Droid Sales Boost Motorola Profits

Motorola’s decision to “double down” on Google’s (GOOG) Android operating system was clearly a wise one. Though the company’s mobile-phone unit reported an operating loss for its second quarter, it shipped 2.7 million smartphones, up from 2.3 million in the quarter prior and in line with analyst estimates.

A respectable showing and one that has co-Chief Executive Sanjay Jha predicting a return to sales growth in the third quarter, with profitability in the fourth quarter. “Demand is outstripping supply,” he said of the company’s new Droid X Android smartphone during a conference call with analysts this morning. “We have momentum going into the third quarter and fourth quarter.”

For its second quarter, Motorola (MOT) reported a profit of nine cents a share excluding costs. That was a penny ahead of expectations and three cents per share better than the profit the company posted in the year-ago quarter. Revenue was $5.41 billion, above the consensus estimate of $5.19 billion, but down slightly from the $5.497 billion the company made during the same period a year ago.