Motorola lowers expectations

Motorola on Monday lowered sales and earnings forecasts for its second quarter, citing slow cellular phone sales, which it blamed in part on the outbreak of the severe acute respiratory syndrome virus. The company also pointed to damage that its Sendai, Japan semiconductor manufacturing facility suffered after an earthquake.

The company now expects a second-quarter revenue of between $6 billion and $6.2 billion, compared with earlier predictions of $6.4 billion to $6.6 billion. The company now expects to break even, excluding special items, compared with earlier expectations of earnings per share of between 3 cents and 5 cents.