« The Final Day of 2005 | Main | Footnote of the Year »

I have to confess that I’ve always felt that Motorola (MOT) was a bit overrated. Maybe I’ve been a bit too harsh. Yeah it’s a good stock, but is it really that good? Nevertheless, I’m very happy to see the company have success this year. Thanks to the little Razr phone, the company has been humming along.

Motorola beat earnings every quarter this year and Wall Street has been revising its estimates higher. Right now, the Street expects MOT to earn $1.29 a share. So the stock is going for about 17.5 times next year’s earnings.

Investors Business Daily has more the Razr:

In his third-quarter earnings conference call, Motorola Chief Executive Ed Zander said the Razr was the most popular flip-open phone this year.

Analysts say sales only accelerated this quarter. Piper Jaffray expects 11 million Razr phones will be sold worldwide in the fourth quarter.

Cell phone retailers say the Razr was hot during the holidays. While many service providers give away cheaper phones for free to attract subscribers, the Razr has become a relatively low-cost option.

A $350 phone a year ago, Cingular today offers a Razr phone for $99 with a two-year service plan.

“It’s our top-selling device,” said Cingular spokesman Ritch Blasi.

Now that it’s the end of the year, I can look back on all my mistakes from 2005. I should have been paying more attention to Motorola when the stock was at $15 earlier this year. All the signs were there.

Posted by edelfenbein at December 30, 2005 12:21 PM