Motorola jumps on analyst comments

Motorola shares picked up 10 15/16, or 7 percent, to 174 15/16 Friday after Salomon Smith Barney reiterated its "buy" recommendation on the chipmaker and retained a 12-month price target of $200 a share.

Analyst Alex Cena said Motorola's (NYSE: MOT) recent price weakness was without merit and presents a great buying opportunity.

"The semiconductor business remains on target and should experience sequential growth in revenues and profit margin during the quarter," he wrote in a research note. "The mobile phone business remains healthy and unit growth should be on target for sequential growth, as management indicated on its last conference call."

In its fourth quarter, Motorola slipped past analysts' estimates, earning $514 million, or 82 cents a share, on sales of $8.5 billion.

First Call consensus expects it to earn 58 cents a share in its first quarter and $3.18 a share in the fiscal year.

Its shares peaked at 184 5/8 earlier this month after falling to a low of 66 1/16 last March.

Twenty-seven of the 34 analysts covering the stock maintain either a "buy" or "strong buy" recommendation.