Motorola: Worth More Dead Than Alive?

There are some weird gyrations going on today in the mobile phone sector, with sharp declines for Research In Motion (RIMM), Apple (AAPL) and Palm (PALM), but big gains for Nokia (NOK) and Motorola (MOT). There are considerable cross-currents in the sector; but the rebound in MOT today seems especially odd given the company’s ongoing struggles and the fading 2009 outlook for the handset sector. One factor that may be influencing Motorola shares is a research note this morning from J.P. Morgan’s Ehud Gelbaum . On the surface, it doesn’t sound like a bullish stance: Gelbaum resumed coverage of Motorola, cutting his rating to Neutral from Overweight. (Morgan had been advising Motorola on its now-postponed spinoff of its handset business.) Gelbaum says returning the company’s handset business to profitability is a “doable but Herculean task.” But he also notes that the company has $1.52 a share in cash, and that the value of the remaining four businesses ... (link)