Goodbye, Moto

From yesterday's MSN Money:

Like the song says, "some say love it is a Razr that leaves your soul to bleed." Well my soul has bleed out waiting for Motorola's stock to turn around. I can't wait any longer -- I'm not Job after all.

Motorola has been screwing up for so long, it even gets it wrong when it gets it right. Last quarter the company delivered another lousy set of sales and earnings numbers, yet it guided fiscal fourth-quarter earnings to a range of 13 to 14 cents a share -- a few pennies above The Street's consensus. Normally, guiding estimates higher would be perceived as a good thing -- and it was at first as the stock edged higher on the news. However, in offering up hope for the fourth quarter and the upcoming year, CEO Ed Zander might have won himself a new contract -- and that's bad news.

You see one of the reasons I bought Motorola's stock down at its lows was in anticipation of a new management team. Typically when a struggling company finally ousts its old CEO in favor of someone new and full of promise, the underlying stock tends to rally. Until recently, Zander's ouster was all but certain. But in light of the company's modest progress off a terrible set of numbers, Zander might just hang around. Let's face it he did take all the credit for the Razr so there might be a board member or two who thinks he's on the verge of another one-hit wonder.
Now I don't know if the new CEO would be Motorola's own Greg Brown (current President and COO) or an outsider like former Qwest CEO Dick Notebaert and frankly I don't much care -- it's just at the point where anyone but Zander will do. Isn't there a young Galvin kid somewhere looking to reestablish the family name?

Without a change at the top, Motorola's stock will be stuck at the bottom. It was the one big catalyst we needed for the stock to make a run back into the low $20s. The Razr2 sure as heck isn't the answer to our turnaround prayers. Granted sales have been a little better than expected, but the price is still too high, the functionality is hit -or-miss and the design has lost its cool factor. And don't even get me started on the Q. Motorola's answer to the smart phone craze was put to shame by Apple's iPhone and Research-in-Motion's BlackBerry Pearl. Motorola can't give the phone away -- though it has tried hard, which helps to explain the company's declining margins.

So after waiting and waiting, I wait no more. Goodbye Moto.

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Dick Notebaert is officially available

It became official last Friday, that Dick Notebaert's successor has been named at Qwest.

Although he has publicly denied any comment on the matter, it will be interesting to see whether this news augurs changes at the senior ranks of Motorola in the days ahead.

His pre-Qwest bio illustrates his many Chicago ties:

Mr. Notebaert began his career in 1969 at Wisconsin Bell, where he held a number of positions in operations and marketing before moving to Ameritech Communications in 1983 as vice president of marketing and operations. He became president of Ameritech Mobile Communications in 1986, president of Indiana Bell in 1989, and president of Ameritech Services in 1992.

In 1993 he became president and chief operating officer of Ameritech Corporation and in January 1994 was elected president and chief executive officer. He was elected to the position of Chairman and Chief Executive Officer on April 20, 1994.

Mr. Notebaert received a bachelor of arts degree in 1969 and a master's degree in business administration in 1983, both from the University of Wisconsin. He received the 1999

Distinguished Alumni Award from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. He has received the following honorary degrees: doctor of business management from Indiana Wesleyan University, doctor of science and technology from the University of Indianapolis; and doctor of science from Ripon College. He is a member of the board of directors of Sears, Roebuck & Co., Aon Corporation, Cardinal Health, Inc. and Tellabs Inc. He is a trustee of the University of Notre Dame and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. He is also a member of the University of Illinois President's Advisory Council, a member of the Chicago Metropolis 2020 Executive Council and a member of the Brookfield Zoo Board of Advisors. Mr. Notebaert is currently a member of The Business Council, the Civic Committee of The Commercial Club of Chicago, The Economic Club of Chicago and The Executives' Club of Chicago.

Mr. Notebaert and his wife, Peggy, have two adult children and are Chicago residents.

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