchase authorization by $2 billion. In the quarter it repurchased $94 million of common stock and paid $200 million in cash dividends.

It also closed its acquisition of D-Fend Solutions for $1.3 billion, net of cash acquired, funded mainly through $950 million of new long-term senior notes.